Colin Collette, Music Director at Holy Family Catholic Church in Inverness (Illinois) for 17 years, was fired in 2014 after he publicized his same-sex marriage engagement. He filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Chicago and the parish where he worked, yet the Church brought up a procedural motion to have the case dismissed. Last week, a federal judge declined to dismiss the complaint. The fired Music Director will now continue his lawsuit and seek reinstatement, back pay and benefits, damages and attorneys’ fees.

Thanks to the sponsorship of a Spanish communication company, the Young Baroque Orchestra of Andalusia (JOBA) is able to resume its activities. In June, JOBA had cancelled all the concerts due to the lack of money.

Percussionist Peter Sadlo (*1962), one of the world’s most renowned percussionists and hailed as an innovative musician died today after a surgery. Sadlo’s extraordinary musical intuition and virtuosity have made him an internationally sought after artist. Read More →

Justus Frantz
Photo: BEAT

Der deutsche Pianist und Dirigent Justus Frantz, 72,  ist beim Baden im Meer in Hongkong von einem Hai gebissen worden. Wegen der Verletzung am Bein musste er einige Auftritte absagen, ist aber mittlerweile auf das Podium zurückgekehrt. Das meldete die Badische Zeitung.

Beim ersten Gesangswettbewerb ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’ hat die Jury unter Leitung von Siegfried Jerusalem im Nürnberger Opernhaus die russische Mezzosopranistin Maria Kataeva zur Gewinnerin im Allgemein Fach gekürt. Der Tenor Sunghyun Kim hat den 1. Preis im Deutschen Fach gewonnen. Rocío Pérez, Sopran, erhielt den Nachwuchsförderpreis, Bass-Bariton Antonio (Yunmo) Yang (Südkorea) den Preis des ‘Richard-Wagner-Verbands Nürnberg’ sowie den Publikumspreis.

The St. Louis Symphony (St. Louis, Missouri) announced significant increases in both attendance and ticket revenue during its 2015-2016 season. Live at Powell Hall concerts – which feature non-classical presentations, movies, musical tributes and events, reached record attendance and ticket sales. In addition, single ticket sales for Classical concerts increased by almost 7% from the 2014-2015 season. Read More →

Der wegen Budgetüberschreitung in Millionenhöhe umstrittene Intendant des Theaters Trier, Karl Sibelius, hat am heutigen Donnerstag einen neuen Vertrag für weitere vier Jahre bis zum 31. Juli 2020 unterschrieben. Die Stadt hat ihm jedoch Grenzen gesetzt: Der neue Arbeitsvertrag sieht die Wiedereinführung einer Doppelspitze für die Leitung des Theaters in administrativen, organisatorischen und wirtschaftlichen Angelegenheiten vor. Read More →

Einojuhani Rautavaara

Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara passed away yesterday, 27 July, in Helsinki. He was one of the most important composers of our time. Read More →

Der mit 10.000 Euro dotierte Berlin-Rheinsberger-Kompositionspreis geht dieses Jahr an die in Berlin lebende und 1971 in Moskau geborene Komponistin Olga Rayeva. Read More →

The Moscow police has arrested two students of the Mussorgsky music school in St. Petersburg who publicly played the harp to collect money from the passers-by. The two girls were held for three hours at a police station. The instruments were confiscated and the students were summoned to court on August 10. They risk a fine of 10 thousand rubles.