Biz buzz: Leeds winner quits London agent

The American pianist Eric Lu, winner of the 2018 Leeds competition, has made an early career change.

Lu, 25, signed this week with Romain Blondel’s  Solea management in france for worldwide representation. He was previously with AskonasHolt (AH) in London as part of his Leeds prize.

In other moves, IMG reeled in the Colombian conductor Ana María Patiño-Osorio, Jonathan Nott’s assistant in Geneva, and AH signed the Finnish-American tenor Miles Mykkanen.

Tafelmusik named Glenn Hodges, head of the Canadian Music Center, as its new executive director.

And New York got a new opera company, Marshall Opera, specialising in 20/21 century rep. The chief conductor is Mark Shapiro.