In order to accelerate a hugely contested plan to merge the Belgian National Orchestra with the one from the opera house La Monnaie, the Belgian Government uses contestable methods. So, it is currently accused of putting the National Orchestra at a disadvantage by applying favourable tax shift measures to the opera house and to the Palais des Beaux-Arts (Bozar) but not to the orchestra.

Lorin Maazel

The Castleton Festival, founded by Lorin Maazel in 2009, has announced that it will cancel its summer season in 2016. The conductor’s widow, Dietlinde Maazel, told the Washington Post that she has « no finances anymore”.

Grand Resort Bad Ragaz

Highly talented international young musicians will perform during the Festival Next Generation, a seven-day event taking place at Bernhard Simon Hall and the Music Salon of the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, Switzerland. Read More →

In 2009 Orlando Opera was closed, and Florida Opera Theatre took over rather cautiously, with small scale productions. Now, with a new music director at the Orlando Phil, Eric Jacobsen, and a new management headed by Gabriel Preisser, they seem ready to expand. Florida Opera Theatre changes its name into Opera Orlando and should soon present bigger projects.

In 2017, the Queen Elisabeth Competition will organize for the first time in its history a competition devoted to cellists. Timetable and programme are available here. For the semi-final French pianist Frank Braley will conduct the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and at the final, Stéphane Denève will conduct the Brussels Philharmonic. In May 2016, the Queen Elisabeth Competition is holding a competition for pianists. The following sessions will be devoted to the voice (2018), violin (2019) and piano (2020).

Violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, 55, announced she will step down as Music Director of the California based New Century Chamber Orchestra at the end of NCCO’s 25th anniversary season in 2016-2017. She joined the orchestra in 2008. Read More →

The musicians of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra have voted to accept the pay cut that management said was necessary to save the orchestra. The management had threatened to close the orchestra.

he police has arrested five people under suspicion of corruption at the Petruzzelli Theatre in Bari. Among the accused is the Administrative Director, Vito Longo. The affair focuses contracts for the supply of light and cleaning. According to the prosecutor, the theatre manager cashed money from the companies who would get the contracts.

Frank Peter Zimmermann
(c) Franz Hamm

Frank Peter who had to restitute the 1727 Lady Inchiquin Stradivarius violin to the financial liquidators of the WestLB, has finally got a new instrument. He has been offered the 1727 ex-Dupont/Grumiaux Stradivarius on interim loan for at least 2 or 3 years by a Chinese-German art dealer. Zimmermann expects to be able to use his former instrument again in a few years.

Two performing arts education actors in the US, Berklee and The Boston Conservatory, have formally agreed to merge, creating a comprehensive and dynamic training ground for music, dance, theater, and related professions. Read More →