The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg will celebrate its official opening on January 11 and 12, 2017, after nearly 10 years of construction and rising cost. At the grand opening €789 million will have been spent. Read More →
Canadian tenor Jon Vickers has died at the age of 88. His family published the following message: « It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our father, Jon Vickers, after a prolonged struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. He is survived by one sister, his five children, 11 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. His family and dearest friends remember him for his ringing laughter, warmth, and generous spirit. A man of the land who was the most at home on his farm, surrounded by nature and his family, he had an abiding search for the truths and essences of life. » Read More →
Sir Simon Rattle will take on the role of Artist-in-Association with the Barbican Centre and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. A press release from Barbican says that this new role will be undertaken alongside Rattle’s appointment as Music Director of the London Symphony Orchestra from the 2017/18 season: « The appointment drives forward his desire to bring performance, orchestral practice, artistic creation, learning and discovery together in a single vision for the future. » Read More →
Two Boston based performing arts institutions have announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that paves the way toward an eventual merger. The presidents and trustees of The Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music have been exploring the benefits of an affiliation that would create the world’s most dynamic and comprehensive programs for music, dance, and theater education. A merger agreement could take effect in 2016. Read More →
Born in Moscow into a family with an established musical tradition, Alexander Sitkovetzky came to study at the Menuhin School in London. Today, he is making a career as soloist and as chamber musician as well. As part of the cpo box with the symphonies and concertos by Andrzej Panufnik, his recording of the Violin Concerto received an ICMA Award in 2015. Alexander Sitkovetzky took part in the ICMA Gala Concert in Ankara, and at this occasion, Remy Franck made the following interview.
Mr. Sitkovetzky, your biography says that you have worked with Yehudi Menuhin and that you went to the Menuhin School. How did that happen?
I was very young, six or seven years old, when I met Yehudi Menuhin for the first time. He knew my family quite well. I am a third-generation musician in my family and he knew already Julian Sitkovetzky, my grand-father. He was a great, great violinist whose life was just cut way too short, and I think if he had lived on, he would have been known absolutely in the same category as David Oistrakh or Leonid Kogan. Read More →
The European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY) organises a chamber music tour through South Bavaria and Austria with three young laureates from national and international music competitions: cellist Cyprien Keiser (Luxembourg, 14 years old, winner of the Luxembourgish National Competition for Young Soloists), clarinettist Matouš Kopáček (Czech Republic, 16 years old, winner of the international Czech radio competition Concertino Praga) and pianist Benjamin Zumpfe (Austria, 20 years old, winner of the Austrian competition Prima la Musica). Read More →
At the World Federation of International Music Competitions, WFIMC, a new Governance system with one Board, comprising the President and six members, replaces the former two-tiered structure of a Bureau and Committee. After the first elections for this new Board, the Federation announced the appointment of Didier Schnorhk, Secretary General of the Geneva International Music Competition, as its new President. Schnorhk succeeds Glen Kwok (International Violin Competition of Indianapolis) who held the position for six years. In addition to the Board, a full time Secretary-General based in Geneva will take on the role of Chief Executive Officer. Following an extensive, international search, Benjamin Woodroffe (Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition) has been appointed as the new Secretary-General (www.wfimc.org).
After two years of search, the New York Philharmonic today announced Chinese-born American violinist, Frank Huang (36) as their new Concertmaster and successor to Glenn Dicterow. Huang is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Juilliard School and an award winner at the Walter Naumburg, Paganini, Hannover and Indianapolis Competitions. Huang is currently concertmaster of the Houston Symphony. He will commence his appointment in New York at the beginning of the 2015/16 season.
The Royal College of Music, Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano), London-based creative design consultancy Studiohead, and Skyline Whitespace, one of the leading providers of custom modular stands in Europe, have developed a new performance simulator, complete with realistic back-stage and on-stage areas as well as an interactive virtual audience and audition panel. This new training facility offers the opportunity for musicians to practise their performing and auditioning skills. Read More →
This year, Russian conductor Dmitrij Kitajenko is honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Born in 1940, Kitajenko was Music Director of the Moscow Philharmonic, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Seoul. Some of his most outstanding recordings were realized with the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne, notably the complete symphonies by Tchaikovsky (Oehms Classics), Shostakovich (Capriccio) and Prokofiev (Capriccio). Remy Franck met Dmitrij Kitajenko for an interview.
Maestro, have you been born into a musical family?
Not at all! My mother was a teacher and my father an engineer. However our house was next to the choir school of the St.Petersburg Boys Choir. Since my mother had noticed that I could sing and that I successfully tried to get some music out of our piano – it was kind of a toy for me at that time, just after the war, when real toys were not available – she let me take part in a competition. Read More →
