British Allegri Quartet organized yesterday evening a moving tribute to the victims of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist massacre in Paris. An ensemble of over 150 string players gathered in London’s Trafalgar Square to play Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Almost 2,000 people attended the event.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic has announced a new project aimed at unifying the different El Sistema-like education programs across the United States. Together with the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, the Bard College in upstate New York, the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, Mass., and Venezuela’s FundaMusical, L.A. Philh is creating a national platform for youth orchestras. The three-year project will consist of regional orchestra camps in 2016 and a national festival in 2017. Participation in the camps will be free for students.
Salle Pleyel, Paris
Regardless of pending judicial procedures the Board of Cité de la Musique in Paris has granted the concession to run the concert hall Pleyel to Fimalac. Plans are to organize jazz, comedy, dance and song events at Pleyel, a hall of long classical tradition where no longer any classical concert is to take place in order to save the new philharmonic hall from competition. The new hall is a risky project since it is located far away from the homes of the traditional classical audience.
Thomas Larcher
(c) Richard Haughton
Der ‘Elise L. Stoeger Prize’ der ‘Chamber Music Society’ des ‘Lincoln Center New York’ geht 2014-2015 an den österreichischen Komponisten Thomas Larcher (*1963). Der Stoeger Prize ist mit 25.000 US-Dollar der höchstdotierte Preis im Bereich der Kammermusik und wird alle zwei Jahre als Würdigung bedeutender Leistungen im Bereich der Kammermusik-Komposition vergeben. Read More →
Frank Peter Zimmermann
(c) Franz Hamm
Die Nachfolgerin der zerschlagenen deutschen Bank WestLB, die Portigon AG, hat angekündigt sich definitiv ihrer Kunstwerke entledigen zu wollen. Die Sammlung wird auf 100 bis 150 Millionen Euro geschätzt. Da Portigon die Bilanz auf Null setzen muss, werden wohl auch die teuren Instrumente von Stradivari aus dem Besitz der WestLB verkauft. Dazu gehört die Geige, die der Violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann seit 2002 spielt.
Leonidas Kavakos
(c) Marco Borggreve
Der Geiger Leonidas Kavakos hat einen Geigenbauer in Burbank, Kalifornien, verklagt, weil dem Musiker, der den Bogen wegen einer ungewöhnlichen Krümmung untersuchen ließ, das reparierte Stück entzwei brach. Kavakos fordert per Gericht die Summe von $80,000 für den jetzt irreparablen Bogen, den der französische Geigenbauer J. Henry um 1850 anfertigte.
John Storgards
The Canadian National Arts Centre Orchestra has appointed John Storgards, Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, as its Principal Guest Conductor, effective September 1, 2015. The Orchestra also announced contract renewals for Alain Trudel as Principal Youth and Family Conductor and Jack Everly as Principal Pops Conductor. Read More →
Andris Nelsons
Each January, Bachtrack (http://bachtrack.com/classical-music-statistics-2014) publishes statistics for its listings for the year just ended. The average age of the top ten busiest conductors has fallen, with three conductors in their 30s (Nelsons, Dudamel, Nézet-Séguin). There is only 1 female conductor (Marin Alsop) in the top 50. According to statistics, the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra is the busiest concert orchestra. Read More →
Laurent Campellone
After his dismissal as music director of the Opéra-Théâtre Saint-Etienne on the basis of, as he says, « totally ridiculous grounds », conductor Laurent Campellone (42) announced that he will refer his case to the administrative court. He told Le Figaro that the dismissal of a group of cultural executives in the South-Eastern French city « was of brutal violence and similar to a real raid ». Read More →
Osmo Vänskä
Photo: A Marsden
Der Chefdirigent des ‘Minnesota Orchestra’, Osmo Vänskä, und die Konzertmeisterin des Orchesters, Erin Keefe, haben ihre Verlobung bekannt gegeben. Die amerikanische Geigerin ist seit 2011 beim ‘Minnesota Orchestra’ engagiert.
