Bayreuth, Festspielhaus

Statt im Jahre 2023 soll die Sanierung des Festspielhauses in Bayreuth erst 2026 fertig sein. Das kündigte die Gesellschafterversammlung jetzt an. Die zweite Sanierungsphase soll im Herbst 2017 beginnen –ein Jahr später als geplant. Sie soll rund sieben Millionen Euro kosten und bis Mai 2018 abgeschlossen sein. Read More →

Manfred Honeck
(c) Jason Cohn

Musicians and management of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra agreed upon the terms of a new five-year contract, thus ending the strike which began on September 30. The new contract runs through September 5, 2021. Read More →

Due to a blood pressure problem, Kristin Lewis, singing Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess at la Scala in Milan collapsed on stage Monday evening. The show was interrupted and a doctor came to rescue the singer in front of the audience, since the curtain could not be closed. After a short ten minutes of recovering Kristin Lewis felt she was fine and asked the conductor to start again.

The Foundation governing the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana announced the end of contracts with the musicians for December 2017. It’s still only a cautionary measure because of the « the uncertainties involved in negotiations with the SSR on the new financing system », yet it shows how dramatic the situation has become. Read More →

Yoo Na Ha

South Korean violinist Yoo Na Ha, 25, from has been awarded First Prize at the 2016 Mirecourt International Violin Competition in Mirecourt, France. A graduate of the National University of Seoul and the Paris National Conservatoire, Yoo Na is a former First Prize winner at the Novosibirsk International Violin Competition. Read More →

The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra announced Canadian composer Vincent Ho (*1975) as its new Music Advisor. Ho will act as a consultant to the Orchestra’s music director, president & CEO, chorus master, director of Artistic Operations, and other members of the planning team on new music repertoire performances, events, and musicians. The appointment comes after recent appointments of Rune Bergmann as the music director, and Karl Hirzer as new resident conductor.

Fazil Say
Photo: Marco Borggreve

Im Rahmen eines ‘Festlichen Konzerts für Menschenrechte und Freiheit in der Türkei’ am 17. Dezember in Bonn erhält der türkische Pianist und Komponist Fazil Say den Beethovenpreis 2016. Die Laudatio wird der türkische Journalist Can Dündar halten. Der von Torsten Schreiber und Andreas Loesch initiierte Internationale Beethovenpreis für Menschenrechte, Frieden, Freiheit, Armutsbekämpfung und Inklusion wird zum zweiten Mal vergeben. Read More →

Strong gusts of wind seriously damaged the roof of the opera house in Saint-Etienne (Central-France) and big parts of the stage tower’s tarred insulation are no longer waterproof. A representation of Bellini’s Norma, tonight, has been cancelled.

Juanjo Mena
(c) Michal Nowak

After having been awarded the Spanish National Music Award on Monday 21 November in Madrid, conductor Juanjo Mena, 51, announced that he will donate the prize money, 30 000 Euros, to music education in Spain. Since 2011 Mena is chief conductor of the BBC Philharmonic and a mont ago he was announced as the new Principal Conductor for the Cincinnati May Festival, the longest running choral festival in North America.

Andrea Marcon
(c) Marco Borggreve

Italian harpsichordist, organist and conductor Andrea Marcon (*1963) will be in charge of the artistic direction of the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada for four more years. The Granada Consortium for Music, comprising the City Council of Granada, the Junta de Andalucía and the Provincial Government of Granada, has signed a new contract with the Treviso born musician, going through 2020, and still extendable for two more years. Andrea Marcon took the job in 2012. The Orquesta Ciudad de Granada was created in 1990.