Frederick Tinsley, 76, played 42 years in the Philharmonic, joining the double-bass section in 1974.

Before that, he deputised in the New York Philharmonic.

The cause of his death is not known.

Our sympathies to his family and colleagues.

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A survey by New York singers’ agent Doug Schwalbe reveals that the leading North American orchestras are still desperately dependent on a tiny handful of dead white males.

Doug looks at performances by seven orchestras – NY Phil, LA Phil, Boston, San Fran, Toronto, Philadelphia and Dallas – since 2011.

He reports that Beethoven and Mozart accounted for over 15% of  the 9,676 pieces performed.

That proportion rises to 24% when he adds Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

And you wonder why people have stopped going.

 

tchaikovsky death mask

 

Contact doug@schwalbeandpartners.com  to see the full charts.

The Seoul Philharmonic has been headless since Myung Whun Chung quit after being forced to defend himself on baseless charges put up by the former chief exec.

Since then, the orchestra has been avoided by leading conductors, with one notable exception.

Today they have announced two new principal conductors, Thierry Fischer of the Utah Symphony (pictured) and Markus Stenz, of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic.

They will be known respectively as principal guest conductor and conductor-in-residence.

The music director chalice is still seen to be poisoned.

thierry-fischer

There’s an ingenious project going down in Vancouver, Canada, where the City Opera is a putting together a show made up of all the operas that Mozart started and never got to finish.

The Lost Operas of Mozart, constructed by artistic director (and Carlos Kleiber biographer) Charles Barber, is such a surefire hit that you wonder why no-one ever thought of doing it before.

Among other cameo roles at the world premiere is one for Vancouver music director, Bramwell Tovey.

bramwell-tovey

Can we take that one more time a little softer, Maestro?

press release:

The MacArthur Foundation announced the 2016 MacArthur Fellows today, commonly known as the “genius grants,” and this year’s class includes composer Julia Wolfe. Julia and 22 other Fellows will receive a no-strings-attached $625,000 grant for their exceptional creativity and potential for future contributions to their fields.

Julia Wolfe is a composer reimagining American folk traditions and lore in large-scale narrative compositions that synthesize various musical styles, movement, and imagery. Wolfe is deeply interested in legendary narratives, and she uses oral histories and historical documents as a backbone for many of her pieces. She is also a leading arts entrepreneur and plays a key role in fostering the creation and production of contemporary classical music.

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Julia Wolfe, 57 is Associate Professor of Music Composition, Department of Music and Performing Arts, Steinhardt School, New York University. She specialises in American labour and its history.

There was a public announcement in France yesterday that the fast-rising ‘Cité musicale départementale de Boulogne-Billancourt – île Seguin’ in the west of Paris is to be renamed.

And about time, too.

The new name: La Seine Musicale.

Not to be confused with the excellent Canadian classical website of near-identical name.

Think again.

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That’s what you’d think from Arte’s new season promo campaign, a co-pro with the Opera Platform website.

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Think again, guys. Please.

(Right click on pic if you want enlarged version)

The great bass-baritone is 70 today.

Here’s an intensive Wagner interview he gave in 1991 to Bruce Duffie. Click here.

John-Tomlinson

And here was the 2009 Lebrecht Interview which the BBC has taken offline. Maybe they’ll reinstate for the day?

Happy birthday, John Tom!


You have now.
glenngouldhunstein

What does your physician do to relieve stress?

Plays the cello.

In Germany, the doctors have joined up into a Bundesärztekammerphilharmonie.

Opening concert in Hamburg, October 3.

Works by Alberic Magnard, Marko Mihevc and Jean Sibelius, themed ‘An das Leben’.

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Photo: Matthew Brunwasser

From the BrittenPears.org:

Alan Britten, president of the Friends of Aldeburgh, has died at 78. During a career in the oil industry, he rose to become Vice-President for Mobil Europe.

Susan (Sue) Phipps, another lifelong Aldeburgh supporter, has died at 85. Sue was the daughter of Peter Pears’s elder brother Arthur. Her husband, Jack Phipps, was manager of the Aldeburgh Festival, 1979-81. Her son is the composer, Martin Phipps.

Niece and nephew died within days of one another.

alan-britten

The Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse used to be the pride of French orchestras, widely held to be superior to any Paris ensemble.

 

toulouse

 

But Toulouse has fallen on hard times and, despite lavish state and city funding, has been forced to go begging online for money to renew its ageing stock of instruments. Donors are being offered a signed photograph of the music director, Tugan Sokhiev, by way of reward.

So far Toulouse has raised 4,745 Euros towards a target of 10,000.

We’d offer our support, but this is really not the way to go about sustaining a major orchestra in 2016.

For shame.

 

sokhiev-toulouse