Thierry Fischer
(c) Marco Borggreve

The Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra announced the appointment of Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer as its next Music Director from March 2020. Fischer will conduct the Orchestra for eight weeks in 2020 and for 12 weeks in subsequent years. According to a statement by the orchestra, the Swiss conductor was the search committee’s first choice. Read More →

One of Sweden’s most significant composers of our time, Sven-David Sandström, has passed away on Monday. He was 76 years old. He wrote over 500 works in all art music genres – from opera, choral and chamber music to symphonies – and he wrote a lot for church and reached a large audience. Read More →

Over 73,000 people attended the Singapore International Festival of Arts this year, up from 55,000 visitors last year. The festival presented over 150 ticketed and free events from May 16 to June 2.

56 Konzerte unterschiedlicher Genres an 22 Spielstätten in und um Dresden gab es dieses Jahr bei den Dresdner Musikfestspielen, die von etwa 58.000 Besucher erlebt wurden. Bei einer Auslastung von 93 Prozent wuchsen die Ticketeinnahmen des Festivals erstmals auf 2 Millionen Euro an. Das entspricht einer Steigerung von 29 Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr.

Das grosse Festspielhaus in Salzburg

Über 11.400 Besuchern aus 49 Nationen sind zu den Pfingstfestspielen 2019 nach Salzburg gekommen. Österreich, Deutschland, Schweiz und Frankreich, Russland, Großbritannien, USA, Italien, Japan und Spanien waren die Top 10-Nationen in diesem Jahr. Die Gesamtauslastung lag bei 99 Prozent, teilte der Veranstalter mit. Read More →

A $55 million donation has been given to the Philadelphia Orchestra, the largest gift in the orchestra’s history. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a couple wishing to remain anonymous donated the money, which brings $50 million in the orchestra’s endowment, plus $5 million for general operating costs. With the new gift, the current market value of the orchestra’s endowment is about $192 million.

Joshua Brown

At the festive Prizewinners’ concert yesterday evening in Augsburg, American violinist Joshua Brown, First Prize winner of the competition, also was awarded the Audience Award. Read More →

Joshua Brown (USA, *1999) is the winner of this year’s International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart in Augsburg. With the First Prize (Mozart-Prize) he receives € 20.000 and and a CD production supported and produced by Evil Penguin Records. Read More →

John Axelrod
(c) Bruno Fidrych

American conductor John Axelrod is not renewing his contract as Music Director of the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville, Spain. At the end of his contract he will have been for five years in that position. During the upcoming season he will conduct around 50% of the scheduled concerts.

Together with the city and region the conductor made a mutual agreement of the non-continuation and he got, according to a press release, lots of thanks and recognition for all the work done in Seville. They also welcomed him to return as guest conductor and maintain cultural projects in Seville.

Daniel Barenboim
(c) Peter Adamik

Die Berliner Philharmoniker haben Daniel Barenboim (76) zu ihrem Ehrendirigenten ernannt. Fünfzig Jahre nach seinem Debüt bei den Philharmonikern wolle das Orchester damit ein Zeichen der Verbundenheit setzen, wurde mitgeteilt. Barenboim sei der Gastdirigent, der dem Orchester am engsten verbunden ist. Read More →