Author: bfc-admin

“Among its ranks, the New York Philharmonic counts 28 violinists, 11 cellists, four flutists, three trombonists and even one bass trombonist,” writes Charles Passy in Tuesday’s (1/10) Wall Street Journal (subscription required). “But when the call came for an accordionist this past week, the orchestra had to go outside its circle. The ensemble turned to Bill Schimmel, a New York-based master of the instrument who has made something of a specialty performing with orchestras…. A handful of classically trained composers have incorporated it into their works, including Kurt Weill, whose ‘Little Threepenny Music’ was part of the recent Philharmonic program. Mr. Schimmel, whose history with the Philharmonic goes back four decades, was more than up for the challenge.… In its 175-year history, the New York Philharmonic has hired artists who specialize in a range of nontraditional instruments.… No matter what instrument is involved, the Philharmonic typically begins the process by seeing if a musician from within its ranks can play it.… That often means turning to the Philharmonic’s three-member percussion section, since percussionists are known for their ability to tackle a kitchen sink’s worth of instruments, including, yes, a kitchen pot.”

Posted January 11, 2017

“The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and its musicians have reached early, amicable agreement on a new contract,” writes Brian McCollum in Tuesday’s (1/10) Detroit Free Press. “The musicians union ratified the new three-year contract Monday evening, with both sides championing the atmosphere of cooperation and stability.… The new deal, which will go into effect Sept. 1, calls for 2% wage increases in years two and three, along with a new stipend for musicians during non-working summer weeks…. The deal also continues provisions for … chamber music performances and special appearances at health care facilities and senior centers…. The DSO’s size is unchanged—87 musicians—and the deal calls for 38 weeks of performances, up from 36 in the existing three-year deal…. Both sides applauded the mutual trust that has taken hold under the orchestra’s ‘Blueprint: 2023’ fiscal plan and ‘OneDSO’ approach, introduced by former board chairman Phillip Fisher and shepherded by current chairman Mark Davidoff…. The early contract ratification sets the stage for a busy DSO year, which will include a three-week summer tour of China and Japan, along with the annual League of American Orchestras Conference, to be hosted by the DSO in June at the GM Renaissance Center.”

Posted January 11, 2017

Pictured: Music Director Leonard Slatkin leads the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Michelle Koning

The Juilliard School is in the midst of ChamberFest 2017, a series of eight public concerts from January 9 to 14, featuring 95 Juilliard musicians performing music they’ve chosen and rehearsed during the school’s winter break. The festival kicked off at Juilliard’s Paul Hall with Dvořák’s String Quintet in G Major, Op. 77, and Brahms’s Piano Quartet No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25. Also planned are Brahms’s String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11, Prokofiev’s Quintet in G Minor, Op. 39, plus works by Olivier Messiaen, Mieczyslaw Weinberg, John Harbison, and György Kurtág. J.S. Bach’s Cantata “Ich habe genug,” (BWV 82) is featured on January 14, and Pre-College students are featured in an afternoon program the same day of music by Beethoven, Schoenberg, and Dvořák.

Posted January 10, 2017

“In 1971, when Dadeland Mall clung to the far reaches of civilization on not yet commercialized Kendall Drive, optometrist Sanford Ziff had a vision: ‘How about sunglasses?’,” writes Howard Cohen in Saturday’s (1/7) Miami Herald. “And so was born Sunglass Hut of America…. The company grew to 550 boutiques around the world…. Ziff, who died Friday at 91 from complications of a stroke, used the proceeds from [selling the company in 1991] to become, along with his second and third wives, the late Dolores Ziff and his widow, Beatrice, one of South Florida’s premier philanthropists. His name, along with those of the respective wives, adorn numerous buildings thanks to their donations to universities, homeless shelters, Jewish centers and arts organizations…. A $10 million gift led to the naming of the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House at Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.…  Ziff also donated to Camillus House, Vizcaya, the Center for Abused and Abandoned Children, Infants in Need, WLRN public radio, WPBT public television, GableStage, Beethoven Society of Miami and the Concert Association of Florida…. Some credit Dolores for turning Ziff onto the arts, and he was not shy about asking that the Ziff name live on at institutions he endowed.”

