He’s shooting Impossible 5, apparently dressed for the Opera Ball.

The Wall Street Journal wins the coveted 2014 Slipped Disc award for Gullible Journalism.

Almost every paragraph of Jennifer Maloney’s song of praise to the Met manager can bedisputed by professionals who worked closely with him.

Gelb overspent wildly at Sony and was about to be fired when a friend of his father’s landed him a job at the Met. He has now landed the Met in the ditch of a lost negotiation.

The rest of the article is false history.

We’re surprised to see the Journal submit to such flagrant spin and congratulate them on the award.

Here’s how the Met musicians, in a statement today, see the future financial control of the house, with the manager Peter Gelb dependent on the approval of an external scrutineer.

Throughout these contentious negotiations, a clear question emerged: What has been driving increased costs? We have maintained that a sustainable future for the Met must be based on cost-saving measures beyond simply cutting employee compensation. Our data-driven approach was substantiated by numbers directly from the Met, and the independent financial analyst, Eugene Keilin, ultimately agreed with our assertion that the Met could best realize major savings through more efficient spending. Moreover, as part of the settlement, the Met’s finances will be subject to unprecedented oversight, with powerful new mechanisms put in place for enforcement and accountability. The contract calls for an “Efficiency Task Force” between artists, management, and the board, which will have direct input on spending practices. Mr. Keilin will continue as a contractually-mandated partner working directly with this task force to trim unnecessary costs, ensuring that the Met can be run more effectively.

We hope our unique system for financial oversight will be a model for other organizations, and will give all stakeholders the means to ensure that the past practices that led us to this brink will not be repeated, here or anywhere else. Critically, the deal accomplishes all of this while preserving the artistic core of the house. The orchestra’s base compensation rate remains untouched and will see an increase in the 4th year. Instead, cuts in compensation will primarily be felt through the reduction of a fixed payment. Met administration will see matching cuts, beyond which management is contractually obligated to cut another $11.25M annually. This arrangement reflects the “Equality of Sacrifice” provision of our pending contract; we are all tightening our belts because it is in everyone’s best interest to see the Met prosper in the coming years.

Jonathan Taylor, who works for several New York orchestras, has written this touching tribute to his friend, the violinist  Mary Whitaker, who was shot dead by robbers at her upstate rural home.

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I had the privilege of working with Mary Whitaker for thirty years, primarily with the Westchester Philharmonic and American Composers Orchestra. Mary was an excellent violinist, good enough to assume principal positions when called upon. She was also a bright, responsible professional, whom I felt comfortable leaving in charge when I could not be present to fulfil my duties as personnel manager. But none of that seems important today.

The outpouring of love from friends and colleagues on Facebook taps feelings that go well beyond respect for her abilities. Although news stories have described her as being private and quiet, I always found her quick with a hug and a smile, almost invariably cheerful. Yet she had a serious side as well, exemplified by her concern and support for fellow musicians that led her to be active on orchestra committees and at the Union.

This concern was always thoughtful, in the sense of being full of thought, and went beyond reflexive concerns. She cared also about the orchestras as institutions. And of course, she loved music, with a special affinity for contemporary music.

She wrote to me this summer, excited that ACO would be playing music of Meredith Monk, and hopeful that she would be performing on that concert. What a loss it is that she has been deprived of that opportunity, and that we have been deprived of her continuing friendship.

All of us in the New York free-lance community are horrified by the manner in which she has been taken from us. But, our collective hearts go out especially to her partner, Suzanne Gilman, whose loss is unimaginable.

Two men are being held in Buffalo, NY, on suspicion of the murder of Mary Whitaker, the orchestra violinist who was found shot dead at her home.

The murder appears to have been connected to theft and burglary. Contrary to earlier police suggestions, Mary was picked as a random victim and not targeted. She was shot twice, in the leg and chest. Her credit cards were used in the region in the hours after her death.

Full local report here.

press release:

Prom 58, 30 August:
We are sorry to announce that Ildikó Komlósi and Ante Jerkunica have had to withdraw from this Prom. We are very grateful to Doris Soffel who will now sing Herodias and Marko Mimica who will now sing First Soldier.

The tragic death of Mary Whitaker, a popular violinist in upstate New York orchestras, remains at this moment unsolved. Mary, 61, was found dead in her isolated summer residence in Chautaqua County, killed by a single shotgun wound.

No motive has been discovered. Her closest neighbours, quarter of a mile away either side, were Amish families. The music world mourns a precious soul.

Katherine Needleman, principal oboe of the Baltimore Symphony, has asked us to share news of the theft of her instrument in Montreal.

A  month ago, we reporteda similar loss suffered by the New York player, Ron Cohen Mann. It could be that some criminal is stealing oboes to order. Katherine’s Yamaha was taken on Tuesday as she and her family were checking out of a Montreal hotel.

 Katherine is offering a $1000 reward for the return of the oboe and to either contact yamahaoboereward@gmail.com or Montreal Police at 514-393-1133with information or to claim the reward.

The death has been announced by violin specialists J&A Beare of Michael Carlton Byrd, who maintained and repaired instruments for thousands of players. He worked at Beares for over 20 years, setting up on his own in 1996.

Among the violins that  he made, one was owned by Yehudi Menuhin.

Michael was 62. He died of lung cancer, though he was a non-smoker.

The cellist Jacob Shaw writes:

He was a friend of many many many top musicians in the UK and looked after all our instruments – very highly respected both as restorer and a person.

press release:
New York, NY (August 21, 2014) – The Metropolitan Opera and IATSE jointly announce tonight that new labor agreements have been secured with the remaining unions whose contracts had expired. Groups with new agreements include six unions represented by IATSE: Local 751 (box office treasurers), Local 764 (costume and wardrobe), Local 794 (camera operators), Local 798 (wigs, hair, and make-up), Local USA 829 (scenic artists and designers), and Local 829EE (bill poster). The Met also reached an agreement with Local 1456 (painter).