Villa in Hertenstein

Russia’s Minister of Culture, Vladimir Medinsky, told the press, that the project to purchase Sergei Rachmaninov’s Villa Senar in Switzerland had to be frozen, partly because of the sanctions and partly due to a lack of a consolidated position of the composer’s heirs. Russia wanted to buy the house with all its components, while the family proposed to sell everything separately, the house, the piano, the furniture, and the paintings. This was unacceptable for the Russian State, Medinsky told the press. Read More →

Marin Alsop
Photo: Grant Leighton

Three months before the expiration of the current contract, management and musicians of Marin Alsop’s Baltimore Symphony Orchestra reached an agreement to extend that contract for another year. According to the Baltimore Sun, it gives the musicians a 3,96 percent raise. Minimum base salary will reach $79,800.

Die Wiener Sängerknaben eröffnen eine Schule in Hongkong. Die ‘Vienna Boys Choir International School’ soll 2017 oder spätestens 2018 nach dem Vorbild der musikalischen Ausbildung im Institut der Wiener Sängerknaben in Wien starten. Read More →

Fouad Fahouri

Lebanese-born American conductor Fouad Fakhouri, 43, has been named music director of the Saginaw Bay Symphony Orchestra (Michigan, USA). Fakhouri served as the director of the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (North Carolina) since 2004.

Emmanuel Krivine
(c) Christian Aschman

Emmanuel Krivine, recently appointed Music Director of the Paris based Orchestra National de France, is the first French conductor to lead this orchestra since Jean Martinon (1968-1973). When he conducted the orchestra in September 2015, he thought the chemistry was good enough to go for the job. Read More →

This year’s Bergen International Festival was again a major success. Organized between 25 May and 08 June, the Norwegian festival presented more than 350 events at more than 40 venues. They were attended by around 125.000 visitors, an increase of 20 per cent from the previous record year of 2015. Many events had free entrance, but for the other concerts 37.000 tickets have been sold – 2.000 up from the 2015 record of 35.000.

Gewandhaus Leipzig
(c) Remy Franck

ICMA Board members and executive staff members of Leipzig’s Gewandhaus participated in a preparatory meeting for the organization of the ICMA Award Ceremony and Gala Concert on April 1, 2017. Read More →

Maxime Goulet & Dina Gilbert
(c) Nadia-Zheng

Canadian Orchestre Métropolitain will present in November 2017 the Montreal Video Game Symphony as part of Montreal’s 375th anniversary celebrations. The work will take the form of a multimedia show in which the orchestra’s musicians will play music from landmark video games developed in Montreal. Read More →

Gewandhausorchester & Riccardo Chailly
(c) Remy Franck

Riccardo Chailly hat seine Abschiedskonzerte mit dem Gewandhausorchester in Leipzig abgesagt. Wie Pizzicato bereits berichtete, fällt das offizielle Verabschiedungskonzert an Sonntag völlig aus, die beiden anderen Konzerte werden von Chailly-Nachfolger Andris Nelsons übernommen. Read More →

Das deutsche Bundesland Thüringen will bis 2021 seine Förderung für Theater und Orchester um zehn Millionen auf knapp 77 Millionen Euro im Jahr aufstocken. Damit soll allen Akteuren neue Perspektiven und Sicherheiten bis 2025 gegeben werden.