Tag: Festivals

Music Director David Danzmayr on Oregon Symphony’s “Sounds Like Portland Festival”

Posted on October 31, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Tuesday’s (10/28) Oregon Arts Watch, Charles Rose writes, “The Oregon Symphony’s Sounds Like Portland Festival is under way, and David Danzmayr will be conducting this weekend’s performance of The Seven Deadly Sins with Storm Large. The concert features two pieces by local composers and one world premiere: David Schiff’s ‘Uptown/Downtown’ piano concerto for Darrell Grant, and ‘Ostinato’ by Alejandro Belgique…. Danzmayr: ‘The way I did programming once I became a music director of American orchestras more than ten years ago was to try and find a balance…. I love what we call the war-horses like Tchaikovsky 5—that’s the music I fell in love with. And I have a huge appreciation for more modern American composers … We are living in a period in Portland that is very fortunate. Andy Akiho is here, Gabe Kahane, Kenji Bunch. I started working with Giancarlo Castro … Caroline Shaw moved here … esperanza spalding is here … There’s a real vibrancy. For me, I want to think of a Portland School, like the Viennese Schools. Coming from Austria it’s very logical for me to think that way…. It’s our obligation and our joy to highlight and feature those voices.’ ”

Grant Park Music Festival President Paul Winberg to Step Down Next Spring

Posted on October 29, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Wednesday’s (10/29) Chicago Tribune, Doug George writes, “The Grant Park Music Festival announced Wednesday that its president, Paul Winberg, will step down in the spring of 2026. Winberg has served as president and CEO since 2011. The festival, which puts on Chicago’s free outdoor classical music series every summer at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, said in the announcement that its board of directors has begun a national search for his replacement. ‘Paul Winberg has been an extraordinary leader for the Grant Park Music Festival,’ said board chair Adam Grais in part in a statement. ‘His vision and dedication has helped transform the festival, expanding its reach, strengthening its financial foundation, and solidifying its place as a cherished cultural institution in Chicago.’ Winberg first joined the festival as an intern more than 25 years ago. During his leadership tenure, he finalized its transition from a longstanding department of the Chicago Park District to an independent cultural nonprofit, and more recently oversaw the selection of Giancarlo Guerrero as its new principal conductor and artistic director to succeed long-time conductor Carlos Kalmar. Winberg will remain in his role through the spring of 2026.”

Ken-David Masur Joins Oregon Bach Festival as Artistic Partner

Posted on October 28, 2025 by - Who's In

The Oregon Bach Festival has named Ken-David Masur as artistic partner. Based in Eugene, Oregon, the festival, which has presented the works of J.S. Bach and composers inspired by his work for more than five decades, describes itself as a community service program of the University of Oregon. Masur is music director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He has appeared with orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre National de France, and Munich Symphony Orchestra, among others. At the Oregon Bach Festival, Masur has conducted “Carmina Burana” and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The Bach festival’s artistic partners are charged with shaping artistic vision, contributing to the development of the annual concert schedule, and cultivating artist relationships. Masur will lead the festival’s modern orchestra initiatives, joining inaugural artistic partner Jos van Veldhoven, who oversees historically informed performance practice. Masur will collaborate with festival staff to create programs focusing on Bach’s legacy, while also exploring contemporary works inspired by Bach.

Aspen Music Festival and School President and CEO Alan Fletcher to Step Down After Two Decades

Posted on October 23, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Tuesday’s (10/21) Aspen Public Radio, Halle Zander reports, “Alan Fletcher, the longtime President and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School, is stepping down from his leadership role at the end of 2026. The festival’s board of trustees will honor Fletcher as the organization’s first-ever President Emeritus in 2027 … Fletcher initially took the job in 2006 and later secured the largest gift in the institution’s history to build the Matthew and Carolyn Bucksbaum Campus … Fletcher said establishing the Bucksbaum campus was one of his biggest accomplishments as leader of the festival. ‘It depended on the generosity of a great many people, … but so much of the accomplishment of the campus was on staff, on other board members who made crucial contracts, contributions of time and expertise, as well as money, and Harry Teague, who designed it,’ he said. Fletcher also spearheaded several new initiatives in recent years … In 2020, Fletcher oversaw the organization’s Culture, Excellence and Access initiative, examining the nonprofit’s internal policies and goals. One of their first goals was to diversify their performers and teachers to make Aspen’s classical music scene more inclusive…. Fletcher did not characterize his departure from the Aspen Music Festival and School as a retirement.”

