Ben van Dijk, former principal bass trombone of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, was born in 1955 in The Hague, where his father was solo trombone.
Ben, 68, is now a popular teacher at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague – but not for long. Read this:
To my great disappointment and frustration, I have to share this message with you.
Due to a sudden change in personnel policy, I have been informed that as of December 2025, because of age, I will no longer be able to teach at the Koninklijk Conservatorium – Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.
This is a forced decision and absolutely not my own wish.
For myself, this is very disappointing as I still want to share my expertise with young talents with great passion.
Also, the collaboration with my colleagues Sebastiaan Kemner and Dani Quiles Cascant gives me a lot of positive energy and inspiration.
Together, in a relatively short time, we have built a trombone class of international caliber, with our recent success being the runner-up position in the Remington competition of the International Trombone Association
It’s truly unfortunate that we’re being prevented from continuing as a team down this path. The most frustrating aspect is that this also means I cannot fulfill the commitment I made with a number of young talented bass trombonists I started to work with last September.
This consequence of the school’s new direction is the most difficult for me to accept but because the school is allowed to do this, I can do nothing more than express my deepest dissatisfaction.
Fortunately, I can still work with my students for another year and a half, and we have agreed to make it a great time together.
Unfortunately, this also means that I will have to disappoint anyone interested in studying with me after 2025. I’m confident that a suitable successor will be found for me, and that the trombone class can continue its upward trajectory. Unfortunately, that will be without me.
UPDATE: In the UK this would constitute unlawful discrimination on grounds of age.
Some fascinating stats on public subsidies in BZ-Berlin.
A sampling:
Berliner Philharmoniker: Audience: 241,730, occupancy/seat: 86.4%, ticket revenue: 55.20 euros per seat, subsidy per seat: 110.10 euros, subsidy share: 50%, performances 133
Our partners at Operavision have enabled us to share the remarkable valedictory work of the great Hungarian composer, who died a few days ago, aged 80.
Synopsis
The inhabitants of a small town are terrified by increasing signs of an impending catastrophe and the growing piles of uncollected rubbish on the streets. The confusion is further exacerbated by the late-night arrival of a travelling circus boasting the world’s largest stuffed giant whale and the presence of an expanding crowd of strangers waiting around them in silence. The small circus troupe – at first seeming to consist only of the owner, who styles himself “the director”, and his assistant – also turns out to include a mysterious deformed dwarf named Prince.
At the centre of events is the innocent and well-meaning half-wit János Valuska, who delivers newspapers for the post office. Naively fascinated by the majestic order of the universe, he enthusiastically relates the incredible wonders he has glimpsed to the congregation of apathetic workers who frequent the local pub.
Valuska brings lunch every day to retired Professor, for whom he also runs other errands with tender care and touching delicacy.
The teacher’s estranged wife, Ms. Tünde, the mayor of the city throws herself into organising the “A Tidy Yard, An Orderly House” movement she has launched. To increase her influence, she summons the circus, whose star, the demonic dwarf Prince, urges the disgruntled barbarian mob to destroy, waiting in increasing impatience, ready to jump….
From our agony aunt:
Dear Alma,
I have been in the same chamber orchestra for 34 years. My stand partner, who has been in even longer, and who is an absolute gem of a person, has been declining in ability for the past several years. At this point, it is even difficult to play next to her. We all like her tremendously and try to shield her from criticism, but I don’t know how much longer we can cover for her. I am torn because I both want to help her and at the same time, she is harming the section and orchestra. She comes from a wealthy family and they happily support our group financially.
Should I Say Something?
Dear Should I Say Something,
I wouldn’t say anything. You won’t be able to live with yourself if you do. This situation will resolve itself without your input, in due time. Her membership means much more to the organization than how crisp her eighth notes are or if her bow is legato enough. Her presence means financial stability for the organization, continuity, and community support. And she clearly is also a kind of happy, warm glue for the musicians themselves. Not to mention that she would be very sad to be criticized or kicked out of the group.
I used to play occasionally with a group who had an elderly retired professional as a member. She had built the organization from scratch, from venues to audiences, programming to finances. She was the face of the organization, if not the hands. One day, she said during rehearsal “I just can’t keep up anymore, but I am afraid that if I stop, my life will stop having meaning. I love it so much.” Any one of us could have kept that conversation going, exploring ways she could have found a way to leave. But none of us did. We just told her she must keep playing, that we needed her and the group needed her.
