Author: Mike Rush

“The Philharmonia Orchestra of London has appointed Alexander Van Ingen as its new chief executive, starting in September,” writes Nicholas Beard in Thursday’s (3/12) Musical America (subscription required). “Van Ingen is the current chief of the Academy of Ancient Music, a post he has held for three years. Before that he was executive producer for Decca Classics. At the Philharmonia, he succeeds Interim Managing Director Michael Fuller, who took over when Helen Sprott left last May. The orchestra said it would be adding the post of director of artistic planning under Van Ingen. Current Principal Guest Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali moves into the post of principal conductor in 2021-22, succeeding Esa-Pekka Salonen. In comments, Van Ingem recalled, ‘Some of my earliest orchestral recordings as an engineer and producer were with the Philharmonia, and the orchestra’s on-going pioneering work in the digital field takes Walter Legge’s founding vision in 1945 to new heights.’ ”

“It’s impossible to run an orchestra when the government is requiring everyone to stay six feet away from each other, but the Seattle Symphony is going to give it a shot,” writes Rich Smith in Thursday’s (3/12) The Stranger (Seattle, WA). “In response to new social-distancing mandates, the symphony plans to rebroadcast earlier performances of beloved symphonies and to livestream new performances through March. This weekend on YouTube and Facebook, they’re showing Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 … originally performed in Seattle last September. Livestreaming new shows will be trickier [since] musicians in an orchestra have to huddle together so they hear one another…. But symphony staff and musicians are brainstorming ways around that. Symphony spokesperson Shiva Shafii said they’re thinking about livestreaming new solo performances over the next couple of weeks. Those solos might happen onstage at Benaroya Hall, but the symphony is also thinking about musicians performing from their own homes. ‘The push to do these performances is all stemming from the musicians,’ Shafii said…. As Seattle’s entire arts community faces weekly losses on the order of $2 million to $3 million, the symphony is also announcing that a board member, Stephen Whyte, has pledged to match donations dollar-for-dollar for as long as the hall is closed.”

“Charles Dickerson is working to make classical music more inclusive,” reports Dana Alkhouri on ABC TV’s Good Morning America on Friday (3/13). “Dickerson is the founder, executive director and conductor of both the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles and the newly formed South Side of Chicago Youth Orchestra…. This conductor has devoted his over four-decade career to making classical music more inclusive to reach communities of color. Since starting ICYOLA in 2009, it has grown to be the largest primarily African American orchestra in the country, with about 70 to 115 members…. In July 2019, Dickerson expanded, launching another orchestra to serve children in the inner city of Chicago…. The program is free…. It’s funded through nonprofits…. Many of Dickerson’s students come from Kenwood Academy High School, on Chicago’s South Side, and come up through the Serendipity Program Family Center in Chicago, which gets young children started playing instruments early in life…. Based on the success in Los Angeles and so far in Chicago, Dickerson hopes to open more orchestras in other inner cities across the U.S. ‘My mantra has been anywhere there’s an NFL team, there needs to be an inner-city youth orchestra,’ Dickerson said.” Dickerson is a member of the League of American Orchestras’ board of directors.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, the Washington, D.C.-based Boulanger Initiative—which promotes music composed by women through performance, education, and commissions—will host its second annual one-day WoCo Festival. This year’s festival will include multiple performances at D.C.’s Big Bear Cafe and All Souls Church, including Third Coast Percussion performing the world premiere of JLin’s Perspective, Boulanger Initiative’s first commissioning project. The festival will feature composers, ensembles, and artists working toward gender equity in classical music, and daytime festivities will highlight local performers and artists who are regularly empowering women-identifying composers. In addition to performances, there will be panel discussions and professional development booths. Featured performers will include composer-performers Kirsten Lies-Warfield, who in 1999 became the first woman trombonist to serve in the United States Army Band; District5 wind quintet; composer/performer Molly Joyce, whose work uses disability as a creative source; Bergamot String Quartet; and Barclay Brass. Among featured composers will be Jessica Krash, Fanny Mendelssohn, Suzanne Farrin, Jessie Montgomery, Caroline Shaw, Ledah Finck, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Lili Boulanger. The Boulanger Initiative was founded in 2018 by violinist Laura Colgate and organist Joy-Leilani Garbutt, who serve as its co-artistic directors.

