We hear from friends (and on social media) that Stephen Cleobury, director of choir at Kings College Cambridge, is in hospital after a collision with a bicycle in the town.

We send him wishes for a speedy recovery.

Services and concerts at Kings are being continued by colleagues.

Stephen, who is 69, will step down from his post after 37 years in October 2019.

 

UPDATE:

The Provost of King’s College, Cambridge, Professor Mike Proctor, has confirmed the reports that Stephen Cleobury is currently recovering from an accident.

“Our warmest thoughts are with Stephen and his family and we wish him a speedy return to full health. We know he is keen to be back with us and look forward to his return when his recovery is complete.”

2nd UPDATE: Stephen says he is on the mend.

Press release:

NEW YORK  ––  The Juilliard School announced today that it has received a bequest from Academy Award-winning composer and conductor John Williams of his complete library of concert music and film music scores as well as his sketchbooks. Mr. Williams, who studied piano with longtime Juilliard faculty member Rosina Lhévinne, announced the gift at a special alumni event held in Los Angeles at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, where Mr. Williams was also presented with a President’s Medal by Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi.

Acknowledging this gift, Juilliard President Joseph W. Polisi said, “We are deeply grateful to John for his extraordinary generosity in bequeathing Juilliard his extensive library of both concert and film scores. John has been a wonderful friend and colleague for many years. His artistry, creativity, and endless imagination make him one of the most admired and respected musicians of our time. His gift will be a unique resource for all of our musicians at the school, particularly composition students who can study first-hand John’s breadth and versatility as a composer.”

“Since my earliest days as a fledgling piano student, I have looked up to the Juilliard School as the Mecca for the study of music in our country and beyond,” Mr. Williams said. “It’s therefore a privilege for me to donate my sketches, papers, and scores to Juilliard, to be made available to those students particularly interested in the intimate processes of film scoring.“

UPDATE: John Williams builds up his London base.

 

This is a Vladimir Putin’s ‘election’ rally in Moscow on March 3.

And who’s this on stage, backing up his President?

Maestro Gergiev.

 

The Toronto conductor Noel Edison has issued a statement through his lawyer, offering to ‘fully cooperate with the investigation’ by Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and Elora Singers.

Edison was suspended by both organisations last week after allegations of sexual impropriety.

He adds: ‘There may have been times when my actions have been misconstrued. If my actions were taken in a way that I did not intend, I take responsibility for that mistake and unreservedly apologize to anyone who was made, even inadvertently, to feel uncomfortable.’

More here.

 

The Vienna Symphony is advertising for not one fulltime concertmaster but two, which is unusual.

Not clear yet who is pulling out.

One position comes with a Guadagnini attached. It also entails summer on the lake.

Deadline for applying: March 8.

Apply here.

 

As predicted, the next intendant of Bavarian State Opera from 2021 will be the Belgian Serge Dorny. The next music director will be the Berlin-based Russian, Vladimir Jurowsky.

Dorny, presently at Lyon Opera, has been exposed for living high on expenses. His previous ‘Sun King’ appointment at Dresden was terminated before he could take the job. Munich must be very confident of his competence.

Jurowski, former music director at Glyndebourne and presently at the London Philharmonic, has extensive operatic experience.

They will succeed the outstanding Nikolaus Bachler, who is retiring, and Kirill Petrenko, who will head the Berlin Philharmonic.

 

The BL has uploaded the personal diary in which Mozart jotted down themes from new works as he finished them in the last seven years of his life.

The manuscript is from the Stefan Zweig bequest. Bookmark it here and return whenever you have time.

 

Kevin Case, counsel to the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, spells out the nitty-gritty of the Trump tax-reform bill:

Under prior tax law, if you were an employee, the IRS allowed a deduction for “ordinary and necessary expenses” incurred in connection with your job. An expense is “ordinary” if it is “common and accepted” in your field; it is “necessary” if it is “helpful and appropriate” for your business. The expense didn’t need to be required by your employer to be deductible.

Many members of ICSOM orchestras have been taking advantage of that deduction for years. It isn’t hard to see why. Orchestral musicians incur substantial expenses in connection with their employment: union dues, work dues, concert clothing, unreimbursed travel expenses (including audition travel expenses), repairs and supplies for instruments, and—most importantly—the instruments themselves. Prior law—which includes the 2017 tax year for which many have not yet filed—allowed a tax deduction for all of that. If you’re a string player in particular, chances are you paid a very large amount of money for your instrument(s) and bows. You’ve been allowed to depreciate that property and deduct the value of that depreciation as an Employee Business Expense over a period of years or even, in certain circumstances, in a single year.

No more. …

Read on here.

 

Sad message from Gauteng Opera which has trained a generation of South African singers:

Gauteng Opera has for the past 18 years worked to offer the Gauteng public as much opera and classical music as possible and in that time, we have also developed and trained over 150 singers, technical experts and arts administrators. We have managed to offer opera of the highest possible standard while investing in young talent.

Due to the prevailing socioeconomic environment, it has proven very difficult for Gauteng Opera to raise enough funds to cover all its operational needs. So, it is with a heavy heart that the board of Gauteng Opera has resolved to shut down the company and cease all operations by 31 March 2018.

This has been an agonizing decision, and the Board and Management of Gauteng Opera considered all available options, and short of a miracle we will not be able, in good conscience, and indeed within our requirements, carry on and risk putting the company and all its stakeholders knowingly in peril.

The Board and Management of Gauteng Opera will over the coming weeks do our best to make sure we care for the many people who have made this organization what it has been.

We encourage all patrons, supporters and stakeholders to attend our last performance of Sacred Songs at the Tin Town Theatre on Sunday, 18 March 2018 at 15:00. All proceeds and donations will go to ensure a last salary for the artists and staff of Gauteng Opera.

 

From an interview with Pam Breaux, head of the US National Assembly of State Arts Agencies.

Overall, state governments invest $357.5 million in state arts agencies; that represents about $1.08 per capita. During fiscal year 2018, legislative appropriations to state arts agencies decreased by 2.4%; yet, there are distinctions among the states.  Twenty-two state arts agencies reported increases in 2018; fifteen reported flat funding, and nineteen reported decreases (50 states and 6 jurisdictions total)….

Nothing Trump can do about it.

Read on here.

 

Duchamp won.

 

On March 5, 1968 in Toronto, Marcel Duchamp and John Cage played a game of musical chess. Titled “Reunion,” the event drew an audience of hundreds to the Ryerson Theatre, where the two creative giants would activate a unique auditory experience through a specially constructed chess board that triggered different electronic compositions with each individual move…

Read on here.

 

photo caption: John Cage, “Reunion,” Gordon Ryerson Institute, University of Toronto, Ontario, March 5, 1968. Players: John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, and Teeny Duchamp. Musicians: David Behrman, David Tudor, and Lowell Cross (photo by Shigeko Kubota, courtesy the John Cage Trust)

The composer Thomas Pernes has died at home in Vienna after a severe illness.

A student of the quirky Haubenstock-Ramati, he broke out of the new music ghetto to interpolate elements of jazz, pop, minimalism and electronics in his pieces.

His works were performed worldwide.