This cannot be ignored. It’s a regular sight.
Valérie Marie was footling around on the piano at Toulouse-Blagnac airport when a guy came over and asked if she knew Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
He said his name was Grégory Benchenafi and someone recorded their performance.
It went viral on Valérie’s Facebook page with 2.5 million hits in six days.
Now the pair are releasing their first professional tracks on iTunes.
Leonard Cohen had the gift that keeps on giving.
James Zimmermann, principal clarinet at the Nashville Symphony, takes issue – passionately – with a video from the London Philharmonic Orchestra on how to play Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade.
First, the sedate LPO original:
Now, James’s fiery response.
James says: ‘Now I’m all for having consideration for your colleagues, but let’s have consideration for the music, just for a minute.’
Your views?
The director of choir of Kings College, Cambridge, has posted a reassuring message, a week after his accident:
Thank you for all the kind good wishes I have been receiving over the last week. I am happy to say I am very much on the road to recovery.
That is very good news to start the day.
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.
