The first prize in the Prague Spring International Competition for oboe has been awarded to Martin Danek.

It appears he is the first Czech winner since 1986.

Martin plays in the Basle symphony orchestra.

 

Five years ago, the once-celebrated Rochester Philharmonic split down the middle over a Norwegian conductor, Arild Remmereit.

After firing Remmereit, the orchestra hired a local lad, Ward Stare, then 31, to heal the divisions.

He seemed inexperienced at the time.

Today, Stare announced he’d had enough.

Rochester was once a hub of adventure and premieres, tied into the Eastman School of Music. Today, it’s almost off the map.

 

 

From the Rascher Saxophone Quartet:

It is with indescribable sadness that we have to inform you that our baritone player and beloved friend, Kenneth David Coon, has passed away yesterday at 15:52.

Ken had been battling cancer over the last months, and yesterday sadly lost his struggle. It was his wish to keep his illness private.

He was 52 years old.

Kenneth had a unique musical gift of immeasurable proportions, and he will be missed dearly on and off the concert stage. We will work very hard to uphold the ideals that he contributed to the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet for well over two decades, and to continue to treat the music with the same undying care and enthusiasm set by his example. May he rest in peace.

Kevin John Edusei, Chief Conductor of the Munich Symphony Orchestra and Bern Opera House, has signed for worldwide management with Intermusica.

He has been working in London with the diversity orchestra Chineke and has a debut booked next season with English National Opera.

Edusei, 42, is of Edusei is of mixed Ghanaian and German parentage.

 

The film composer has agreedc to write a new anthem for the Olympic Games.

His only condition is that Milan is allowed to host the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Morricone will be 97 when those Games come round.

 

We’ve been informed that contestants William Lee, Stephen Kim, and Stella Chen have withdrawn two weeks before the Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM).

Kim and Chen are presently contesting as finalists in the Queen Elisabeth competition in Brussels. Kim has also been accepted into the Tchaikovsky competition.

The Canadian violinist Melody Ye Yuan has been called in as a replacement, along with the Korean Jung Min Choi and the US-Korean Christine Lim.

Gijs Leenaars, director of Berlin’s radio choir, caused a ruckus at his season launch yesterday at the Dutch Embassy in the city.

I feel, he said, ‘more supported in Berlin than in my own country,’ before renewing his contract for the next five years.

Leenaars, who works with all the Berlin orchestras, will direct the chorus at Kirill Petrenko’s inaugural concert with the Berlin Philharmonic and will give a festive performance of the Bruckner E minor Mass for the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

He’s probably right. Berlin is the best place for an ambitious musician.

A rather sleepy season launch at the Royal Opera House was slightly enlivened yesterday by an arts reporter’s question about the absence of women conductors in main-stage productions.

Oliver Mears, the Royal Opera director, said quite reasonably that achieving a gender balance was a high priority but it was unlikely to happen overnight.

This was blown up into a Guardian headline: One female conductor ‘not acceptable ratio’, admits Royal Opera House

The article continued in admirable virtue-signalling style:

The Royal Opera’s director of opera, Oliver Mears, was asked if that was a good ratio. “No it is not an acceptable ratio at all … of course,” he said. “But this is something which is a long-term project. It’s not going to happen instantly and in the following years we have a much better ratio of female conductors and it is something which is is an absolute priority for us.”

All arts organisations in the UK are under intense – and, many would say, long overdue – scrutiny to translate words and aspirations on diversity into positive action.

Ah well, that’s journalism in 2019.

 

Last October, Leo Sushansky tripped over a dissembled harpsichord in his living room as he ran to answer the phone.

He found another soloist to replace him in the next concert of the National Chamber Ensemble, of which he is artistic director, but he came on to conduct the second half with one arm in a plaster cast.

The last half-year has been an uphill course of physical therapy. One finger emerged half an inch shorter than before.

Cut to the chase: On May 4 in Washington DC, Leo played violin in the premiere of Alexander Goldstein’s Introspective Trio, together with  pianist Carlos Cesar Rodriguez and NSO cellist Steven Honigberg.

These are the finalists in the first-ever contest for bassoonists at the International Tchaikovsky Competition:

Descours Lola / France

 

Lefevre Marceau / France
Stevensson Sebastian / Sweden
Giannotti Raffaele / Italy
Spackova Michaela / Czech Republic
Szymon Michalik / Poland
Batrakova Anastasia / Russia
Jeon Jisu / South Korea
Boichard Marie / France
Kreshchenskyi Mark / Ukraine
Radzevich Yuriy / Russia
Shkaptsov Arseniy / Russia

 

 

These are the finalists in the first-ever trombone offshoot of the International Tchaikovsky Competition:

Akman Tolga / Turkey
Buchanan Michael William / UK

Benoît Dehaine / France
Di Mario Diego / Italy
Koch Kelton James / USA
Krylov Dmitry / Russia
Kusnierek Guilhem / France
Lang Tobias / Switzerland
Lobikov Aleksey / Russia
Nicholas Platoff / USA
Romero John / USA
Steiner Peter / Italy
Tiefenthaler Lucas Jamin / Switzerland

Kirill Karabits has just rolled out his eleventh Bournemouth Symphony season, with the Venezuelan anti-regime pianist Gabriela Montero as artist in residence.

Good call.