Expect to see that dress some time soon at Carnegie Hall.
Marc Feldman, chief executive of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne, shares this:
Yesterday, the principal bassoon of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne which I direct did something extraordinary – I mean really extraordinary. He ran 100km (62 miles 2/12 marathons) in support of music education. We hope that every kilometre that he completed will have its sponsor.
And – he completed the whole race – 25k in 3 hours, the marathon in 5 hours, 71 km in 10 hours and the last stretch at night to finish 100km at 16:20:55! An inspiring performance by Marc Mouginot. Support him and us, in our effort to have every kilometre sponsored in favor of music ed. Go here to show your support and 100 Bravos for Marc.
We were sent this promo vid for a forthcoming series ‘Classical Music in Modern Dress’.
All well and good, but what does it add to the music?
The organiser tells us:
Musicians and researchers from London College of Music, UWL will be creating an extraordinary immersive sonic and visual world of classical music re-imagined for the 21st century at King’s Place, London on October 7th. Pieces by Chopin, Debussy, Franck, Haydn, Ravel and Shostakovich will be performed on digital keyboards and an electric string quartet and mixed and processed live into a surround sound audio system. This UK Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project is experimenting with fresh interpretations of music from the classical repertoire by taking a leaf out of the book of modern Shakespearian theatre and staging Classical Music “In Modern Dress”.
Professor Simon Zagorski-Thomas, the leader of the project, says: “We’re using our interpretations of these familiar pieces to devise dub mixes, multimedia surround-sound projections and expressive audio visual processing that we think sheds new light on old favourites. We’re performing Shostakovich’s dramatic 8th string quartet through a battery of guitar effects pedals. We’re drawing on Haydn’s playful wit and imaginative variation in his Piano Sonata in C to vary the sounds as well as the pitches and rhythms – getting inside the piano and scratching, scraping and hitting it. And we’re expanding on the impressionistic aspects of the Ravel and Debussy pieces to create sensuous and evocative surround sound environments that conjure up the various magical, whimsical and wistful narratives of the music.”
Professor Zagorski-Thomas will be joined in the performance by Dr. Andrew Bourbon, Dr. Emilie Capulet and Nataša Šarčević of London College of Music, postgraduate students Trinh Lu, Sulhee Kim and the Konvalia Electric String Quartet.
Got it?
When a disabled audience member cried out with joy and an audience member objected during a philharmonic concert in Gothenburg, Sweden, it sparked an international debate on concert etiquette.
This weekend the Detroit SO launched a pilot scheme by opening its first rehearsal of the new season to a group of students with special needs from Glen Peters School of the Macomb Intermediate School District. The initiative was held in memory of Nathan Suida, who passed away at DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan in June. A music lover, Nathan’s desire to see the DSO live sparked a conversation about ways to make performances at Orchestra Hall more accessible and enjoyable for individuals with special needs.
Way to go.
Singer of the year (f) is DiDonato and (m) is Kaufmann. So far, so respectable in the German Echo Klassik awards.
But you’ll never guess orchestra of the year. Click the link above.
Various readers have asked to hear hazan (cantor) Ari Schwartz who sang the memorial prayer for the fallen of 9/11 before Pope Francis at Ground Zero. Here’s the video:
The cellist will reach his 60th birthday on October 7 and he’s telling jokes about ageing, après-ski and senior bus passes in an interview with Martin Steinberg for the forthcoming November issue of Strings magazine. But he’s also got major issues on his mind.
Where did our high school subjects come from? Our studies are from 1910, so [do] we need to reboot that? How does art fit into that, how does that fit into arts funding and science funding? What are we educating our children for? Is it a transactional thing? Do you pay that money in order to get better jobs or is there something about education that is different?
Read the full interview here.
Luka Okros, 24, a Georgian student of Norma Fisher at the Royal College of Music, has come top in the Iturbi International Piano Competition (2015), in Valencia.
He wins 18,000 Euros and a host of concert engagements.
Second was an Italian, Viviana Lasaracina.
Naomi Lewin will be making her last broadcast on WQXR tonight, Sunday, September 27th.
Naomi is the station’s weekend host and presenter of the weekly podcast Conducting Business. She had been recruited by WQXR from a high-profile position at WGUC, Cincinnati’s classical public radio station.
We don’t think she’s leaving willingly. Neither Naomi nor the station has made any public comment.
Whatever the case, WQXR will not easily replace her hard-won experience and lightly-worn knowledge.
