In a first wobble since the Philadelphia Orchestra went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, principal clarinet Ricardo Morales is moving to Manhattan at the end of next season, writes philly.com

Although he’ll be around til summer of 2012, the announcement is a blow for Philly morale. Soloists of Ricardo’s calibre are hard to come by.
His wife, Amy Oshiro, plays violin in the orchestra.
Here’s his c.v.

RICARDO MORALES joined the Philadelphia Orchestra as principal clarinet in 2003. Prior to this he was principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, a position he assumed at the age of 21. He has also served as principal clarinet of the Florida Symphony. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Morales began his studies at the Escuela Libre de Musica along with his five siblings, who are all distinguished musicians. He continued his studies at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Indiana University, where he received his artist diploma.

Morales has been a featured soloist with many orchestras, including the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Chicago, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Flemish Radio, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Florida, and Columbus symphonies; he has also appeared on the Metropolitan Museum of Art Concert Series. He made his solo debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2004.

An active chamber musician, Morales has performed in the MET Chamber Ensemble series at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, and the Kennedy Center, on NBC’s The Today Show, and with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He is highly sought after for his recitals and master classes, which have taken him throughout North America and Europe. In addition he currently serves on the faculties of the Juilliard School and Temple University.

Morales’ debut solo recording, French Portraits, is available on Boston Records. He has joined forces with acoustician and instrument maker Morrie Backun to create MoBa, a company of top-of-the-line clarinet accessories, including mouthpieces, bells, and barrels.

04/07

A tweet from Oslo tells me that EMI are about to announce a 4-CD deal with the latest Nordic dazzler, the young, blonde trumpet player, Tine Thing Helseth.

Trouble is, EMI already have a young, blonde trumpet player in Alison Balsom.

There is, as Maynard Keynes once wrote, a limit to the public demand for records by young blonde trumpet players.
Which leaves me wondering whether EMI is shrewdly trying to corner an unspotted market. Or whether is has bitten off one trumpet more than it can chew.
Maybe those Citibankers who own EMI know a Thing or two?

Over the past couple of months I have been hearing of orchestras taking longer and longer to pay musicians on return from overseas tours. One of the culprits was the London Mozart Players, an excellent chamber orchestra based in the southern satellite town of Croydon. 

LMP are now telling us why. In an interview with Gigmag, managing director Simon Funnell issues an emergency £50,000 appeal for private philanthropy to stave off a budget shortfall caused by Croydon council cuts. The Arts Council were typically unhelpful.
Prince Edward is leading the cash campaign. I hope he comes up with the goods. LMP, conducted by Gerard Korsten, with Roxanna Panufnik as composer in residence, is the only orchestra serving the southern London conurbations. If LMP were out of action, Croydon should know there would be little point in going ahead with a planned refurbishment of Fairfield Halls. It will have so many dark nights, it might as well be boarded up.
Press release below:

PRESS RELEASE
After more than 60 years the London Mozart Players announces that it is today launching a campaign to secure its future.
The orchestra has worked hard to replace the loss of its Arts Council core funding in 2008. But more is needed. The LMP’s Managing Director, Simon Funnell, said: “This campaign is urgent and vital – if we don’t succeed it is highly likely that the board will have to take the decision to close the orchestra later this year so the stakes are very high indeed. The LMP is one of the finest chamber orchestras in the country and it is crucial that we protect this part of our heritage.”
Simon Funnell continued: “Many arts organisations face challenging times in the coming years; thanks to the deep impact of the recession, Government cuts to the Arts Council, low interest rates and a gloomy outlook on the economy, the orchestra is facing a squeeze on every side: there are more organisations chasing smaller and smaller pots of money.
“Every time we lose a cultural institution like the LMP, we lose something of our humanity and we cannot allow this to happen. The sums of money the LMP need to survive are relatively small but vital if the orchestra is to survive. The government is calling on philanthropists and companies to do more to support the arts, and now the LMP is asking directly f

or that support.”

Over the last two years, the LMP has embarked on an ambitious programme of development, appointing an outstanding music director in Gérard Korsten who has already taken the LMP to new heights, as well as a new Associate Composer, Roxanna Panufnik. The orchestra continues to garner critical acclaim for the almost one hundred concerts, tours and recordings it undertakes each year:
The orchestra’s work off-stage, LMP Interactive, is also highly regarded, with over one hundred projects run each year. In Croydon the LMP has worked with around 30 schools and last year reached almost 3800 children and adults through its community and education work. The orchestra has pioneered cross-generational projects involving both young people and the elderly, was nominated for an RPS award for its “Orchestra in a Village” project at the Cambridge Music Festival and has worked this year with the Princes Foundation for Children & the Arts as well as Orchestras Live and Turner Sims Concert Hall on projects for young people. It was recently nominated for a South Bank Sky Arts Award for its work with Portsmouth Grammar School and the composer Tansy Davies.
The orchestra’s principal funder Croydon Council has continued to support the orchestra through these difficult times and the orchestra’s management cannot thank the Council highly enough for its generosity. The orchestra realises that it cannot expect the council, or the tax payers of Croydon, to be the only funders of an orchestra which works across the country and abroad. The LMP is delighted to have an ongoing relationship both with Croydon Council and with Fairfield Halls both of whom are strong supporters of the orchestra. But the LMP recognises the need to complement this with broader philanthropic support.
The orchestra’s formal appeal will be launched by the orchestra’s Associate Conductor Hilary Davan Wetton at the orchestra’s concert at Fairfield Halls, 7.30pm on Wednesday 20 April 2011.
– ENDS –
For more information contact Simon Funnell, Managing Director, London Mozart Players on 020 8686 1996 or email simon@lmp.org
Press tickets for Wednesday night’s concert are available by emailing Caroline Molloy: caroline@lmp.org

The city of Hamburg is planning a big climax for its two-year Mahler cycle. It’s the eighth symphony conducted by Christoph Eschenbach, with some 500 performers in the O2 arena on May 20.

Before the Creator Spiritus gets moving that night, the audience will hear a new commission from American composer Nathaniel Stookey. Titled Mahl/er/werk – a German word meaning ‘grinding mechanism’, it is made up entirely of fragments of Mahler’s music, all in their original key, tempo and instrumentation. 
Stookey has dedicated the score to Alfred Schnittke, once a citizen of Hamburg, who created many works of out of shards of other men’s music (see Why Mahler?). I’m curious to hear it. There will be a broadcast on NDR.
Logo "Mah/ler/werk": Eine Auftragskomposition von Nathaniel Stookey für den NDR © NDR

One of Deutsche Grammophon’s top producers, Rainer Maillard, has taken up a new venture recording music live to vinyl. It’s not just the sound that gets better, he says on this promo video, it’s the way the musicians play, knowing there can be no second take.

Maillard is a serious man. He’s currently head of the Emile Berliner studios, formerly owned by DG.
Take a look here

                                 Millard, with Alice Sara Ott. photo: DG