Rochester Philharmonic’s “Massive Onslaught of Beethoven”

Posted on October 21, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Friday’s (10/17) Rochester Beacon (New York), David Raymond writes, “With different orchestras, Andreas Delfs has presented a few festivals devoted to single composers. ‘Brahms, Mozart, Tchaikovsky are all popular, but only a Beethoven Festival is guaranteed to sell out a hall,’ says Delfs, music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. That certainly is the hope of the RPO and Delfs for the last two weekends in October, when the orchestra will offer what Delfs calls a ‘massive onslaught of Beethoven.’ Or more soberly put, a Beethoven Festival: a dozen masterpieces by the world’s most popular composer in four different concerts. Each comprises an overture, a concerto, and a symphony by Beethoven. The music may be (mostly) familiar, but the festival programs have been carefully planned by Delfs. The soloists also have been carefully chosen; all of them are favorites with the RPO and its audiences.” The event runs October 23-November 1. “What accounts for the perpetual popularity of Beethoven’s music? Delfs finds inexhaustible depth and weight in works like the ‘Eroica’ Symphony; they reflect not only the numerous tragedies in the composer’s life, especially his deafness at an early age, but also his single-minded devotion to his craft and art.”

Oregon Symphony Keeps It Local with “Sounds Like Portland” Festival

Posted on October 17, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Wednesday’s (10/15) NW Examiner (Portland, Oregon), Michaela Lowthian writes, “This weekend the Oregon Symphony unveils Sounds Like Portland, a concert series set in multiple venues. Sounds like Portland presents symphony collaborations with indie bands The Decemberists; The Dandy Warhols; singer Storm Large and soloist M. Ward, whose concert marks the Symphony’s debut at Revolution Hall. The series [will] blur the lines between classical music, jazz and indie rock. Grammy Award-winning bassist esperanza spalding, who grew up in Portland, kicks off the series with two concerts at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. I asked if there was a Portland-y sound. ‘I don’t know if there is a Portland sound in our jazz music, but if there is, I’m so far in it that I can’t say,’ spalding said. ‘Our land here is so distinct—water, rivers, mountains. The confluence of all that is here, and this is one of the best cities that holds all these elements in one place…. I’m very involved with our relationship to the land … and how we draw inspiration from that…. I’m so interested in how the arts support our communities. We are a music-ing people, so thinking about music as a way into elder care, or birth, or educating youth.’ ”

Julia Bullock Plans Big for 2026 Cincinnati May Festival

Posted on October 17, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Thursday’s (10/16) Cincinnati Business Courier, Janelle Gelfand writes, “In Julia Bullock’s one-year role as festival director, the Cincinnati May Festival’s 2026 season will be eclectic and include many firsts. The music of Black composers alongside historic festival repertoire will be celebrated over the span of the festival’s four main concerts, May 15-23, 2026, in Music Hall. There will be collaborations with Cincinnati Ballet’s Second Company and the Classical Roots Community Choir, both for the first time…. Cristian Măcelaru, the new music director of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, will make his festival debut as conductor … Conductors for the second weekend will be the May Festival’s Director of Choruses Matthew Swanson and guest conductor Anthony Parnther, who is music director of California’s San Bernardino Symphony … The inventive season co-curated by Bullock and Swanson will include selections from the ‘Good News Mass’ by American composer Carlos Simon … The festival will present … Stravinsky’s ‘Les noces’ and Carl Orff’s ‘Catulli Carmina’ … Bullock, who is a Grammy-winning soprano … will also perform as soloist with the May Festival Chorus and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in multiple works … On May 23, Bullock will perform the role of Bess in selections from the Gershwins’ ‘Porgy and Bess,’ with baritone Alfred Walker [as] Porgy.”

