The non-governmental organization ‘Freedom of musical expression’, Freemuse, has published its latest figures on the persecution of artists around the world. In 2016, Freemuse registered 1,028 attacks on artists and violations of their rights across 78 countries. The number of cases registered in 2016 more than doubled the amount in 2015, Fremuse says: « Of those more than one thousand cases, Freemuse documented 188 total serious violations of artistic freedom and 840 acts of censorship. » Read More →

Im Rahmen des Deutschen Musikwettbewerbs wurde in Leipzig erstmals der Kurt-Masur-Förderpreis der Stiftung Internationales Kurt-Masur-Institut (IKMI) verliehen. Tomoko Masur, Präsidentin des IKMI, über reichte die Auszeichnung an den Komponisten und Sänger Sebastian Pilgrim für sein Werk: ‘4 Gedichte von Kurt Schwitters’ für Frauenstimme, Querflöte, Violoncello und Klavier. Read More →

Vladimir Fedoseyev
(c) Roman Goncharov

Moscow’s Helikon Theatre announced the appointment of Vladimir Fedoseyev, 84, as Principal Guest conductor. Helikon is a Russian opera company based in Moscow, specializing in unconventional productions. Fedoseyev began his cooperation with the Helikon Opera Theatre at the end of 2016 for a new production of Puccini’s Turandot.  Fedoseyev told Russian media, he fell in love with the theatre and its ensemble.

Nigel Kennedy
Photo: Paul M. Mitchell/Sony

Enfant terrible of the violin world, English violinist Nigel Kennedy, 60, has announced in an interview with British Classic FM that he has in mind focussing only on jazz and Klezmer. Kennedi said, from the classical genre he would only keep one single composer, Johann Sebastian Bach: « I’m thinking of giving up the whole of classical music except Bach …. I’m going to do one or two things in the next couple of years but then devote most of my attention to other aspects of music outside classical … « .

Gewandhaus Leipzig

Leipzig’s Gewandhaus will host on 1 April an outstanding classic event: ICMA’s Gala Concert and Award Ceremony. For the first time in Germany, the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA), the only international Music Awards, will present at 8:00 pm an exceptional Gala concert. Read More →

Walter Gugerbauer

Das Theater Hof (Ostbayern) hat jetzt mit Walter E. Gugerbauer und Daniel Spaw eine neue Leitung der Musiktheatersparte vorgestellt. Read More →

Following the protection measures taken by the new POTUS*, entering the United States can become a nightmare for performing artists, even when they do not come from one of the banned countries. Read More →

Carl St. Clair

The Pacific Symphony says in a press release that its musicians—members of the Orange County Musicians Association, Local 7, of the American Federation of Musicians (AF of M)- and Symphony management have ratified « a landmark contract. Read More →

One of the most powerful music managers in France, René Martin, founder of La Folle Journée de Nantes and the International Piano Festival in La Roque d’Anthéron, is launching a new classical music festival to be held from 21 to 24 September in the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel (Normandy). Read More →

Vaclav Luks
(c) Petra Hajska

Der tschechische Cembalist, Hornist, Dirigent, Musikwissenschaftler und Pädagoge Vaclav Luks erhält den Mozartpreis 2017 der Sächsischen Mozart-Gesellschaft. Read More →