Wolfgang Rihm ©Universal-Edition-Eric-Marinitsch
‘IN-SCHRIFT 2’, an orchestral work that explores the boundaries of musical space, has earned German composer Wolfgang Rihm (62) the 2015 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. The 15-minute piece incorporates spatial effects and other inventive techniques to evoke a wide range of sound and emotion, said award director Marc Satterwhite. The Berlin Philharmonic commissioned the work last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening of Philharmonie. The award is worth $100,000.
Staatsoper Wien
Der österreichische Milliardär Martin Schlaff zieht sich als Sponsor des Bereichs ‘Kinderoper’ an der Wiener Staatsoper zurück. Davon sind auch Produktionen der laufenden Saison betroffen, die jedoch nicht gefährdet seien, teilt die Staatsoper mit. Als Gründe für das Ende seines Engagements gab Schlaff den Umzug des Kinderoper-Zeltes von der Dachterrasse der Oper in die Walfischgasse ab Herbst 2015 an. Der Besuch der Staatsoper von innen sei ein wichtiger Teil der Kinderoper im Zelt gewesen. Außerdem habe die Qualität mit den Jahren nachgelassen, sagte er der österreichischen Tageszeitung ‘Heute’.
Andrei Gavrilov
Pianist Andrei Gavrilov has canceled his planned Russian tour in December due to political reasons. On his Facebook page the pianist wrote: « Having letters from Russian listeners: ‘You have to fight any situation through your music in the concert halls, we understand that you want to have some rest canceling Russian tour’ – they do not get my message, I understand that. It is too late to ‘fight in concert halls’ in Russia (what I was doing till the August of this year). Now evil forces has to be fought and defeated by alliance of healthy political powers. As in the good old times… » Read More →
© Peter Fischli/Lucerne Festival
Drei Produktionen wurden in Stuttgart beim ‘Junge Ohren Preis 2014’ ausgezeichnet, darunter, in der Kategorie ‘Best Practice, Konzert’, das vom luxemburgische Regisseur Dan Tanson für das ‘Lucerne Festival’ inszenierte Stück ‘Heroica’. Read More →
(c) Remy Franck
The World Choral Day will be held all over the world on December 7. The international choral event is meant to extol the values of solidarity, peace and understanding. The 2014 celebrations are placed under the theme of integration. The proclamation text says: Sing Choirs of the World! May your voices take springs there where fire burns. May your songs put roses there where battlefields lay. Open furrow and sow love to harvest fruits of hope… » In Luxembourg a number of choral concerts are announced for that day.
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At its Annual General Meeting, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) announced positive artistic and financial results for its 2013/2014 season. The Orchestra’s 92nd season was Peter Oundjian’s 10th season as Music Director. It was marked by the release of the TSO’s first recording of a multi-disc agreement with Chandos Records and a fully-funded August 2014 European Tour. The appointment of Jeff Melanson as TSO President & C.E.O. also marks the beginning of a new phase of innovation and growth for the organization. Read More →
Cecilia Bartoli
(c) Ulli Weber/Decca
In Salzburg wurde der Vertrag mit Cecilia Bartoli als künstlerische Leiterin der Pfingstfestspiele bis 2021 verlängert. Auch Rolex hat den Vertrag bis 2021 verlängert. Bartoli kann auf einen schönen Erfolg zurückblicken. 2014 wurden an fünf Tagen 14.300 Besucher aus 54 Ländern gezählt, ein Plus von sechs Prozent und eine Auslastung von 96 Prozent. Read More →
The Australian Government announced a vast singing pilot program which will see professional music educators mentor selected classroom teachers across Australia in order to implement singing in school classes. The $594,000 program has been elaborated by conductor Richard Gill. In an ABC interview Gill said « I think a lot of kids get sick of instruments because they’re offered too early. If you give them a basis of singing from the beginning, and they learn their musical literacy through singing, then going to the instrument is far less problematic. »
Das nationale russische Staatsmusiktheater, das ehemalige Theater Vladimir Nazarov, soll gegen den Widerstand der Theaterleitung und des Personals mit den Moskauer Philharmonikern fusioniert werden. Das Gros des Personals soll dabei übernommen werden. Die Fusion, die den Moskauer Philharmonikern die künstlerische Alleinherrschaft überträgt, soll ab Januar 2015 durchgeführt werden. Das Musiktheaterprogramm soll zusammen mit den Symphoniekonzerten unter der Marke Moskauer Philharmoniker vermarktet werden.
The Opera of Algiers, in construction since November 2012 in the southwest suburb of the capital, will be delivered in July 2015. This has been announced by the Algerian Ministry of Culture in a communiqué. The opera house, the cost of which is estimated at 30 million euros, is a donation of the People’s Republic of China, which includes the study, the realization and the equipments of the future cultural building. It is planned that the Opera of Beijing will closely collaborate with the house in Algiers. The main hall has 1.400 seats.
