The Phoenix Symphony in Arizona has appointed Tito Munoz, 30, as its next music director. A former assistant conductor at Cleveland and music director of the Lorraine opera and orchestra in France, Tito has long been sighted as a talent waiting to happen.

Raised in New York by immigrant parents from Ecuador and Colombia, he has impressed on guest appearances with major orchs and was well liked in Cleveland. The Phoenix Symphony, aptly named, survived near-bankruptcy in 2011 and has been without a music director since then.

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The Nordbayerischer Kurier, which has inside track on the Wagner Hill, reports today that Eva Wagner-Pasquier will depart as co-director in September 2015 at the end of her contract. That will leave her half-sister Katharina is virtual sole charge – assuming the rubber-stamp board renew her contract which is presently under renegotiation.  (The former Deutsche Oper Berlin chief, Heinz-Dieter Sense, is the third director, in charge of business affairs.)

Eva, 68, is well-connected and respected across the opera world. She has worked in tandem with Katharina for six years and would like to be retained in an advisory capacity (these Wagners never let go). Katharina, on the other hand, may feel she now has enough experience to run the show on her own – as her authoritarian father, Wolfgang, always intended.

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Eva (r.) with Katharina (l.) and key supporter 

A concert by the St. Petersburg Philharmonic with conductor Yuri Temirkanov, will be picketed in San Francisco on March 3 by members of Gays Without Borders.

The group’s organiser, Michael Petrelis, writes: ‘Conductor Temirkanov was one of the Putin 500 Trustees, a group of prominent Russians who endorsed Vladimir Putin’s 2012 reelection bid. On December 14, 2013, he was honored at a gala concert and 75th birthday party by Putin. … After months of escalating violence and stigmatization of LGBT people in Russia, and the beating of Pussy Riot performers during the Olympics, it is crucial that we use cultural visits to send a message of hope and tolerance.’

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Russian policeman about to strike Pussy Riot musicians near Sochi. Credit: Morry Gash, Associated Press

The orchestra awarded its ring of honour today to Franz Welser-Möst, music director of the Vienna State Opera.

‘Today during the interval of the rehearsal at Musikverein, I was awarded with the honorary ring of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra,’ he writes. ‘I was speechless and touched..being very grateful.’

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The ring of honour has been somewhat tarnished by recent revelations that it was conferred in the Third Reich to Nazi murderers.

kiev music Kiev today.

National Symphony of the Ukraine conductor, Theodore Kuchar, writes:  Such atrocities as are being experienced at this present moment have not been seen by the civilized world since the Second World War. For over 400 years, Ukraine has lived under the fear and terror of Russia. History is continuing to repeat itself.

You really wanted to see it, right? It goes on show later this month.

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The Voice of Russia reports overnight that protestors have made a fortress of the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, on the edge of Maidan square. This morning, Putin’s propaganda machine claims the building is being used by snipers to shoot at police.

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Karin Kei Nagano, daughter of the Montreal and Hamburg music director, has just released her first recording – two Mozart concertos with string quartet accompaniment on Analekta – and her first video, a Debussy Arabesque on a newspaper website. Click here.

Karin studies privately in Paris. The Calgary Herald reports: Mother (pianist Mari Kodama) and daughter live mostly in Paris, where Karin is at a level comparable to Grade 10 in a math and science baccalauréat program at a bilingual academy. The family gathers periodically in their flat in Neuilly-sur-Seine, an affluent western suburb, and in other cities as the occasion arises, including San Francisco, still Kent Nagano’s principal residence.

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Yannick Nézet-Séguin has breathed fresh life into Philadelphia’s programming in a bold, yet balanced, season. Details below.

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(Philadelphia, February 19, 2014)—Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and President and CEO Allison Vulgamore today announce The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2014-15 season, the third for Nézet-Séguin, whose leadership of the venerable and innovative ensemble has garnered acclaim from critics and audiences alike since he took the helm in 2012.

 

A hallmark of the 2014-15 season is the 40/40 Project, a broadening of the Orchestra’s repertoire by presenting 40 works not performed on a Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert in the last 40 years, in honor of Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s 40th birthday and in recognition of requests from the Orchestra’s audiences. Other highlights include a month-long “Art of the Pipe Organ” celebration; the culmination of a multi-year requiem exploration with Bernstein’s epic MASS; Rachmaninoff’s complete symphonies; performances that push the boundaries of the concert experience, including a collaboration with the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre; guest appearances from the world’s most revered and critically acclaimed conductors and soloists; and educational Family Concerts and special events. The season’s repertoire spans over 300 years, from Buxtehude to a world premiere commission from Nico Muhly and the North American premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Piano Concerto. The 2014-15 season also includes the Philadelphians’ annual subscription series at Carnegie Hall, an appearance at New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the presentation of China’s National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Orchestra, and a 2015 Tour of Europe.

