Lan Shui
(c) Harrison Parrott
Chinese-American conductor Lan Shui, 59, has announced today, that he will quit his job as Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in January 2019, after the orchestra’s 40th anniversary. He is Music Director of the orchestra since 1997. The Straits Times reports that Shui wants to spend more time with his wife and two sons, aged 11 and eight months. Read More →
(c) Belgrade Land Development Public Agency
Architects Dragan Marcetic, Milan Maksimovic and her associates are the winners of the competition for the design of a new concert hall for the Belgrade Philharmonic. 34 projects were in competition. The new performing arts centre will consist of a large concert hall with 1,500 seats and a stage of 500 square meters, plus one multipurpose hall with up to 400 seats.
Hamburg’s ominously expensive and highly mediatised Elbphilharmonie had serious security lacks in the online ticket shop, German media report. Apparently it was quite easy not only to visualize tickets bought before by patrons, but also to reprint them. So if during the next months there will be two or more people wanting to sit one particular seat, the question will be who was the original buyer. Maybe patrons should take their credit card receipts with them… According to the arts centre, the security gap has been repaired a few days ago.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and its 87 musicians yesterday announced the ratification of a new contract, more than eight months prior to the current contract’s expiration on August 31, 2017. Read More →
Professor Ekaterina Iofel died in Krasnoyarsk today, aged 94. Among her pupils were, among many others, baritones Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Nikolai Putilin. Ekatarina Iofel was a practising teacher until 2015. In her youth she sang leading roles for mezzo-soprano at various opera houses in Russia.
Pierre Boulez
Die Villa, die der verstorbene französische Komponist und Dirigent Pierre Boulez in Baden-Baden besaß, wurde von den Erben in den Verkauf gegeben, berichtete gestern der Deutschlandfunk. Für das Haus mit 550 qm Wohnfläche und parkartigem Gelände interessiert sich nach Senderangabe ein Initiativkreis, der darin eine ‘Akademie Boulez’ unterbringen möchte. Zurzeit hakt es am Geld. 2,8 Millionen wollen die Erben für Haus und Land haben.
Riccardo Muti
Music Director Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) embark on their sixth trip to Europe together in January 2017, marking the Orchestra’s 33rd tour to Europe and the 60th international tour in its history. Read More →
A number of US Cultural artists plan art strikes at the occasion of the Trump inauguration. Some have called for a strike on 20 January. A document entitled ‘J20 Art Strike Letter’ has been published for circulation, signed by figures including Richard Serra, Barbara Kruger, and Cindy Sherman and is is addressed to museums, galleries, studios, art schools, and other cultural institutions. Read More →
The website Bachtrack, an international database for music events, announced in a press release its 2016 Classical Music Statistics. Among the highlights is the statement that the Japanese are the most Romantic nation in the world: 67% of works performed in Japan in concert come from the Romantic period. And the Japanese come to the fore again when we look at when they attend concerts. 28% of concerts scheduled in Japan (according to the Bachtrack database) take place during the afternoons, mainly at the weekend. Read More →
Über eine Saarphilharmonie wird schon seit vielen Jahren geredet, und gefordert wird sie von Institutionen und Musikfreunden. Nach den Vorschlägen, ein E-Werk zum Konzertsaal umzubauen oder die Congresshalle zu renovieren, stellt ein Förderverein nun ein Konzept für einen Konzertsaal an Saarbrücker Ostspange vor und wirbt dafür mit einer Internet-Petition. Read More →
