The National Symphony Orchestra has hired Gary Ginstling of the Indianapolis Symphony as its executive director.

He succeeds Rita Shapiro, who left at the end of last year.

The NSO was looking for a boss who could draw a  double line under the Eschenbach era and work creatively with the new music director, Gianandrea Noseda.

Imagem, the Dutch firm that owns Boosey & Hawkes, has been sold to Concord Bicycle Music of California.

No-one has mentioned the money yet.

Other details here.

This is a lawyer’s letter describing the abuse suffered by violinist Yennifer Correa while trying to take her violin on board a United flight from Houston to St Louis.

Yennifer actually had to scream for help to stop a United supervisor from forcibly snatching the violin from her hands.

This airline is out of control.

Right click to enlarge the letter.

The German violinist Isabelle Faust has changed agents, signing with New York-based opus3 for North America representation.

She was previously with Bill Capone’s AMG. For the rest of the world she remains with Simmenauer Artists in Berlin.

Christian Thielemann’s advertisement for the new VW-Golf calls to mind the commercial endorsements by conductors in more innocent times.

Remember Hebert von Karajan’s slogan for CD ‘all else is gaslight’?

Or Andre Previn’s TV ads for low-tech television sets?

Any other maestros come to mind?

The veteran George Neikrug, former concertmaster of the Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles symphony orchestras, has been bedridden for a year with two back fractures.

He needs our help to get him up and walking again.

You can help here.