Tanglewood, the music center in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts, summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937, will undergo a $30 million extension. The new four-building complex is designed to support the performance and rehearsal activities of the Tanglewood Music Center, the BSO’s Summer Music Academy. Read More →

Die Beschäftigten des Badischen Staatstheaters in Karlsruhe sind heute Morgen parallel zur dritten Verhandlungsrunde der Tarifgemeinschaft deutscher Länder mit der Gewerkschaft in einen Warnstreik getreten. Gestreikt wird für sechs Prozent mehr Lohn. Musikaufführungen sind davon heute nicht betroffen, denn es gibt keine.

Rennosuke Fukuda

Japanese violinist Yurina Arai, 22, has won First Prize at the International Jascha Heifetz Competition in Vilnius, Lithuania. She also was awarded the Lithuanian Jewish Community Prize and the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Prize. Second Prize was awarded to 17-year-old Dmytro Udovychenko from Ukraine, and Third Prize to Rennosuke Fukuda (*1999), a scholarship holder from the Liechtenstein International Music Academy.

Florian Noack

In Leipzig, on 1 April, for the first time, the ICMA Award Ceremony taking place prior to the Gala Concert will not only comprise the trophy presentations and related speeches, but also music performances. In its General Assembly in Luslawice, the Jury members decided to include this year and in the following Award Ceremonies some music played by winners. Read More →

Over Brexit fears, the European Union Baroque Orchestra is moving from Wootton (Oxfordshire) to Antwerp, Belgium, The Guardian reported. Antwerp is one of EUBO’s residence cities, as is Amilly, France, and Echternach, Luxembourg. EUBO is Orchestra-in-Residence in Echternach since 2008. In the meantime, as Pizzicato reported , Austria is ready to host the European Union Youth Orchestra.

The Foyer in the Bolshoi Theatre
Photo: Georges Franck

Vladimir Putin supports the proposal of his Culture Minister Vladimir Medinskyto extend the cobntract of the Bolshoi’s general director Vladimir Urin, Russian media reported. Urin has this job since 2013. He was able to present an envious result of his work with a house that is mostly sold out and increased ticket sales from 1.4 billion Rubles in 2014 to 2.2 billion (€ 35,5 million) in 2016.

György Kurtag

Hungarian composer György Kurtag, 91, and his wife for 70 years, pianist Marta Kurtag, have been presented with a Borletti-Buitoni Trust award in recognition of their contribution to the world of music, as well as their long and devoted musical partnership. This special tribute is in memory of Franco Buitoni (1934-2016) who co-founded the Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) in 2002 with his wife, Ilaria.

Julian Prégardien

Der aus Frankfurt stammende deutsche Sänger Julian Prégardien nimmt in einem ‘Offenen Brief’ an die Jury des Frankfurter Musikpreises Stellung zur Vergabe des Preises an den deutschen Geiger David Garrett. Es stimme ihn « nachdenklich, dass ein Musikpreis, dessen erster Preisträger Gidon Kremer war, heute an einen Geiger geht, dessen aktuelle ‘corporate identity’ den Inhalt um ein vielfaches überstrahlt », schreibt der Sänger in seinem Brief, den wir nachfolgend integral veröffentlichen. Read More →

Fabio Luisi

Conductor Fabio Luisi will be heading the jury of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra’s international Malko Competition for young conductors. The competition will take place on 20-27 April 2018 in Copenhagen. Read More →

Naxos has closed its streaming service ClassicsOnline « since our technology partner ceased operating the platform used for », the website announces. Yet, there is also a financial reason, since Naxos’s CEO Klaus Heymann says: « ‘I don’t feel that terrible about it because nobody offering streaming is making money. » Read More →