Contemporary festival collapses, 100 musicians unpaid

The Newport Contemporary Music Festival, which was meant to feature Philip Glass, Andre Previn and Howard Shore this summer, fell apart in mid-movement and has left an army of furious musicians.

The festival was the brainchild of a 25 year-old impresario, Paul Van Anglen. He blames the collapse on donors who failed to cough up. Musicians found the event amateurish, with insufficient chairs on stage and Van Anglen’s claims to be a conductor unproven.

More than 100 orchestral musicians have gone unpaid.

The Boston Globe has the full gruesome story here.

Van Anglen continues to describe himself on Facebook as Music Director of the Newport Contemporary Music Festival.