Jobs for the boys: New boss at Honens, new judge at Montreal
NewsHonens International Piano Competition has appointed John Kieser as President & CEO. He is presently working in Germany as Director of Partnerships for IDAGIO.
The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) hasreplaced Salvatore Accardo on its jury with the Canadian former Boston concertmaster Malcolm Lowe (pictured).
A competition that claims to be one of the biggest and most important in the world must also have world-class judges!
They should be prominent soloists who are themselves active in the field and can judge it appropriately! Where, for example, is the canadian soloist James Ehnes? He would be the first choice! Not a violinist who teaches orchestral excerpts… sorry
Well Samuel, there are pretty much always more teachers than star performers on any jury. Why is that? Not only because they have more time on their hands to be there, but also because a lot of them have great knowledge of the instrument. Now, you seem to think that Mr. Lowe is merely an orchestral player (in your mind an inferior species), but he is actually a top musician and violinist. Ask anyone who has known or played with any Concertmaster of a major orchestra, and they will tell you how demanding it is. But you can also continue to be ignorant and say that Mr. Lowe is simply a “violinist who teaches orchestral excerpts…” By the way, I much prefer seeing him on a jury than an artistic agent who doesn’t even know how to tune a violin, as it happens too many times.
Congratulations to John and Honens.