Author: bfc-admin

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is reporting an operating surplus for its fiscal year ended August 31, 2019, the third consecutive year it has done so. Total operating revenue was $29.5 million, while operating expenses totaled $29.4 million, generating an operating surplus of $103,000.  Philanthropic gifts to its annual campaign exceeding $8 million for the first time in the orchestra’s 139-year history. The SLSO experienced its fourth straight year of growth in ticket revenue, with earned revenue totaling $9.1 million. The endowment remained strong at $218 million, with distributions from the endowment draw providing approximately 34% of the SLSO’s annual income. Thanks in part to a $30 million matching gift by the Crawford Taylor Foundation, the SLSO surpassed its original campaign goal of $70 million by more than $18 million. Stéphane Denève is the orchestra’s new music director, and Marie-Hélène Bernard is president and CEO.

Posted November 21, 2019

“Effortlessly at ease on all sides of the cultural divide, Herbert Chappell, who has died aged 85, was a musician, composer, conductor and filmmaker who carved out a rich career writing music for film and TV,” writes Kenneth Shenton in Wednesday’s (11/20) Independent (U.K.). “As head of the Decca record label’s audio visual department, Chappell was the driving force behind the Three Tenors event during the 1990 Fifa World Cup in Italy, when Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras were persuaded to gather in the Baths of Caracalla, Rome, for a performance televised live to 56 countries and an estimated 800 million viewers…. His career break had come in the early Sixties when he was recruited by Huw Wheldon to contribute to a newly established BBC2…. His many film and television scores—more than 200 in total—included The Shadow of the Tower [and] music for The Pallisers…. His pop cantata The Daniel Jazz (1963), a setting of words by Vachel Lindsay that he once described as ‘hotting up the Bible,’ spawned a raft of imitators…. Seamlessly uniting the many diverse elements in his technique is his Antiguan-inspired, richly coloured Caribbean Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra.”

Posted November 21, 2019

“Hannah Lash is a rarity: a harpist who is also a composer,” writes John Fleming in Saturday’s (11/16) Classical Voice North America. “So it was a notable occasion when Lash’s Double Concerto for piano, harp, and orchestra was given its world premiere by the Naples Philharmonic on Nov. 14. Pianist Jeremy Denk and the composer-harpist were the soloists, with Arvo Volmer conducting.” Lash’s Double Concerto was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. “Lash … has had several premieres already this season.… Her Peril of Dreams, a big work for two harps and orchestra (in which she will be one of the soloists), is scheduled for debut by the Seattle Symphony in April 2020…. Lash and Denk … meshed beautifully in the single-movement Double Concerto, which ran about 12 minutes…. The soloists carried the concerto, with the orchestra not making an appearance until eight pages into the score; thereafter the orchestra mainly served to supply a multi-colored texture against which a series of mercurial exchanges between harp and piano unspooled.” The concert also included Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with Denk and Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances.

Posted November 21, 2019

“The BBC Concert Orchestra has appointed Finnish conductor Anna-Maria Helsing as its new principal guest conductor,” writes Susan Elliott in Thursday’s (11/21) Musical America (subscription required). “Helsing has honed her craft over a significant period of time, having made her debut at the Finnish National Opera in 2008 leading Adriana Mater by Kaija Saariaho. She has led a number of world premieres, most recently Momo at the Royal Danish Opera and Magnus-Maria by Karólína Eiríksdóttir on tour in Scandinavia. Helsing began her career as a violinist, leading chamber orchestras before serving as artistic director of the Pietarsaari Sinfonietta and conductor of the Wegelius Chamber Orchestra. She has … studied under Esa-Pekka Salonen and Gustavo Dudamel at the International Conductor’s Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation. In 2011 she became the first conductor to be awarded the Louis Spohr Medal in Seesen (Germany).… In 2010 she became the first-ever female conductor at the helm of a Finnish orchestra when she took over the Oulu Symphony for three years. At the BBC CO, Helsing joins a conducting staff that includes Bramwell Tovey (principal), Barry Wordsworth (laureate), and Keith Lockhart (chief guest). She’ll also be working with composer-in-residence Dobrinka Tabakova.”

Posted November 21, 2019

Arts administrator Michael Kaiser “is set to advise the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on its plan for a more stable financial future,” writes Brandon Weigel in Tuesday’s (11/19) Baltimore Fishbowl. “In a statement, Kaiser said it ‘will be an honor … to work with the Board, staff and musicians to chart a course that allows for consistent artistic accomplishment in the years ahead.’ The move was praised by both management and a representative for the musicians, who earlier this year clashed in a labor battle that resulted in a summer-long lockout. As part of a one-year agreement brokered in September, the two sides pledged to create a ‘Vision Committee’ to develop a sustainable path forward … The central point of contention in the labor dispute earlier this year was the BSO’s status as a year-round ensemble…. ‘The year ahead will be pivotal for the BSO, and we are deeply grateful that generous supporters of the Orchestra have enabled us to engage Michael Kaiser,’ BSO President and CEO Peter Kjome said … Percussionist Brian Prechtl, chair of the BSO Players Committee, said … ‘The musicians are very encouraged to have Michael Kaiser on board…. Michael recognizes that compelling art is the key to helping arts organizations prosper.’ ”

Posted November 21, 2019

“The world premiere of a piano concerto by Jonathan Leshnoff that was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony” is set to take place on November 22, writes Patrick Neas in Friday’s (11/15) Kansas City Star. Michael Stern will conduct the program, which will feature Joyce Yang as piano soloist and also include Strauss’s Also Sprach Zarathustra and the Adagio from Mahler’s Symphony No. 10. “Like most of his music, Leshnoff says his piano concerto is imbued with concepts from Kabbalah. Leshnoff says that the second movement is a musical evocation of the Kabbalah concept of ‘neshama’ or soul…. Leshnoff says that according to the Kabbalah, the soul has three levels; the lower [levels] focus on action and speech. Neshama, the third level of the soul, deals with thought…. Leshnoff often speaks of self-actualization. For him, self-actualization comes down to living your full potential. ‘No one told me to be a composer,’ Leshnoff said. ‘I was given a talent, but I could have done anything.… Everyone and everything has a place in the universe and we are all becoming our actual selves, and that requires work and effort, but eventually you can actualize the potential that you have.’ ”

Posted November 21, 2019

“Randall Goosby sat on the stairs Monday by the auditorium stage at the Buffalo International School, P.S. 45 [as] about 100 third-graders quietly filled a few rows of old wooden seats,” writes Sean Kirst in Tuesday’s (11/19) Buffalo News (N.Y.). “Goosby, 23, is a violinist of ascending international stature…. He is also a born teacher, a guy who listened intently to the questions from each child…. Robbie Hausmann, a cellist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, accompanied Goosby throughout much of this visit…. At P.S. 45, …  Goosby explained how the ‘white stuff’ in his bow is made from the hair in the tail of a horse. He helped the girls and boys understand the awe he takes from a violin created in the early 1700s by Giuseppe Guarneri…. Goosby went to P.S. 45 on the recommendation of Robin Parkinson, education director for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of the BPO diversity council…. She understands the musical power of allowing ‘these kids to see people who look like them and are successful.’ … A child asked if he ever makes mistakes. ‘All the time,’ Goosby said…. emphasizing that he “spends enough time practicing each day.” Goosby was profiled in Symphony magazine’s Winter 2019 article about emerging artists. 

Posted November 21, 2019

In photo: Violinist Randall Goosby with third graders at the International School, P.S. 45 in Buffalo, New York. Photo by Sharon Cantillon / Buffalo News