KKL Luzern

Lucerne Festival lanciert Mitte August ein Festival mit neun Konzerten. Am 14. August wird es vom mit nur 35 Musikern klein besetzten Lucerne Festival Orchestra eröffnet, das erstmals von Herbert Blomstedt geleitet wird. Solistin ist Martha Argerich. Zu den weiteren Künstlern zählen Cecilia Bartoli, Patricia Kopatchinskaja und Igor Levit. Die Konzerte finden mit bis zu 1000 Personen im Konzertsaal des KKL Luzern statt, mit einem klaren Schutzkonzept.

The Belgian violinist and conductor Georges Octors died on 18 June at the age of 97, according to the Belgian Radio. Octors was born in the former Belgian Congo. He studied in Brussels and was a prize-winner in various international competitions, such as the Henri Vieuxtemps in 1941. Read More →

Der Deutsche Bühnenverein fordert die Einstellung des umstrittenen Strafverfahrens gegen den russischen Regisseur Kirill Serebrennikov. Kirill Serebrennikov soll nach dem Willen der Moskauer Staatsanwaltschaft zu sechs Jahren Gefängnis verurteilt werden. Zudem forderte die Staatsanwaltschaft am Montag, dem 22. Juni 2020, vor einem Moskauer Gericht eine Geldstrafe von 800.000 Rubel. Read More →

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra will be performing on Friday 26 June for a live audience. The orchestra will present a concert, titled Ngū Kīoro… Harikoa Ake – celebrating togetherness, and the audience at Wellington’s Michael Fowler Centre will be over 2,000 people, and they are not required to wear masks or maintain social distancing. Read More →

Due to the Corona restrictions, the world premiere of The Ninth Wave – Ode to Nature took place in Tokyo in March in an Internet only-version. This musical work with video projections was directed by Stefan Winter, with music by Fumio Yasuda after Ludwig van Beethoven Read More →

A German discounter with shops in many European countries will sell pianos for the start of the school year in September, French newspaper Capital reported. From the news piece it was not clear whether the pianos will be sold only in France or also in other countries. The piano from the French brand Colmann will cost 449 euros.

Ankush Kumar Bahl
c) Scott Suchman

The Omaha Symphony (Nevada) has announced the appointment of conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl as the next Music Director. Formerly the Assistant Conductor of the New York Philharmonic and the National Symphony in Washington, D.C. as well as Orchestre National de France, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Bahl joins the Omaha Symphony as its Music Director beginning July 2021. He succeeds Maestro Thomas Wilkins, whose 16-year tenure culminates with the orchestra’s 2020-21 centennial season. Read More →

The international release of Dan Brown’s illustrated children’s book Wild Symphony on September 1, 2020 will be accompanied by concerts worldwide, it was announced today. The author of The Da Vinci Code, has a new credential as composer of the orchestral music from his new book. Wild Symphony, Brown’s first work for orchestra, features twenty-one musical portraits drawn from the animal kingdom. Read More →

Washington’s Kennedy Center has announced Tuesday that it will cancel most of its previously announced performances and events through the end of the year. Read More →

Karin Deshayes & Yann Beuron
(c) Palazzetto Bru Zane Gaelle Astier-Perret

French tenor Yann Beuron has announced on his Facebook page that he will end his stage career next year, at the age of 52 and after a career of over 30 years. He explains that he feels it’s time for him and that he intends to « enjoy life differently ». Read More →