Ivan Valbuena Paez

Clarinetist Ivan Valbuena Paez who performs with the San Antonio Philharmonic has been awarded the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture’s Fund for the Arts grant for 2023. Valbuena was selected for the A Dos Music Project, a clarinet duet he co-created with his wife, Luz Sarmiento, DMA, to expand the horizons of Latin music. Read More →

Janina Fialkowska, chairman of the Jury for the 2023 Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival taking place June 8–17 in Dallas, has announced the three pianists advancing to the Final Round: Seokyoung Hong, 15, South Korea, Jan Schulmeister, 16, Czechia and Yifan Wu, 14, China

Am 19.Juni von 10.00-12.30 ist der Gerichtstermin in Sachen Musterklage Chorbereich gegen die Salzburger Festspiele im Wiener Arbeits- und Sozialgericht angesetzt, bei dem die Parteien und Zeugen vernommen werden.  Als Zeuge ist u.a. der ehemalige Chordirektor der Salzburger Festspiele, Hr. Ernst Raffelsberger, geladen. Read More →

Claudio Abbado
(c) DG/ Harald Hoffmann

Eine Gedenktafel in Berlin soll dort künftig an den italienischen Dirigenten Claudio Abbado (1933-2014) erinnern. Kultursenator Joe Chialo (CDU) werde sie am Montag in der Ludwigkirchstraße in Wilmersdorf einweihen, teilte die Senatskulturverwaltung mit. Der langjährige Chefdirigent der Berliner Philharmoniker habe dort bis 2001 gewohnt. Read More →

Midori
(c) Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

Japanese violinist Midori (*1971) has been appointed artistic director of Ravinia Steans Music Institute (RSMI) piano and strings programme, effective from autumn 2023 to begin overseeing the 2024 summer season. Midori succeeds Miriam Fried, who has held the position since 1994. Read More →

Edgar Moreau
(c) Jacky Azoulai

French cellist Edgar Moreau, 29, has been appointed Professor of Cello at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. He will take up his post in September, succeeding Jérôme Pernoo, who has been dismissed by the Conservatoire.

Cyprien Keiser & Ilan Zajtmann
(c) Remy Franck

Der 23-jährige Luxemburger Cellist Cyprien Keiser stellte in einem Konzert im Lalux-Auditorium in Leudelingen (Luxemburg) sein Projekt einer anstehenden CD-Aufnahme vor und spielte einen Kammermusikabend mit dem jungen französischen Pianisten Ilan Zajtmann. Remy Franck berichtet. Read More →

American conductor Timothy Myers has been appointed Music Director of Austin Opera (Texas US). The 38-year-old conductor already worked with the Austin Opera as Artistic Advisor since 2018 and Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor since 2020.

British conductor Jan Latham-Koenig is conducting Mahler’s Second Symphony on June 16 at the Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow, a Pizzicato reader found out,  asking: « If this is true, how can @festivalpuccini hire a conductor with ties with #PutinWarCriminal’s regime? Mayor Giorgio Del Ghingaro, President Luigi Ficacci, are you aware? » That’s the right questions, of course.   Read More →

Yannis Markopoulos, one of Greece’s most important composers, has died at the age of 82. Yannis Markopoulos was born in 1939 in Crete, where he took his first musical lessons in theory and violin, and developed his first influences from the local rhythms. He continued his studies at the Athens Conservatory, In 1963 he was awarded a prize at the Thessaloniki Film Festival for his music for the film Little Venuses by Nikos Koundouros and in the same year his ballets Theseus and Hiroshima were performed by new dance companies. Read More →