Category: News Briefs

In Saturday’s (6/6) Wall Street Journal, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim writes, “In the world of contemporary art music, Arvo Pärt cuts a perplexing figure. Devout, media shy and reclusive, he is also one of the most commercially successful composers alive. The 74-year-old Estonian’s unique style of minimalism, influenced by Russian Orthodox mysticism and early Western polyphony, has been featured in more than 50 films. … Mr. Pärt found a way out of the modernist impasse, one that eschews the alienating experiments of serialism without clinging to 19th-century models of tonality. With his ‘Tabula Rasa’ (1977) for two solo violins, prepared piano and orchestra, he presented his alternative: a blank slate, charged with emotion even in the absence of any event. Over 30 years later the work continues to reveal itself as a masterpiece. … If ‘Tabula Rasa’ has a visual equivalent, it is in the color-block paintings of Mark Rothko, who once recommended that viewers stand inches from his paintings to instill a sense of awe and ‘transcendence of the individual.’ ”

Posted June 9, 2009

On Monday, Columbus, Ohio’s 89.7 FM WNKU reports, “Most large companies provide activities for their employees outside the workplace, but Cardinal Health of Columbus has its own orchestra. The group is the brainchild of Ron Reich, who had a conversation about music with a co-worker. They started playing violin duets for company employees, and the idea has grown into a 65-piece orchestra. Reich told WNKU’s Matt Kelley he was inspired to return to music by the loss of his best friend.” To hear the full radio broadcast, click here .

Posted June 9, 2009

In Tuesday’s (6/9) New York Times, Robin Pogrebin reports, “Katherine G. Farley, a senior managing director at the real estate company Tishman Speyer and head of Lincoln Center’s redevelopment project, has been appointed the chairwoman of Lincoln Center. Ms. Farley, 59, will serve for a year in tandem with the current chairman, Frank A. Bennack Jr., the chief executive of the Hearst Corporation, who will step down next June after five years in the job. The appointment was announced immediately after the annual meeting of the full Lincoln Center board on Monday. … Ms. Farley is a familiar presence at Lincoln Center, having been a member of its board since 2003 and a vice chairwoman since 2005. For the last three years she has been in charge of the performing arts center’s $1.2 billion redevelopment project, which includes a refurbished Alice Tully Hall, spruced-up public spaces and a new visitors’ center in the former Harmony Atrium. Ms. Farley has also served on the boards of the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center Theater. In her new role she will continue to oversee the redevelopment.”

Posted June 9, 2009

In Monday’s (6/8) Charlotte Observer (North Carolina), Steven Brown reports, “The crowd at the Charlotte Symphony’s first SouthPark concert of the year on Sunday responded to the orchestra’s plea for contributions by donating $27,834—far more than usual. ‘We are thrilled and gratified by the overwhelming response of our concertgoers,’ executive director Jonathan Martin said in a statement. ‘Their support…sends a clear message that this is a community that values the Symphony.’ The orchestra has always taken up collections at the popular outdoor concerts at SouthPark. The donations on a single night typically have totaled $6,000 to $8,000. This year, the orchestra is asking adults to donate at least $5 apiece. The orchestra is struggling against years of financial troubles compounded by the recession and a recently announced cut in its funding from the Arts & Science Council. The ASC is slashing its annual support by more than $1 million.”

Posted June 9, 2009

Photo of the SouthPark band shell, summer home of the Charlotte Symphony

At the final concert of the Cincinnati May Festival’s current season on May 30, James Conlon received congratulations from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, marking Conlon’s 30th anniversary as music director of the festival. The concert took place at Cincinnati’s Music Hall before an audience of more than 3,400; the program was Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand, which was performed by May Festival Chorus, Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, the Cincinnati Children’s Choir, eight guest soloists, and an expanded Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Festival officials announced that despite the current economic climate the 2009 season—which took place from May 22 to 30—witnessed record sponsorships by individuals, corporations, and foundations, and exceeded goals for ticket and subscription sales. In addition to his position in Cincinnati, Conlon is also music director of Los Angeles Opera and the Ravinia Festival in Chicago. The Cincinnati May Festival is a choral music festival now in its 136th year.

