Kevin Purrone is the pianist at Josef Gingold’s masterclass.
Does he play this bravely today?
Daniel Lebhardt is the pianist at a lecture I am giving today in the Wigmore Hall.
At the drop of a hat, he has learned half a dozen pieces I selected for the occasion, one of extreme difficulty.
The violinist Yi-Wen Jiang is suing the Shanghai Quartet for half a million dollars in unfair dismissal, arguing that he was forced to resign after the other players objected to social-media comments he had made that were critical of the Chinese regime.
The quartet formed in Shanghai in 1983 and is resident at Montclair State University in New Jersey.
It says the violinist resigned of his own free well.
The case continues.
Andrew Litton, music director of New York City Ballet, has solemnised his marriage to Katharina Kang, its principal violist.
Litton, 61, was previously music director in Dallas, Bergen and Colorado and previously married to the harpist Dotian Levalier.
He writes: So, in spite of the worst year professionally I’ve had since I was 18 years old, I am proud to announce that one week ago, I married the amazing Katharina Kang Litton!! I am very happy and truly blessed!
Brazilians have been shocked by the arrest of a cellist in a youth orchestra for a crime that took place while he was playing on stage. The judge ruled nonetheless that the young man should be kept in custody. The conductor went berserk and got the media involved. The police and the judge stand accused of racism.
Full story here.
He’s out now.
The LA composer Bill Pursell, twice nominated for a Grammy, has died at 93 of a ‘very fast, tough battle with COVID pneumonia.’
He wrote the earworm hit of 1963.
In a long-running career with Columbia Records he accompanied Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, Jim Reeves, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan. Later he taught composition at the Belmont University School of Music in Nashville.
From Jack DeJohnette, former member of the Keith Jarrett Trio*:
‘It is with deep sadness that we mourn the passing of the great Gary Peacock. I had the good fortune to have spent over 30 years playing some amazing music with him both separately and the Trio with Keith Jarrett. Gary had a great sound, feel and highly creative imagination. It was Gary’s album on ECM, Tales of Another that brought us together, after that we decided to stay playing together, and the rest is history. I have a lot of love and gratitude for what he has contributed to the music we call Jazz. Lydia and I send our deepest love to the Peacock family you are in our hearts always.’
Peacock, who was 85, played originally in Miles Davis’s quintet, later as a soloist.
* A caveat to this report has been raised by an unverified site . We are seeking clarification. In the meantime, we rely on this:
