From the Boston Symphony Orchestra:

We invite furloughed federal employees to join us as our guests on the following dates: January 17 – January 29. Each employee is eligible to receive a pair of tickets, based on availability, with the presentation of a valid government ID.

Available through SymphonyCharge (888.266.1200) and at the Symphony Hall Box Office. Offer not available for previous purchases. Discount valid for concerts listed only. Tickets will be held at the BSO Box Office. Must present a valid Government ID when picking up tickets.

 

The Genoa musician Francesco Raspaolo was fined by an inspector on Intercity 687 of 21.10 on the Milan Central-Genoa Piazza Principe line.

Here’s his account:

I just came home after spending the weekend in Portogruaro for the January appointment of the annual cello masterclass of the “Accademia Santa Cecilia”. To participate in this course I travel always by train, and I’ll tell you what happened yesterday in the Milan Central-Genoa, Intercity Train 687 of 21:10 .

The Controller, in the ticket control tour between Milan and Pavia, disputed the presence of my instrument for its excessive length and for being a public danger in the upper rack.

After leaving me from the place where I was sitting, and after taking pictures of my instrument, … I was fined 50 euros. With the threat of bringing me down to Pavia station and with the risk of having to spend the night there, stating that it was his kind concession to let me complete the journey.

It would therefore seem that for the cellists, but also for the contrabbassisti and for many other instrumentalists, the train trip is an unworkable solution, unless you travel exclusively on regional trains, where it appears to be allowed transport. Then I will enjoy verifying how many days you can reach portogruaro from Genoa, only with regional trains… and always that there are usable combinations.

In Italy there will be several thousands of cellists between professionals, Neo Graduates, students, amateurs, and many of these, like the undersigned, use the train normally… I really hope my case remains the only one, in the ” country of music “.

Cari amici. Vi prego di far sapere a tutti quello che mi è successo!!
Il fatto è molto grave, e rappresenta un caso da non sottovalutare per i miei colleghi musicisti.

Sono appena tornato a casa dopo aver passato il weekend a Portogruaro per l’appuntamento di Gennaio della masterclass annuale di violoncello della “Accademia Santa Cecilia”. Per partecipare a tale corso viaggio sempre in treno, e vi racconto ciò che è accaduto ieri nella tratta “Milano Centrale-Genova Piazza Principe”, treno intercity 687 delle 21:10 (l’ultimo che mi avrebbe potuto riportare a casa).
Il controllore, nel giro di controllo biglietti tra Milano e Pavia, ha contestato la presenza del mio strumento per la eccessiva lunghezza di quest’ultimo, e per la sua pericolosità nel porta bagagli superiore.
Dopo avermi allontanato dal posto nel quale ero seduto, e dopo aver fatto foto al mio strumento, senza interessarsi minimamente del contenuto della mia “navicella di guerre stellari”, così è stata etichettata dal suo collega, sono stato multato di 50 euro con la minaccia di farmi scendere alla stazione di Pavia e con il rischio di dover passare la notte lì, dichiarando che fosse una sua gentile concessione il lasciarmi ultimare il viaggio.

Sembrerebbe quindi che per i violoncellisti, ma anche per i contrabbassisti e per molti altri strumentisti, il viaggio in treno sia una soluzione impraticabile, a meno che non si viaggi esclusivamente su treni regionali, dove pare ne sia consentito il trasporto. Poi mi divertirò a verificare in quanti giorni si possa raggiungere Portogruaro da Genova, solo con i treni regionali… e sempre che ci siano combinazioni fruibili.

In Italia ci saranno diverse migliaia di violoncellisti tra professionisti, neo diplomati, studenti, amatori, e molti di questi, come il sottoscritto, usa il treno abitualmente… mi auguro proprio che il mio caso rimanga l’unico, nel “paese della musica”.

Seth Hettena, author of Trump/Russia: A Definitive History, attempts to shed light on the diaphanous Lola Astanova:

It’s a bit of a mystery as to how Astanova wound up at the White House. The invitation came through an outside producer for the Hallmark Channel, which televised the concert. “She was not recommended by the White House. The referral was sent to me via the music industry,” Kristi Foley, head of Pleasant Street Entertainment, who sent Astanova the invitation on behalf of the National Park Service, tells Rolling Stone….

Read on here.

 

 

Tributes have been pouring in for the influential ear-training teacher and unofficial life coach, Mary Anthony Cox.

This, from the composer Daron Hagen:

Mary Anthony Cox, the famous—and rightly-revered—Boulanger-trained ear-training teacher at Juilliard, has died.

Back in ’84, with what I imagined to be sangfroid, when Mary Anthony informed me that I’d be required to take her ear-training class, I replied, “Ma’am, I don’t foresee having time to practice for your class.” “Fine,” she replied, “as long as you attend for as long as you are at Juilliard.” Our deal. Oh, it was exquisite torment. “Honey,” Mary Anthony would purr, “sing me a half diminished seventh chord in third position starting on la.” My mind would go utterly blank. Then she would make it worse by trying to help clear the air with a simple question. “Daron, dear, you’re at 66th and Broadway and you want to get to 92nd Street. Which train do you get on?” We all sat in a circle. The tension was incredible. Cruel snickers. “Uptown or downtown?” she would sweetly needle. “Ah … um,” I’d begin, having lost the ability to speak, let alone sing, let alone find the pitch la. Worse, out of the corner of my eye I could see my composer pal Martin, bright red, eyes squeezed tightly shut, writhing with the effort required to not lose it on the spot. When Mary Anthony called on Martin, his discomfort, which was every bit as acute as mine, had the exact same effect on me. Never defy an ear-training instructor; never play a trick on a psychiatrist; and never attempt to force potty-training on a toddler—you will lose, and they will win. Wise Mary Anthony laughed last and long: I ended up having to continue practicing ear training for another nine years to teach it properly as one of my duties on the faculty of Bard College.

