Stefan Arzberger, formerly of the Leipzig String Quartet, is taking a small ensemble to Jordan for a tour of Syrian refugee camps.
‘The idea (is) to set a sign of solidarity for the many people who had to flee from crisis-hit areas in the region. And the best way to do so was by using the universally applicable language of music, which contributes at the same time to international understanding,’ Arzberger tells the Jordan Times.
Others taking part are cellist Konstantin Pfiz, violist Béatrice Muthelet and clarinetist Marco Thomas.
They will play eight concerts in Azraq Refugee Camp, Irbid, Mafraq, Salt and Amman.
Last night’s Trovatore was cancelled by the Opéra National de Paris.
The message read: ‘Unfortunately tonight’s performance at Opéra de Paris is cancelled due to a strike. The management of the Paris Opera wishes to apologize to spectators and to propose either a ticket exchange for another performance of the same production, or a refund.’
What time’s the next strike?
Paul Katz has a chilling interview with the cellist Marika Hughes, describing her experiences at the Kronberg Academy’s Feuermann Grand Prix.
‘The Feuermann Compettion is run by a really nasty, racist man,’ she says.
I feel sick to my stomach, hearing the news that my Alma mater, theCleveland Institute of Music has decided not to renew the contract of the Cavani string quartet. I consider the members of that quartet to be some ofthe most important musical mentors of my life, and everywhere I go, it seems to be accepted fact in the chamber music world that the Cavani quartet is top notch in performance and musical education alike. Can’t imagine what lead CIM to this decision, but it will be a much poorer institution as a result.
*
Seriously, Cleveland Institute of Music?? I don’t talk about this much publicly, but in all honesty my experience at CIM was not the greatest – however, the Cavani String Quartet was one of the few things I absolutely LOVED about the school and they definitely were a big part of the reason I continued with music when I went through very difficult moments in my life. What are you doing.
After a period of uncertainty going back to the turn of the century, Chicago has finally fixed its oboe vacancy.
Alex Klein, the previous occupant, was hit by focal dystonia in 2000 and resigned four years later. After a remarkable rehab, he won back his Chicago position in 2016, only to be turned down for tenure the following year. Alex has been commendably forthright about his travails.
Eugene Izotov occupied the seat for a while before moving to San Francisco.
Yesterday, the CSO picked William Welter, 24, of Crescent, Iowa, as its new principal.
A Curtis grad, Welter has stood in with Pittsburgh, NY Phil and Cleveland before attending the Chicago audition.
Welter, playing at Curtis, 2014
They don’t call in the Windy City for nothing.
People catch cold.
On Saturday night, music director Riccardo Muti stopped in the middle of a Cherubini piece when the coughing got too bad.
“I feel deep down that we can make a change in the right direction and that the right direction is about uniting people.” – Nadine Sierra
Nadine Sierra, 2018 winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Beverly Sills Artist Award, has made her first album for Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Gold, having signed an exclusive contract with the labels last year. Recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Robert Spano, There’s a Place for Us is scheduled for international release on 24 August 2018, in time to mark the 100th anniversary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth the following day. The album presents the soprano’s stunning vocal abilities in an eclectic choice of American classical music – as well as works by Bernstein, the repertoire ranges from Stephen Foster and Douglas Moore to Stravinsky and Villa-Lobos, and on again to Ricky Ian Gordon, Osvaldo Golijov and Christopher Theofanidis, with texts in Spanish and Portuguese as well as English. After singing the role of Norina (Don Pasquale) at the Paris Opéra in June and July, Nadine Sierra will perform music from the album at this summer’s major US festivals, including an appearance at Tanglewood’s star-studded Bernstein Centennial Celebration.
The Cleveland Institute of Music has announced a hole in its resident Cavani Quartet.
The quartet, it says, ‘underwent a personnel change in 2016 and last week the ensemble separated from its newest member.’
We assume this is cellist Si-Yan Darren Li.
Nobody’s saying why, and the quartet have put nothing on their website.
Some of our readers have just spotted that one of six men convicted in a £108 million fraud case last year was Evdoros Demetriou, once a senior classical executive at EMI Classics and Warner Music.
But that’s not all. Demetriou, now 79, was also a director of Sinfonietta Productions and of Conifer Records.
Karin Hendrickson has won the new triple whammy of Associate Artist at Sage Gateshead, Assistant Conductor at Royal Northern Sinfonia, and Music Director of Young Sinfonia.
Karin, from Pennsylvania, has been mentored by Marin Alsop, acting as her assistant conductor at the BBC Proms, the Britten-Pears Orchestra, and the Sao Paulo Symphony.
She was one of six “fellows” who participated in the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera a few months back.
Nathan Medd, of Ottawa’s National Arts Center, has been named managing director of performing arts at the Banff Center for Arts.
Medd was responsible for English-language theatre at NAC.
