Russian viola player Dmitry Shebalin has died at the age of 83. He is expeically known as a member of the Borodin Quartet. He studied at the Moscow Conservatory. In 1953 he became a member of the Borodin Quartet (then still called Moscow Philharmonic Quartet). Shebalin retired from the quartet in 1996, but continued to teach at the Moscow Conservatory, where he had been a professor since 1969.
The IMZ International Music + Media Centre invites young talents in media production to interactive production workshops in Prague. The 1st edition of the IMZ Academy is a Multi-Camera Perfomance Capture Workshop, to be held from 13 – 15 October 2013, under the directorship of Peter Maniura from BBC Television.
The Academy, a cooperation of the IMZ, Czech Television and ITF Golden Prague, is a highly practical, immersive and detailed master class in the multi-camera capture of classical music for television focusing on orchestral, chamber and instrumental music.
Find the detailed schedule and further information on submissions here or contact the IMZ office office@imz.at.
The new Emerson Quartet
Photo: Lisa Mazzucco
After the Emerson String Quartet’s long time cellist David Finckel stepped down in May, the American Quartet is joined by British cellist and conductor Paul Watkins, 43. Read More →
Die Deutsche Orchestervereinigung (DOV) protestiert heftig gegen den Staatstheater-Beschluss der Landesregierung in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern vom 13. August 2013, in der das Landeskabinett die Bedingungen für einen Einstieg als Gesellschafter in die Mecklenburgische Staatstheater Schwerin GmbH beschlossen hat. Der Kabinettsbeschluss bestimmt u.a. wörtlich, dass die DOV gemeinsam mit der Opernchorgewerkschaft « im September 2013 mit Wirkung zum 1. Januar 2014 zwingend (…) eine dauerhafte Personalkostenabsenkung » zu vereinbaren hat, schreibt die DOV in einer Pressemitteilung. Read More →
Vladimir Sofronitsky
Russian-Canadian fortepianist Viviana Sofronitsky informed us, that a new documentary about her father is available on the net. Vladimir Vladimirovich Sofronitsky (1901 –1961) was a -Russian pianist, best known as an interpreter of the Russian composer Alexander Scriabin, whose daughter he married. Read More →
The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra (on the south coast of England, in the county of East Sussex) has launched an urgent survival fundraising campaign to raise £70,000. Without this funding, the Orchestra could be forced to close down. Read More →
Der österreichische Tenor Spas Wenkoff ist am Montag, 12. August, im Alter von 84 Jahren in seinem Haus in Bad Ischl gestorben. Er gehörte in den Siebziger- und Achtzigerjahren zu den besten Tenören der Welt. Geboren wurde Wenkoff am 23. September 1928 in Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgarien. Read More →
Kohlberg & Co will not revise it’s offer for Steinway Musical Instruments and has quit the bidding process. Last week, the company of the hedge fund manager John Paulson had proposed a higher offer for Steinway. Kohlberg was notified by Steinway on Sunday that it had received this new cash offer of $38 a share, or $475m, topping the private equity group’s proposal of $35 a share announced in July.
Kolsimcha
Photo: Olivier Truan
In diesem Monat nehmen die fünf Musiker des Worldmusic-Ensembles ‘Kolsimcha’ in den Abbey Road Studios in London zusammen mit dem ‘London Symphony Orchestra’ (LSO) die neuesten Kompositionen des Gründungsmitglieds und Pianisten Olivier Truan auf. Finanziert wird die Aufnahme durch das sogenannte ‘crowd funding’. Das scheint rein beliebtes Mittel zu werden, um solche Produktionen finanziell abzusichern. Pizzicato hatte ja erst kürzlich über ein ähnliches Vorgehen des belgischen ‘Goeyvaerts Trio’ berichtet (Link zum Artikel). Read More →
Chopin Monument Zelazova-Wola
Photo: Remy Franck
The Chopin Foundation of the United States announced the Ninth National Chopin Piano Competition to be held in February 2015 in Miami, Florida, open exclusively to the Citizens of the United States. First Prize is raised to $75,000, thus being the largest cash award of any piano competition in the United States. Read More →
