Fabiola Gianotti, the new head of the CERN ‘big bang’ centre in Geneva and a world leader in the field of particle physics, is – we hear – an accomplished pianist who once considered a fulltime concert career.

fabiola gianotti

She is the first woman and the first Italian to hold this post at the very frontier of science.

Last year, the winner of the Nobel prize for medicine and physiology, Thomas Südhof, said he ‘owed it all’ to methods he had acquired from his bassoon teacher.

Like many eminent scientists from Albert Einstein onwards, Fabiola regards music as an essential part of her education, her intellect, her science and her civilisation.

The only people who fail to understand this are called politicians.

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This is Talia Ilan with the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra, three weeks after giving birth to her second daughter Shira Beatriz Ilan-Xu. She tried to change the date, but couldn’t find a sub. So she conducted on two hours’ sleep.

The baby stayed at home with her father, conductor Yi-An Xu, who himself  sent a replacement to rehearse his orchestra in Rehovot.

 

They set up a Fanny Mendelssohn prize in Berlin, in memory of a fabulous woman composer who couldn’t break the glass ceiling.

Nice idea. But they’ve given the inaugural prize and ten grand in Euros to a male trumpet player, Tamás Pálfalvi.

So much for good intentions.
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The Belgian harpsichordist Jos van Immerseel is publishing a photo novel to illuminate his new recording with Anima Eterna of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana.

It all seems terribly tame. If you illustrated the real Carmina, it would be strictly for adults. This one’s out next week, fun for all the family.

carmina burana

 

 

The other Simon – Simon Halsey – is leaving Berlin after a dozen years as artistic director of the radio chorus and (more recently) as head of the Berlin Philharmonic youth choral programme. He wants to spend more time with his family in England, where he chorus director of the LSO, as well as of the city of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (since 1983).

Berlin launched an international search. Today it has announced Simon’s successor.

 

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He is Gijs Leenaars, 36, head of the Netherlands radio chorus.

No pressure, then.

 

halsey Gijs Leenaars

Gareth Davies, the first orchestra blogger and by far the best, calls it quits today after seven years on the laptop.

Too many cheap imitators, he says.

Back to the flute, then.

(Love those Ukip cufflinks).

gareth davies

Gary Hanson, executive director of the Cleveland Orchestra, has told his board to search for a successor. He’s taking early retirement a year from now, after 11 years as chief and 28 with the orchestra.

He recently renewed Franz Welser-Möst’s contract as music director to 2022, ensuring artistic continuity.

Hanson, a Canadian, is one of the most thoughtful and resourceful managers on a depleted US scene. He has kept the orchestra afloat in a troubled city economy by establishing residencies in Miami and several European festivals. Cleveland is in good shape, but it will need to search high and wide for a visionary leader for the next decades. No obvious names spring to mind.

Press release below:

 

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CLEVELAND  – Gary Hanson, Executive Director of The Cleveland Orchestra, has announced his plans to retire in October, 2015.  At the time of his retirement, Mr. Hanson will have served the institution for almost 28  years, with more than 11 years in his current position.

 

In making the announcement, Gary Hanson said, “Leading our extraordinary staff in the service of this great Orchestra is a true privilege.  I’m proud of our accomplishments together in a time of immense change and challenge for orchestras.  At the same time, I look forward to turning over the reins late next year to the next executive leader who can pursue ever-greater institutional achievements.”

 

Mr. Hanson continued: “It is an honor for me to share in the stewardship of  this remarkable Orchestra, which means so much to me, especially the opportunity to work side-by-side with Franz Welser-Möst, whose artistic and institutional impact is without peer in the world today.  Likewise, I have been fortunate to serve the dedicated and generous Board of the Musical Arts Association under three visionary Presidents, James D Ireland III, Richard J. Bogomolny, and for the past five years,  Dennis W. LaBarre.”

 

Commenting on Mr. Hanson’s forthcoming retirement, Music Director Franz Welser-Möst said: “I have enjoyed a great partnership and warm relationship with Gary for more than a decade.  For me, the highlights of his many achievements are the innovations which he has pursued with incredible energy, wisdom, and intelligence.  I look forward to our final year working together as we seek to evolve this great and storied institution to be ready for the future.”

 

Board President, Dennis LaBarre, noted that “Gary Hanson’s plan to retire at the end of his current contract follows our ongoing consideration of well-planned and orderly leadership transitions. I am very grateful that Gary is providing ample time for the Board to identify the next Executive Director and ensure a seamless succession. I also appreciate Gary’s ongoing tireless efforts on behalf of The Cleveland Orchestra and look forward to his continuing contributions to our progress over the coming year.”

 

Gary Hanson joined the Orchestra’s staff in 1988 as Director of Marketing and Public Relations, a post he held until 1997 when he was appointed Associate Executive Director.  In that role, Mr. Hanson led the renovations of Severance Hall and Blossom Music Center.  He began his tenure as Executive Director in early 2004, as the eighth individual to serve as the Orchestra’s senior executive since its founding.

 

Under his executive leadership,  The Cleveland Orchestra has earned a reputation for innovation based on new initiatives and programs, including its annual residency in Miami, the addition of staged opera and ballet to the season in Cleveland, and the development of the nation’s youngest audience for a symphony orchestra.   In partnership with Franz Welser-Möst, Mr. Hanson has led the expansion of the Orchestra’s international presence and the redoubling of its commitment to education and community engagement.

 

Mr. Hanson plans to retire in Cleveland where he will devote time as a volunteer with civic organizations in addition to consulting in the music industry.

 

The series will be repeated on BBC Radio 3 on successive Monday nights at 10pm:

 24th November, 1st  and 8th December.

Book your fireside seats now. We’ll post links in due course.

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The wild man of the opera stage has been fairly subdued of late. Aside from a brilliant speech at the Polar Prize, he has kept well below the radar.

He’s planning a dance event in New York and a residency at English National Opera early next year, but this hardly goes down as a limelight Sellars year – unless you count him as the hidden hand in the Met’s long-running Klinghoffer furore.

So why has Musical America today named Peter Sellars Artist of the Year?

peter sellars

The award is the more perplexing since it has always previously been given to a musician.

Nina Timofeeva, one of the mid-century stars of the Bolshoi Ballet, has died at the age of 79.

Originally from Leningrad (St Petersburg),Nina joined the Bolshoi in 1956 and built her career on Odette-Odile in Swan Lake.

Her late husband, the composer Kirill Molchanov (1922–1982) wrote music for some of her ballets.

In 1991 she left her post as a choreographer at the Bolshoi and migrated to Israel with her daughter, Nadya, also a ballet dancer.

Ballerina Nina Timofeeva as Odette-Odile

More grim news from the Colon, in Buenos Aires.

On Friday, bits of plaster from ceiling fell into the orchestra pit. Only five cellists were persuaded to risk their lives in that night’s performance.

The musicians are holding daily demonstrations against bad personnel management and bad maintenance of the old building.

Here’s the latest demo:

colon demo

The doomed Danish National Chamber Orchestra has scored more views in five days than anything screened from Copenhagen since Borgen. It has appeared on all manner of joke sites and some serious. Most orchs would die to receive that attention.

But it seems that DR, the national broadcaster, is unmoved. Its bosses are determined to shut down the ensemble, world fame or not.

What more can the orchestra to make its case?
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