Posted January 10, 2017

“In the summer of 1812, Goethe and Beethoven were walking arm in arm through the streets of the Bohemian spa resort of Teplitz when their path was blocked by a gaggle of oncoming dukes and duchesses,” writes Stuart Jeffires in Monday’s (1/9) Guardian (London). “In Carl Rohling’s 1887 painting The Incident at Teplitz … in the foreground is Beethoven, barrelling towards us grumpily…. Only one problem: it probably didn’t happen…. It’s one of several anecdotes about Beethoven that are simultaneously celebrated and debunked in a scintillating exhibition in Paris [at the Philharmonie] called Ludwig Van: Le Mythe Beethoven…. The exhibition opens with a cacophony of Beethovens: a video mash-up of concert performances, Chuck Berry duckwalking through Roll Over Beethoven, the Fab Four in Help! singing Ode to Joy in a pub cellar to tame a tiger.… This is a vast multi-media celebration.… Le Mythe Beethoven deconstructs the myth and then puts it back together again.… In the exhibition’s final room, a few of us had our own silent disco through our audio guides…. I was savouring Daft Punk’s Technologic Sonata, a mashup of techno and Beethoven you can watch on YouTube.”

Posted January 10, 2017

Detroit is a city on the rebound, writes Michael Kimmelman in Tuesday’s (1/10) New York Times, symbolized by the installation of 65,000 new LED streetlights, which help make the city safer and more vibrant. The League of American Orchestras’ 2017 National Conference, hosted by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, takes place in Detroit June 6-8. “Let’s hope that if anyone writes a history of Detroit’s rejuvenation, a chapter is devoted to the lights returning,” states Kimmelman. “Like picking up the trash, fixing potholes and responding to emergencies, these efforts signal that no matter where you live in Detroit, you are no longer forgotten—that government here can finally keep its basic promises.… This is where the new lights come in. They’re spread all across town. The project cost $185 million, paid by the city and the state.… Three years ago, nearly half the 88,000 streetlights in the city were out of commission. The more potent LED lights allow the authority to replace those 88,000 old fixtures with 65,000 new ones.… The whole thing came in under budget and on time.” Stay tuned for more about the League’s 2017 National Conference.

Posted January 10, 2017

“Bryce Dessner’s MusicNOW Festival is putting Cincinnati on the map for new music,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Sunday’s (1/8) Cincinnati Enquirer (Ohio). “Collaborations with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra next weekend will include cutting-edge music by a new generation of top-flight composers—starting with Gen X composer Andrew Norman’s ‘Play.’ … At the other end of the spectrum, the festival will open on Thursday at the Aronoff Center with Bob Weir (of the Grateful Dead) and his band, The Campfire Boys…. ‘I’m fascinated by the orchestral world. I find it to be a frontier in music right now,’ said Dessner…. This year’s MusicNOW Festival concerts on Friday and Saturday … which Dessner curated with CSO music director Louis Langrée, will push boundaries more than ever before by featuring mostly up-to-the-minute new music. The only ‘historic’ work is Ligeti’s Violin Concerto of 1990-92, with Finnish violinist Pekka Kuusisto as soloist…. Dessner’s own chamber concerto, ‘Wires,’ will be given its United States premiere on Saturday. Last fall, the Orchestre de Paris performed its world premiere.” Dessner says he approached writing the concerto by studying “a lot of amazing works … by people like Ligeti, Elliott Carter and Boulez.’ ”

Posted January 10, 2017

“On Wednesday night, the National Symphony Orchestra ventured out of the Kennedy Center into the wide world of Washington,” writes Anne Midgette in Monday’s (1/9) Washington Post. “The chamber concert that the orchestra’s concertmaster, Nurit Bar-Josef, and three colleagues played that night was the official start of the sixth annual iteration of NSO in Your Neighborhood, the community initiative, continuing through Monday, that brings the orchestra to schools, coffee shops, nursing homes and community centers in the city—this year, to venues in Southeast and Southwest…. ‘In order to have impact, there needs to be consistency,’ says Warren G. Williams, the NSO’s manager of community relations…. The orchestra, he said, is considering a year-round version of NSO in Your Neighborhood involving chamber concerts with some of the orchestra’s partners, such as the restaurant/coffee shop Busboys and Poets, where a small group of musicians played as part of a poetry slam last year…. In addition, and very smartly, the orchestra is also recognizing the interactive potential of the community relationships it’s developing…. [At] Wednesday night’s program … [of] Claude Bolling’s Suite for Violin and Jazz Piano Trio … the audience broke into appreciative applause between movements and when it was over.”

Posted January 10, 2017