“What do you get when you smash together a string quartet playing a Vivaldi concerto with a DJ mix by Phamstar? About 300 people jammed shoulder to shoulder grooving to both,” writes Robert Faires in Thursday’s (3/5) Austin Chronicle (TX). “That was the case last Friday night when the Austin Symphony Orchestra served up the second edition of its Bach ‘n’ Beats…. The plan was to match four DJs with four classical pieces … and have them create mixes inspired by the older music, then stick it in a club where the audience would get to hear four ASO musicians play each classical work live before each DJ launched into their thumping creation. What happened the first time ASO tested that concept … was a crowd that was equally jazzed about the Bach and the beats….. Tickets [to Friday’s event] sold out a week in advance (a credit to ASO marketing maven Rachel Santorelli and the young professionals support group BATS—Be at the Symphony)…. A pretty even mix of folks in their 30s through 60s filled the floor… Before the night was out, ASO was already talking about a third Bach ‘n’ Beats … at an even larger venue.”

“Music has impacted, in many ways, the students of the Simply Strings program at Sheppard Accelerated Elementary School in Santa Rosa,” writes Mayra Lopez in Tuesday’s (3/3) La Prensa Sonoma, a Spanish-language news site in Santa Rosa, California. These excerpts are translated from the original Spanish. “With the guidance of the Santa Rosa Symphony, children are learning to play classical string music, while developing social skills and self-confidence…. Simply Strings was founded in 2013 by Christina Penrose, then a Master’s student at Sonoma State University…. She now directs the Institute for Musical Education of the Santa Rosa Symphony. Penrose created the program with the ‘El Sistema’ model in mind…. ‘El Sistema’ is a Venezuelan musical program aimed at social justice, created with the vision of bringing musical education to underserved communities…. There are currently 61 students enrolled in Simply Strings, who receive free music education five days a week, and have access to the instruments. Participants are students ranging from elementary to high school, and the majority are students of the Sheppard Accelerated Elementary School. But the program is also open to other students. Participants not only learn musical skills; they also develop passion and discipline.”

“South Bend Symphony Music Director Alastair Willis has a point of reference for when he conducts ‘Musica Nostalgica’ on Sunday: himself,” writes Andrew S. Hughes in Thursday’s (3/35) South Bend Tribune (IN). “He and the Illinois Symphony Orchestra commissioned Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky to write the piece, and Willis conducted its world premiere in 2015 while he was that orchestra’s music director. ‘To revisit it again is like checking in with a best friend,’ he says about the work that opens the South Bend Symphony Orchestra’s [March 8] concert…. Yanov-Yanovsky wrote [‘Musica Nostalgica’] in memory of fellow Uzbek composer Albert Malakhov, an influence on him who died young, at 33. ‘I hear sadness and nostalgia in some of the melodies,’ Willis says…. ‘On one level, they’re beautiful symphonic melodies, and on another, they may be actual tears for Albert Malakhov.’ There’s no weeping in the concert’s other work: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 … which Willis … calls ‘one of his most purely joyful pieces.’ … The concert marks this season’s third and final in Willis’ and the SBSO’s three-year ‘Living Beethoven’ series…. ‘To be lifted with the joy and happiness of Beethoven’s Fourth makes it a great pairing’ with ‘Musica Nostalgica,’ says Willis.”

“The Minnesota Orchestra has a new creative partner for its summer season—and a new take on its annual summer festival,” writes Kathy Berdan in Thursday’s (3/5) Pioneer Press (St. Paul, MN). “ ‘Summer at Orchestra Hall,’ which was previously known as Sommerfest, will run from July 17 through Aug. 9. Creative partner [and pianist] Jon Kimura Parker curated the four weeks of orchestral and chamber music with the theme ‘The Beethoven Influence.’ It includes projects with Minneapolis artist collective Free Black Dirt, BRKFST Dance Company and theater group The Moving Company to create new works around Beethoven’s music…. Summer at Orchestra Hall will also feature … a new collaboration with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre around South Korean composer Unsuk Chin’s Mannequin … the return of the Grand Piano Spectacular featuring four pianists onstage playing four pianos; and the Minneapolis debut of Parker’s chamber ensemble, Off the Score, featuring percussionist Stewart Copeland of the band the Police and other collaborators, in a program including an improv version of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Throughout the summer season, the Orchestra will offer ‘Sounds and Bites’ on Peavey and in the Hall, featuring food vendors and free music offerings.”