And the look on her face, of utter relief, was worth every moment of when one or the other of us would cue her entrance or double her part if we had rests. It’s about more than any of that. It’s about us taking care of each other and finding joy in all aspects of our musical lives. And as Paul once said, “And in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give”.
Questions for Alma? Please put them in the comments section or send to DearAlmaQuery@gmail.com
The cheapest seats at Davies Hall for Tuesday’s Yo-Yo Ma / Kathryn Stott recital are $499.
Someone’s taken leave of economic reality.
Is this why they can’t afford a music director?
Welsh National Opera has presented its musicians with a reduced contract from April 2025.
Jo Laverty, Musicians Uion National Organiser for Orchestras said: ‘It will be unsustainable for our members to weather such a hit by falling back to salaries they were on five years ago. It is a devastating situation. These proposals are the direct result of underfunding and defunding of opera. It will impact not just on our members but on WNO’s audiences in Wales and England.
‘This is yet another UK opera company having to contemplate their orchestra moving to part-time employment, meaning stable secure jobs in the profession are simply dying out’.
Annual tutti salaries will fall fo £28,000, not a living wage.
In a matter of months, both English and Welsh national operas will have disestablished their orchestras. The entire post-war structure of UK music is now at risk.
La Monnaie’s ambitious, two-part production brings together musical highlights from the sixteen first operas of Giuseppe Verdi to tell a new story streamed live by Slippedisc courtesy of OperaVision. We meet three friends during two key years of their lives: the protest years after May 1968 and a reunion forty years later. Separated by time but linked by their shared past, these friends take stock of what remains of the unrest, violence and idealism of their youthful years, and try to uncover the truth behind an unsolved mystery. The project unfolds over the course of two separate opera performances, Rivoluzione and Nostalgia. With compelling arias, emblematic overtures and such memorable choral parts as ‘Va, pensiero’ from Nabucco, these performances will take us to the heart of Verdi’s musical genius.
Directed by Krystian Lada and conducted by Carlo Goldstein.
PART 2. Late 2000s. A opening in a plush art gallery. Among the hand-picked guests, Carlo, Giuseppe and Lorenzo, three old friends, meet again after many years. Within the installation on display, a documentary showing footage of their revolutionary youth is being screened. Each of them seems to remember that time differently, but they do share one feeling: the shadow of Laura, who disappeared without a trace forty years earlier, still haunts them…
Subtitles in English, French, Dutch and Italian.
Live tonight at CET 1500/ 1400 London / 1000 NY
Capriccio Records has published a three-disc set of Beethoven scores that Mahler reorchestrated for particular performances.
‘Make it work!’ he once told Otto Klemperer of his own music. ‘If the acoustic is unsuitable, change the score.’
The recordings are of Symphonies 3, 5 7 and 9; the Coriolan and Leonore overtures; and the string Quartet, Op. 95.
The performers are Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz, conductor Michael Francis.
Fonteyn and Nureyev – Giselle 1962 My theory is, you can never have too much Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev so, when I come across an unusual clip of the two of them, or one I haven’t seen for a long time, I need to share it with you. This is an early one, Giselle from 1962, Nureyev’s debut with the Royal Ballet and the beginning of their 17-year partnership. No need for words.
After two days of trying to find a star pianist who could play Bartok’s second concerto and get along with conductor Klaus Mäkelä, the Chicago Symphony simply gave up.
The soloist next week will be cellist Sol Gabetta and the concerto is Shostakovich’s 1st. ‘ Captivating,’ says the blurb, and… electrifying (that’s just the conductor).
Also: Please note: Pianist Yuja Wang, who was scheduled to perform Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 on this program, has withdrawn from these concerts.
The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra has appointed Dr Ralph Kuncl, 75, as its Chief Executive Officer.
A former professor of neurology, pathology, and cellular and molecular medicine at John Hopkins School of Medicine, Kuncl is Emeritus President of the University of Redlands in California and formerly in charge of Eastman School of Music.
Running an orchestra? You don’t have to be a brain surgeon.
The singer and conductor Roy Wales has died at the age of 83. His achievements were manifold.
He formed the London Student Singers, the Camden Opera Group, the Southend Festival Chorus and the Brisbane Chorale, among others.
He was Director of Music at the University of Warwick 1974 to 1980, Director of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music 1981 to 1987, and Principal of the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) from 1987 to 1989.
He conducted the London premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and the UK and Australian premieres of the same composer’s Mass. Copland, Kodaly, Blacher and Phyllis Tate were among the other composers he commissioned.
