Author: Jennifer Melick

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s season-opening concert September 20, 2019 will be broadcast on December 31 at 9:30pm ET on Georgia Public Broadcasting television and streamed at GPBs’s website, gpb.org/live. Music Director Robert Spano will conduct the Prelude to Act I of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra, and Wieniawski’s Second Violin Concerto with Joshua Bell as soloist. The program, entitled “An ASO75 Concert,” will include remarks from Spano about the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s 75th season. “We are happy to be working with GPB Media to bring the music of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to people beyond Symphony Hall,” said Tammy Hawk, VP of Marketing and Communications of the ASO. “It’s the perfect way to ring in 2020 and join in the ASO’s 75th Anniversary Celebration.”

“Abbey Simon, a piano virtuoso whose rhythmic flexibility, rich colorings and unerring fingers elevated recordings and performances at concert halls around the world, died Dec. 18 at his home in Geneva,” writes Harrison Smith in Sunday’s (12/22) Washington Post. “He was three weeks shy of his 100th birthday…. A piano prodigy who began improvising at the age of 3, Mr. Simon was known for his buoyant renditions of Romantic classics by composers such as Beethoven, Schumann and Rachmaninoff. He recorded some 20 discs of Chopin and the complete piano works of Ravel for the label Vox, performed up to 100 times a year at his peak and taught legions of students at schools including the University of Houston, where he retired only this spring…. He was taught by artists who began their careers in the 19th century—most notably Josef Hofmann, his instructor at the Curtis Institute of Music … Abbey Henry Simon was born in New York City on Jan. 8, 1920, and raised in the Bronx…. He joined the University of Houston’s faculty in 1977 and founded the annual International Piano Festival seven years later. He was also on the faculties of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., and the Juilliard School in Manhattan.”

“Women were first hired into a major orchestra in 1913, when six female violinists joined the Queen’s Hall Orchestra in London,” writes Farah Nayeri in Monday’s (12/23) New York Times. “But in Vienna, female musicians were not officially offered auditions to the Philharmonic until more than eight decades later. Today, 15 of the Vienna Philharmonic’s 145 permanent members are women…. The Berlin Philharmonic first admitted a woman in 1982, a century after it was founded. [At] the Vienna Philharmonic … players are recruited from the orchestra of the Vienna State Opera. And until 1997, the opera would not allow women to audition for the philharmonic…. Daniel Froschauer, chairman of the self-governing Vienna Philharmonic and one of its first violinists, said … the number of female musicians … ‘is ever-growing.’ … An August 2019 survey … showed that in Continental [European] orchestras, 36.6 percent of members were women. In … Britain, 44 percent…. Change does appear to be afoot in Austria. In September, Marin Alsop, an American, became the first female chief conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra…. ‘They are extraordinarily open to the idea of righting this wrong,’ she said.”

“Molly Wisman received an early Christmas gift at a recent performance of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra,” writes Todd Fertig in Saturday’s (12/21) Topeka Capital-Journal (Kansas). “In recognition of her 50 years of participation as a violinist, the orchestra surprised her by turning a holiday number into a family affair. The orchestra has a tradition of auctioning off the role of guest conductor for the song ‘Jingle Bells Forever’ at its annual Capitol Federal Holiday Concert…. Wisman’s husband, Alan, secretly won the bid this year…. ‘It took some work to arrange for a “proxy bidder” so that Molly wouldn’t know Alan was trying to win this opportunity,’ said Bob Keckeisen, executive director of the Topeka Symphony Orchestra…. Kathy Maag, general manager of the orchestra, was the primary accomplice helping Alan Wisman bid covertly at the auction. To keep the secret, symphony conductor Kyle Wylie Pickett prepped Alan by practicing conducting … ‘I had no training at all and couldn’t rehearse like they normally would,’ said Alan Wisman, owner of Einstein’s Outdoor Outfitters. ‘So they gave me a disc with the recording. I would put it on in my shop, and people would come in and see me flailing my arms about.’ ”

“The Billings Symphony Orchestra and Chorale has received its largest single donation: the Sukin Building … in downtown Billings,” writes Anna Paige in Sunday’s (12/22) Billings Gazette (Montana). “The building is being donated by Jack and Adrea Sukin and Robert and Sandra Sukin, formerly of Billings, through their company, Montana Development Co. … Jase Norsworthy, past president of the Billings Symphony’s board of directors and a real estate broker with Re/Max of Billings, … said, ‘They kind of fell in love a little bit with the idea of the symphony being there.’ Plans are to renovate the location … by the end of May…. The Sukin Building was constructed in 1924. Its current taxable value is $674,500, according to the Yellowstone County Treasurer’s office. A formal appraisal is pending…. Norsworthy said the ongoing rental income from tenants [in the building] will be fed into an endowment or operation budget the organization can draw upon…. ‘We are growing the team, we are growing the exposure in the community, and we are growing the number of performances each year,’ ” said Billings Symphony Executive Director Ignacio Barrón Viela. “This new space triples BSOC’s current office space to 3,630 square feet.”

“Jennifer Bruno doesn’t take her daughter Cassie to many public events,” writes Jeremy Reynolds in Monday’s (12/23) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Cassie, 14, is visually impaired and autistic. Sometimes she yells loudly, when she’s overwhelmed or tired. …. It can be stressful to take her to public, family-friendly occasions…. On Saturday, the [Pittsburgh Symphony] hosted its first sensory-friendly Holiday Pops narrated and directed by conductor Daniel Meyer…. ‘Coming here hasn’t been stressful—this is wonderful,’ Ms. Bruno said at the concert while Cassie vocalized to preshow Christmas tunes…. Kids roamed the aisles…. The lights stayed up … some of the louder moments in the holiday selections were toned down.… There were … hearing aids and an American Sign Language interpreter for those with auditory issues…. The Pittsburgh Symphony… rolled out its first [sensory-friendly] program in 2015…. This year, the symphony has been working to adapt pops programming like its Disney pops concert in March and the December Holiday Pops concerts…. At the moment, the PSO only programs one sensory-friendly concert per season, but that may increase…. ‘We want this to become a new tradition,’ ” said Suzanne Perrino, senior vice president of learning and community engagement at the Pittsburgh Symphony.