 

“My first two seasons as music director of The Philadelphia Orchestra were a time of learning, of getting to know the exceptional musicians of the Orchestra and the audience,” says Yannick Nézet-Séguin. “And both were eager to help this process of discovery and to share their expectations and desires for our collaboration. Now, in my third season, we are ready to embark on a journey of musical exploration into some new territory with a variety of repertoire. I am very proud of this third season of mine because it is the most diverse in terms of repertoire. As a whole it makes a journey through the great treasure of music that we want to bring you, week after week, an experience that is a special event.”

40/40 Project: Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s 40th birthday provides the context for the 40/40 Project, which will present 40 works not performed on a Philadelphia Orchestra subscription concert in the last 40 years. In response to audience feedback the 40/40 Project will introduce works new to the Orchestra’s repertoire, although often by composers familiar to Philadelphia subscription audiences, as well as works of composers of our time, including Jennifer Higdon and Michael Daugherty, among others. The Project also includes the world premiere of a work by Nico Muhly commissioned by The Philadelphia Orchestra and the North American premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s jazzy and rhythmic Piano Concerto.

Carlos Izcaray studied in El Sistema from the age of three, completing his music education in the US. For three years, he was conductor of the Mozarteum-Caracas Chamber Orchestra. Today, he is based in Berlin. Carlos has asked us to circulate his appeal below for an end to government-sponsored violence in his home country.

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To my friends and colleagues from the music world, both from Venezuela

and all around the globe.

Through this medium I’d like to call on all of you to unite, with

instruments in hand, to repudiate and strongly manifest against the

rampant violence and human rights violations that are currently being

perpetrated by the Venezuelan government on its own citizenry. Lets

render our tribute of support to those who have exposed and given

their lives whilst defending our Liberty. This basic right of all free

people has now been unequivocally sequestered by a despotic and

tyrannical Government, one that wishes to lead through fear,

intimidation, and violence.

This special event, which we have titled CONCERT FOR THE LIBERTY OF

VENEZUELA, and that will take place in Berlin, Germany, will serve as

our protest and condemnation of the barbarities that our people are

being subjected to, specially those calling for the restoration of

Democracy and its basic rights. We will also articulate a strong

message to the whole world, not just with our art, but also with our

ideas and reigning civic spirit.

We find ourselves in a profound cycle of sadness and frustration,

terrorized by the images and stories that reach us from our homeland.

Therefore, as a Venezuelan, I feel it is my civil obligation to share

the numerous stories of atrocities and abuses that a nation claiming

for its freedom is being subjected to. Venezuela has been erased from

the democratic landscape by a wave of shortages, censure of the press,

violence, and a polarizing message by a dictatorship that must now be

openly exposed.

I have personally survived and witnessed the injustices, systematical

tortures, humiliations, and other attempts against humanity that this

regime continues to inflict on our youth. For this reason, and without

the ability to stomach any more of this cruel violence, I commit

myself fully to this event, while also shouting “Enough is

enough!”

It is important to clarify that our intention is to remain

pluralistic, peaceful, and open to all. No one is obligated to attend,

but I will certainly be there. For this cause, I’m even willing to

go it alone in the company of my cello and a full set of empty stands

and chairs. Naturally, though, the stage remains open to all who

believe in these ideals and wish to participate.

The Facebook group CONCIERTO PARA LA LIBERTAD FE VENEZUELA has been

created exclusively to consolidate all the different criteria, and

specially to provide a medium through which we can face the logistical

challenges ahead. As professionals, it is important to point out that

we must totally abstain from publishing destructive criticisms and/or

out of place comments in the site. It is also imperative that we

transmit a message of unity and civil courage, which our country

desperately needs.

We all do what we do for a reason, and what a blessing to know that in

epic moments of history such as these we can bravely contribute and

fight for that sacrosanct right which is OUR Liberty. I’d also like

to invite the whole Venezuelan and world community to help us with

this endeavor. Every grain is worth gold.

Just as Venezuela itself, the program is still to be determined,

depending on our own collective effort and summoning power. Together,

we can help our own and make history!

Anybody willing to help? Please sign up!

Carlos Izcaray

After months in which the top classical record was barely sold 400 copies a week, those Decca nuns from Missouri have just gone through the convent roof.

Benedictines of Mary album Lent at Ephesus sold 8,160 copies last week, according to Nielsen Soundscan. The previous album Angels and Saints piggybacked at 1,670 copies.

Below that it was back to normal. Next best-selling albums were Simone Dinnerstein’s Bach (360) and Anne Akiko Meyers’ Vivaldi (345).

 

decca's nuns

Salah Salahadyn claims he played violin as a kid and took good care of the instrument he stole, wrapping it in his own baby’s blanket. The Milwaukee suspect in the theft of Frank Almond’s Strad turned up of his own volition at a TV station.

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