The following pianists have got through round 1:

Sergei Redkin; Maria Mazo (pictured); Reed Tetzloff; Ilya Rashkovsky; George Li; Lucas Debargue; Lukas Geniušas; Daniel Kharitonov; Julia Kociuban; Mikhail Turpanov; Nikolay Medvedev; Dmitry Masleev.

The lone UK competitor, Alexander Ullman, was eliminated.

 

maria mazo

 

These are the violinists who made it into round 2: Christopher Tun Andersen; Alexandra Conunova; Yoo Jin Jang; Clara-Jumi Kang; Haik Kazazyan; Bomsori Kim; Younguk Kim; Mayu Kishima; Pavel Milyukov; Sergei Pospelov; Stepan Starikov; Yu-Chien Tseng

And cellists: Fedor Amosov; Alexander Buzlov; Tristan Cornut; Leonard Elschenbroich; Pablo Ferrández-Castro; Andrei Ionuț Ioniță; Seung Min Kang; Anastasia Kobekina; Bruno Philippe; Alexander Ramm; Jonathan Roozeman; Valentino Worlitzsch.

 

 

We have been informed of the death today of Brian Fennelly, a widely performed composer who lived in upstate New York.

brian fennelly

Brian was professor of music in the Faculty of Arts and Science at New York University from 1968 to 1997, and Professor Emeritus until his death.

We have received these impressions of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015 from the South African baritone Njabulo Madlala:

 

njabulo

The Cardiff Singer of the World’s diversity is really inspiring and assuring. It needs to be congratulated, encouraged and celebrated. The work is terrific! I have watched in awe and wonder.

During this week of the competition I have seen so many people on there that look like me. This is not to say that is what I am constantly looking for but when one sees it it’s impact is huge. On stage I have seen incredible talent of all races,  within the team of presenters and this year even on the panel there is that fantastic singer Claron McFadden. This is something I don’t think has happened before and boy do we need it. We need more of this kind of embrace everywhere especially in classical music where this is happening in very small numbers. I have a lot of admiration and respect for this kind of effort.

The embrace as I call it is not only interesting, morally correct but it’s also desperately needed by the kids aspiring to go into the field and those who could potentially make future opera stars. It makes me proud to have chosen this career path and most importantly to have chosen to come to the UK to study and pursue it where there is always possibility for change and dialogue.

There will be a lot, a lot of young black, Asian etc kids watching and thinking, I can do this too. It’s not just something for a certain few anymore.

It might sound like I am racially aware and maybe I am, I don’t know. But what I do know for sure is this, we and the children need role models and sometimes they really do have to look like us for the message to hit home.

This embrace says to the children and all of us that there are no boundaries and that anything can happen in the arts. How fortunate for us that we have this platform and that we can use it as catalyst that will continue to fuel all our desires for change. Thank you Cardiff Singer of the World ‪#‎BBC‬

(c) Njabulo Madlala/Slipped Disc

Jongmin Park, 28, from South Korea, won the Song Prize at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015.

He is also one of five finalists in tomorrow’s main prize final.

jongmin park

John Terauds on MusicalToronto touches on one of the great music industry anxieties: what will happen when newspapers stop publishing reviews?

Is there mileage in the new model of venues paying critics to attend and review on their own websites?

We happen to think that independent, credible sites like Chicago Classical Review, written by trusted critics, are an important addition to the musical ecology.

John T seems to think the same. Read his think-piece here.

music critic cartoon