The day I had my “terminal degree” meeting I had just met with the composition faculty; I ran into Mary Anthony in the school’s lobby. She noted my distress and indicated that I should join her. She asked what was wrong. I put my hands out before me, palms down, and watched them gradually cease trembling. “Honey,” she sighed, “you are a round peg. Graduate school is a square hole. Of course, you can make yourself fit in here, but you don’t belong. You’re a composer. You write music. So, do it. Mozart didn’t need a doctorate to write his operas. You don’t need one to write yours.” The next morning, a few credits shy of the degree, I called the registrar and dropped out of Juilliard. I’ve never regretted the decision and shall always be grateful to Mary Anthony for her wise counsel. She was both terrifying and excellent, formidable and compassionate. She was one of the good ones. I loved her, and I shall miss her.

 

Outside of the string sections, the Ulster Orchestra has only one woman in its ranks – the flautist Jennifer Sturgeon. Woodwind, brass and percussion are a wall of males.

Which may have something to do with reports of bullying and cronyism that have come to our ears.

Not a happy bunch, the Ulstermen.

And they are about to play host to the Association of British Orchestras’ annual conference next weekend.

This is the brochure cover:

Should be fun.

The irrepressible Aleksey Igudesman has persuaded Universal Edition to publish a set of pieces for solo viola, which he hopes will be taken seriously.

Antoine Tamestit kicks them off this morning with a smart warm-up.

You see it here first.

 

Jaime Martín has just been named Principal Conductor of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.

He is also about to become music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and is is charge of the Santander Festival back home.

Since 2013 he has been Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, a job he intends to continue.

Jaime, whose Irish contract is for three years, is a former principal flute of two London orchestras.

The violin educator Kató Havas died on the last day of 2018, at a Biblical age.

Raised in the Budapest of Bartok and Kodaly, she made a Carnegie Hall debut in 1938 and, while raising a family, developed a New Approach to Violin Players which, with Yehudi Menuhin’s endorsement, was translated into a dozen languages. She went on to address Stage Fright: Its Causes and Cures but her principal concern was player injury – how to protect people who play violin and viola from serious physical impairment.

She was a treasure to her profession.

The management wants to cut the musicians’ contract from 52 weeks to 40. The two sides are still talking, but it looks like they have reached deadlock.

Here’s what the musicians tell us:

 

The four-month contract extension between the management of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Corporation and its musicians represented by American Federation of Musicians Local 40-543 expired last night at midnight. The BSO management expressed no desire to extend the contract in writing.

The musicians are fighting in these negotiations to preserve the institution’s identity as a 52-week major orchestra. Our priorities are focused on maintaining a competitive compensation and benefit package that will allow the organization to attract and retain high caliber musicians, on maintaining and improving the health and safety of our musicians, and on empowering the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to bring transcendent performances to audiences in Maryland and beyond.

The BSO management has asked for drastic reductions in the structure of the organization from 52 to 40 weeks. This alone would result in a 20% loss in annual salary and benefits to the musicians. This destructive direction would damage the Baltimore Symphony for generations to come.

The Baltimore Symphony Musicians will continue playing on stage at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and at the Music Center at Strathmore at the highest professional level for our audiences unless management locks us out or unilaterally stops respecting contract terms.

 

We have received a document from Stefana Atlas, the Columbia Artists agent who represents both Lynn Harrell and Carlos Miguel Prieto, showing that the cellist was actually paid $14,830 (282,125 pesos) for a pair of concerts in 2015, not the $275,000 that we reported yesterday, based on an account in a Mexican newspaper.

A further official document, sent to Slipped Disc by a source within the Mexican ministry of culture, reveals a clear discrepancy between the online database and the scanned PDF of artist payouts, which led to fees being misreported. Basically, someone at the ministry mistook pesos for US dollars.

A human error?

Not at all, says our source within the ministry. It’s part of a campaign to destabilise Prieto, who has been music director for 12 years.

Prieto (pictured) has given an interview in New Orleans, where he conducts the Louisiana Philharmonic. He said: ‘This is a ‘lost in translation’ situation. I am kind of saddened (because) I don’t want this to give a bad impression of my country, and it saddens me this … was published without verified information.’

Having seen all the relevant documentation, we are happy to clarify that Harrell and others were paid regular fees in Mexico and not the inflated amounts first quoted. We regret any discomfort caused by the misapprehension.

 

 

 

Jeremy Geffen, head of contemporary music at Carnegie Hall for the past 12 years, is moving to the Bay Area as Executive and Artistic Director of Cal Performances.

He won’t be needing that sweater any more.

 

 

 

 

Javier Menéndez, director of the opera in Oviedo, has been named head of the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville.

Menéndez, 47, is a former assistant to Joan Matabosch at the Liceu in Barcelona.

He has been in charge at Oviedo since 2003.