Posted June 9, 2009

Photo of James Conlon and Ohio Governor Ted Strickland by Mark Lyons 

Dilettante—a London-based online classical-music site that launched in January 2008—has announced upgrades to its website, which connects performing-arts organizations and musicians with audiences and listeners. Changes include a sitewide search function; an area for members to upload and listen to music; member blogs; classical-music news from selected journalists and bloggers, such as Alex Ross, Jessica Duchen, and NPR; and an events calendar and retail area for purchasing recordings and tickets. As part of the upgrade, the site is partnering with publications such as Gramophone, La Scena Musicale, and Fanfare to repurpose reviews on the site. The site’s new DilettanteRadio function is a pop-out player featuring members’ mp3 files; members can also create playlists of other members’ mp3s. Dilettante has added a series of video tutorials to help users navigate the new site functions. Dilettante’s members and visitors come from more than 100 countries and include large organizations such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra as well as smaller ones like the Barbirolli Quartet.

Posted June 9, 2009

Violinist Ray Chen has won the grand prize of the 2009 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in Brussels, Belgium, bringing him a €20,000 cash prize, numerous concert engagements, a recording, and a three-year loan of the “Huggins” Stradivarius from the Nippon Music Foundation. The 20-year-old Chen—an Australian born in Taiwan who is currently studying at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute—was this year’s youngest competitor. He also is a first-prize winner of the 2008-09 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and of the 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin violin Competition in Wales. Chen’s performances in the U.S. during the 2009-10 season include recitals at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in December and at Merkin Concert Hall in New York in January, as part of the Young Concert Artists Series.

Posted June 9, 2009 

James Galway and the Boston Symphony Orchestra are offering an opportunity for flutists aged 8 to 13 to play in a world premiere for flute ensemble being written in honor of Galway’s 70th birthday. The new work, by former Tanglewood Music Center Fellow Derek Bermel, will be performed on August 1 in the Koussevitzky Music Shed, with Leonard Slatkin conducting. A committee headed by BSO Principal Flute Elizabeth Rowe is now in the process of selecting the young flutists from the submitted applications. In addition to the selected young flutists, the flute ensemble will include flutists from the BSO, Tanglewood Music Center, and Boston University Tanglewood Institute. At his 70th birthday celebration concert, Galway will perform in Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun and Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2; also on the program are Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute and Copland’s Appalachian Spring.

Posted June 9, 2009

In Saturday’s (6/6) Chicago Tribune, John von Rhein writes, “The Chicago Symphony Orchestra succeeded in infusing the opening concert of its ambitious three-week Dvorak Festival with an exciting sense of occasion. Prominent on the guest list Thursday at Orchestra Hall were Dvorak’s great- and great-great-grandsons along with a host of dignitaries including the Czech Republic’s ambassador to the U.S., the Czech consul general in Chicago, the former U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, and consuls general and honorary consuls from 15 other nations. But it was Antonin Dvorak’s music that drove the inaugural event, and that was in the thoroughly capable hands of Mark Elder, the British conductor who will preside over all the orchestral concerts. … The two works on the first half, the ‘Scherzo capriccioso’ and Violin Concerto, don’t turn up all that often at these concerts, although both figured in the CSO’s opening season in 1891-92, and the orchestra gave the concerto its U.S. premiere. … Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7, which ended the concert, was fresh, firmly paced and intelligently shaped, although the dramatic tensions could have been drawn even tighter.” The CSO performs Dvorak June 10 and 11 during the League’s National Conference in Chicago.

Posted June 8, 2009

In Saturday’s (6/6) Gazette (Montreal), Arthur Kaptainis considers naming possibilities for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s new concert hall, opening in 2010. “You can dismiss straightaway anything like ‘the new MSO concert hall.’ This formula (in French) disappeared long ago in Quebec government literature. Fear not. The MSO will be the principal tenant, with 240 days a year. But that leaves 125 days for other organizations, like the Orchestre Métropolitain. These groups cannot be expected to perform in a facility whose very name makes them feel unwelcome. In most cities the symphony and the space are linked, but distinct. … Names these days are universally for sale and there is no reason to suppose the private-public partnership on the northeast corner of Place des Arts will constitute an exception. … We should not give up on the possibility of a name that reflects Montreal’s cultural richness and musical heritage. Whoever (or whichever corporation) wins the auction could opt to name the hall after a distinguished musical person of the past.”

June 8, 2009