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21st September: Eric Lu wins Leeds Piano, Spitalfields announce 2018 lineup

Friday 21st September 2018

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Friday #ClassicalNews Round Up

US pianist Eric Lu wins top prize at Leeds competition

The 19th Leeds piano competition was won on Saturday night by Eric Lu, a 20-year-old from Boston in the United States, whose sparkling and supremely confident performance of Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto secured him the top place, and also the Hallé orchestra prize.

(via The Guardian)

Spitalfields Music launch their 2018 festival

Spitalfields Music Festival will open on the 1 December. 

The first event is an evening of Byrd held at the Tower of London.

The festival’s curator, conductor André de Ridder, said: ‘It’s a great honour to be able to share this festival line-up with you and to have had the opportunity to continue to develop our vision for a 21st-century music festival, with the Spitalfields Music family.’

The festival will feature performances by soprano Mary Bevan, lute player Liz Kenny, turntablist Shiva Feshareki, and Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry.

(via Rhinegold)

Brains of jazz and classical musicians work differently, study reveals

A study published by the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in January found that musicians who work in the two fields demonstrate substantially different brain activity, even when they’re playing the same music.

The research could help explain why musicians seem to excel in one or other style, and not usually in both.

Classical pianists tend to focus on the second step – the ‘how’. This means their focus is on technique and the personal expression they add to the piece.

Jazz pianists on the other hand focus on the ‘what’, meaning they are always prepared to improvise and adapt the notes they’re playing.

(via ClassicFM)

Oper Halle: Ariane Matiakh wird Generalmusikdirektorin

Die französische Dirigentin Ariane Matiakh wird neue Generalmusikdirektorin der Staatskapelle und der Oper Halle. Die 38-Jährige trete zur Spielzeit 2019/20 an, teilte die Theater, Oper und Orchester GmbH am Montag mit. Matiakh übernimmt die Nachfolge von Josep Caballé Domenech, dessen Vertrag in diesem Sommer nach fünf Jahren nicht verlängert wurde.

French conductor Ariane Matiakh is the new music director of the Staatskapelle and the Oper Halle. Her contract will begin from the 2019/20 season, announced the managing director of the Bühnen Halle on Monday. Matiakh succeeds Josep Caballé Domenech, whose contract was not renewed after five years.

(via musik-heute)

Belgian builds musical bridge across the Bosphorus

Belgian musician Tristan Driessens found his inspiration and his calling east of the Bosphorus, becoming one of the West’s few masters of the oud and of Ottoman classical music.

In an interview with AFP News, Driessens tells of how he is helping to build a musical bridge for others, working with refugees arriving from the east to help preserve and develop their musical culture in European exile.

(via Yahoo)

United Kingdom Spitalfields Spitalfields Music Differently Halle Tristan Driessans Culture Staatskapelle Eric Concerts Staatskapelle Halle Heart And Breath Leeds International Piano Competition Wired Liz Kenny Classical Music Mary Bevan Creative Agency Lu Festival Arcade Fire Creative PR Matiakh Classical Richard Reed Parry Classical Music Agency Shiva Feshareki Jazz Belgium Creative Classical Pr London Europe Ariane Matiakh Piano Music Pr Oper Halle Berlin International Belgian Classical Music PR Oper Oud Music 2018 Tristan Driessens Competition Line Up Ariane Leeds Refugees Brains