New Jersey Youth Symphony to Celebrate “Festival of the Moon” with Other NJ Arts Groups

Posted on October 15, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Thursday’s (10/9) New Jersey Arts, Courtney Smith writes, “New Jersey Youth Symphony is shooting for the moon in an astronomical partnership with The Union County Performing Arts Center, whose 17-day Festival of the Moon opened on Oct. 4 with a diverse lineup of more than 20 cultural events, centered thematically on the moon. The Youth Symphony will explore mankind’s connections to the cosmos with two concerts: The Moon Festival Education Concert, Oct. 15, and Lunar Rising: A Symphony in Light and Sound, Oct. 18…. They will continue the celestial theme with ‘Galaxies of Joy: The Planets in Concert,’ Dec. 13 … All three performances will take place on the Rahway venue’s Main Stage, and will be led by Helen H. Cha-Pyo. The festival is one small step for New Jersey arts and one giant leap for the Youth Symphony, who will be featured along with other leading New Jersey-based arts organizations … This will be the Youth Symphony’s third education concert with UCPAC, a partnership that began a few years ago to create free concerts for students. The first one took place in February 2024 to celebrate Black History Month, and was followed by a Women’s History Month concert in March of this year.”

Eastern Music Festival Ceases Operations After 64 Years

Posted on October 7, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Monday’s (10/6) WXII 12 (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), Christian Petersen reports, “After 64 years, the Eastern Music Festival is disbanding. The organization focuses on educating young musicians and hosts a five-week music festival each year at Guilford College [in Greensboro, North Carolina]. The organization’s board of directors says a labor disagreement with faculty musicians forced them to dissolve the nonprofit that educated more than 10,000 musicians in its storied history. The Eastern Music Festival is a nationally recognized summer educational music program for young, gifted musicians. It was a place for faculty and students from all over the world to learn and strengthen their skills during the five-week course at Guilford College. In 2023, the faculty voted to unionize, and since that time, the festival has been in negotiations with the American Federation of Musicians. Chris Williams, the executive director of the festival, says the two sides had different visions about the future of the program. Rather than continue to negotiate, the board voted to disband the nonprofit…. [The television station] reached out to the American Federation of Musicians for a comment but [has] not heard back.” In February, the organization announced the cancellation of the 2025 festival when management and faculty, represented by AFM, were unable to agree on contract terms.

Belgian Music Festival Disinvites Munich Philharmonic Over Concerns About Israeli Conductor’s Views, Raising Outcry

Posted on September 12, 2025 by - News Briefs

In Thursday’s (9/11) Independent (U.K.), Harry Cockburn writes, “A Belgian music festival has cancelled a performance by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra over a perceived lack of ‘clarity’ on its Israeli conductor’s views on the Middle East conflict, sparking accusations of antisemitism from the German government. Flanders Festival Ghent, which attracts up to 50,000 people a year, said it had made the decision to cancel the concert, to be performed with the orchestra’s future chief conductor, Lahav Shani, because … ‘Shani has spoken out in favor of peace and reconciliation several times in the past, but in the light of his role as the chief conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, we are unable to provide sufficient clarity about his attitude to the genocidal regime [in Tel Aviv]. In line with the call from the minister of culture, the city council of Ghent and the cultural sector in Ghent, we have chosen to refrain from collaboration with partners who have not distanced themselves unequivocally from that regime.’ However, Belgium’s foreign minister Maxime Prévot … warned against conflating Israeli and Jewish identity with actions taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government…. Mr. Shani … has not commented on the cancellation of the performance … The Munich Philharmonic Orchestra said it was ‘appalled’ at the decision.”

Update: In Friday’s Opera Wire, Francisco Salazar writes, “In response to the Munich Philharmonic’s disinvitation by the Flanders Festival Ghent, the Musikfest Berlin has invited the orchestra and conductor Lahav Shani to perform on Sept. 15, 2025. The festival announced the news, noting the guest performance has been arranged as a joint initiative of the Berliner Festspiele and the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation in cooperation with Konzerthaus Berlin…. The concert comes after the Berlin Philharmonic and the Berlin State Opera spoke out against the cancellation of the Ghent concert due to Shani’s involvement with the Israel Philharmonic. The Berlin Philharmonic noted, ‘We express our full solidarity with Lahav Shani, the violinist Lisa Batiashvili, who is also affected, and our colleagues at the Munich Philharmonic. We are very grateful to the team at Musikfest Berlin and the Konzerthaus Berlin for organizing a performance by the Munich Philharmonic, Lahav Shani, and Lisa Batiashvili during the Musikfest Berlin at short notice, on the initiative of the Berliner Festspiele and the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation.’ ”