A wonderful town? It used to be.

Today’s news is a blip. It will bounce back.

 

The Göttinger Symphony Orchestra has picked former agent Alexander Busche as its managing director, starting next month. It has also added five more years to the contract of Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Nicholas Milton.

Busche, 42, worked for Opus 3 Artists and Sony Classical in Berlin. Before that he held managerial posts at the Tyrol Festival Erl and the Bayreuth Festival.

 

We were sceptical about La Maestra, the women’s-only conducting contest.

But the all-male list of selected candidates at Italy’s Arthur Nikisch Competition suggests equality still has some way to go.

Here’s the list of hopefuls:
Attar Yaniv from ISRAEL
Baltar Gardon Roberto from BELGIUM
Buribayev Yelmar from KAZAKHSTAN
Cheng Jiannan from CHINA
Cohn Maurice from USA
De Godoy Luiz from BRAZIL
Druker Pablo from ARGENTINA
Hasegawa Yuki from JAPAN
Hollander Gabriel from BELGIUM
Hsieh Kenneth from CANADA
Jeong Woltae from SOUTH KOREA
Jeong Yoona from SOUTH KOREA
Jung Hyeju from SOUTH KOREA
Kee Jebat from MALAYSIA
Khudyev Farkhad from USA
Khun Nicholas from GERMANY
Lapedota Sergio from ITALY
Murat Cem Orhan from TURKEY
Park June-Sung from SOUTH KOREA
Prior Alexander from UK
Salazar Marin Jose Angel from VENEZUELA
Scolnik-Brower Sasha from USA
Shetilian Bedros from USA
Smeets Joost from HOLLAND
Stadnyuk Danil from RUSSIA
Vizireanu Vlad from ROMANIA
Vrabec Ondřej from CZECH REPUBLIC
Yao Shun from USA
Yun Hyun-Jin from KOREA
Zhou Dan from CHINA

And this os the one-and-only maestro whose name they are traducing.

An Easter Ring cycle planned for Chemnitz in April-May 2021 has been abandoned due to Covid.

The coming year is looking increasingly bleak.

 

It has been an open secret for months that Emmanuel Ceysson, the Met’s French harpist, was crossing America to join the LA Phil. That appointment was confirmed today, together with the recruitment of the LSO’s ex-librarian Benjamin Picard, who will help them keep the books straight.

Music & Artistic Director Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have announced the appointments of Emmanuel Ceysson to the post of Harp and Benjamin Picard and KT Somero as Librarians.
Ceysson assumes his duties immediately, coming to Los Angeles from New York’s Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, where he served as principal harpist beginning in 2015.
British-born librarian Benjamin Picard holds degrees in Music and Composition from the Universities of Cambridge and Sussex, where he studied under the guidance of Richard Causton, Robin Holloway, Martin Butler and Ed Hughes
In 2016, following his postgraduate studies, he was appointed as Music Librarian of the London Symphony Orchestra. In this role he prepared music for the LSO’s famously busy schedule of concerts and recordings – which includes 70 performances a year at the orchestra’s London home at the Barbican Centre, as well as regular performances at many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and music festivals,

Helga Rabl-Stadler has received a further year’s extension as Festival President through to the end of 2021.

She was the driving force behind this summer’s miraculous festival.

The orchestra has scrapped the rest of its 20-21 season, as Covid rages on.

President and CEO Deborah Borda said: ‘The cancellation of an entire New York Philharmonic season is not only unprecedented — it is devastating, both in its impact on the morale of musicians and audiences, and in its profound economic consequences. We know there was no other choice, but we also know that music is most meaningful when shared with listeners in a common space. We are bolstered by the enthusiastic reaction from New Yorkers to our recent NY Phil Bandwagon concerts and are gratified by private financial support that continues to come in. Most importantly, the Philharmonic is resolved to continue to connect and perform during this time, and beyond. This will not be a silent season, and we eagerly anticipate September 2021, when the entire Orchestra can reunite with our audience. We cannot wait for that first downbeat!’

The Philharmonic will continue to offer free digital content. Activities include pre-recorded performances by small, socially distanced ensembles of Philharmonic musicians in partner venues such as Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center and Manhattan School of Music.

 

We reported earlier that all 100 musicians of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra have been sent to quarantine camp after one of their number tested positive for Covid-19.

And it’s not just the musicians. Their families are also being ordered into quarantine.

Concern is being expressed for a clarinet players, who is pregnant, according to one report. 

Audience members who greeted players after the weekend concerts have been told they are safe, so long as they wore masks.

The status of the concert’s conductor Lio Kuokman.is umclear.

 

The music director Jaap Van Zweden is coming to the end of 14 days quarantine in his hotel and will not conduct next week’s Beethoven concerts, which have been cancelled.

But here’s a twist: Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam attended the opening concert. She is due to meet the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Shenzhen tomorrow. Let’s see if that meeting goes ahead.

UPDATE: A statement from the HK concert hall:

Auditoria Building and Concert Hall of Hong Kong Cultural Centre temporarily closed
*******************************************************************
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) today (October 13) announced that, as a musician who performed at the Concert Hall, Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC) was preliminarily tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Auditoria Building and the Concert Hall of the HKCC will be temporarily closed from today onwards.

The LCSD will arrange thorough cleansing and sterilisation at the venues according to guidelines provided by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP). The Auditoria Building will reopen on October 16, while the Concert Hall on October 25.

The performer concerned last played at the HKCC on October 10 and made no contact with the public during the performances. He underwent temperature check when entering the HKCC and his body temperature was normal.

The LCSD is highly concerned about the COVID-19 epidemic and will continue to maintain close liaison with the CHP. Staff are reminded to pay attention to personal hygiene and to stay vigilant. They should seek medical advice immediately if feeling unwell.

Ends/Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Issued at HKT 19:15 

 

The composer and instrumentalist Jon Gibson died yesterday.

He played in the world premieres of ‘In C,’ ‘Drumming’ and ‘Einstein on the Beach’ and was a founding member of the Philip Glass Ensemble.

We’re hearing cries of ‘foul!’ over a £100,000 Arts Council handout to Nevill Holt Opera in the Midlands.

Nevill Holt was founded by Tory donor and Boris pal David Ross on his estate in Leicestershire.

Ross, 55, is chairman of the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Opera House in London.

Last month, he handed over the running of Nevill Holt Opera, giving the title ‘patron’ to his son, Carl, perhaps to avoid any suspicion of conflict with his own ROH role.

Carl is 17 and still at school. He has just accepted a lavish Arts Council cheque for £85,000.

 

 

Something’s not quite kosher here.

See also: Outrage as Arts Council bails out artist agencies

The soprano Maria Guleghina went demonstrating in Luxembourg yeterday, calling for international recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh, which the Armenians call Artsakh.

‘Artsakh is historically Armenian sacred land,’ she declared.

The Donaueschinger Musiktage, the oldest and best showcase for contemporary music, was scrapped last night due to Covid-19. It was due to take place from October 15 to 18.

‘In view of the rapid development of the past few days, we had no other choice, said artistic director, Björn Gottstein. ‘It’s frustrating and incredibly painful.’

Donaueschingen in the bad boy days