In a further break-up of music industry structures, the hot mezzo Joyce DiDinato has walked out on IMG Artists with her agent Simon Goldstone. The pair are joining London firm Intermusica, together with 20 other Goldstone singers, including Amanda Echalaz and Soile Isokoski.

Joyce was fulsome last night in the Lebrecht Interview in her gratitude to Goldstone, who signed her after eight New York agents had turned her down. But she gave no hint of the present upheaval, which will further destabilise IMG, whose owner, Barrett Wissman, has officially withdrawn from the running of the business after admitting to fraud in a New York state prosecution. As I have reported here and in The Strad, all the big agencies are in varying states of disarray and a further lurch is expected momentarily. Watch this space.

 

The press release follows.

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PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release

 

Simon Goldstone joins Intermusica as Director, Vocal & Opera – artists moving to Intermusica include Joyce DiDonato

 

Intermusica is pleased to announce that highly-respected singers’ manager Simon Goldstone is to join the company as Director, Vocal & Opera. Twenty-one of the artists Simon represented at IMG Artists, where he was Vice President in the Vocal Division, will follow him to Intermusica, including Joyce DiDonato, Amanda Echalaz, Soile Isokoski and Scott Hendricks. He will work alongside Julia Maynard, Head of Vocal & Opera, in the continuing development of the company’s exciting vocal roster. 

 

Stephen Lumsden, Founder and Managing Director of Intermusica, said: “It is tremendously exciting that a manager of Simon’s calibre and reputation has decided to join Intermusica. His arrival represents a major development for both our Vocal & Opera department and for the company as a whole. Simon will fit well into a company which values personal care and a concern for long-term thinking for its artists as well as a real passion for music in all its forms.”

 

“I am delighted to be joining Intermusica” commented Simon Goldstone. “In these challenging times I feel that the combination of the company’s very experienced senior management team, spearheaded by Stephen Lumsden, and its vibrant and enthusiastic younger members strike just the right balance. I am very happy to be working once again with my esteemed former colleague, Julia Maynard, and together we look forward to adding to an already well-established roster of talented singers, stage directors and opera conductors.”

 

Alongside Joyce DiDonato, Amanda Echalaz, Soile Isokoski and Scott Hendricks, other artists following Simon Goldstone to Intermusica will be: Jeanne-Michèle Charbonnet (soprano), Solveig Kringelborn (soprano), Lyubov Petrova (soprano), Julia Riley (mezzo soprano), Julian Gavin (tenor), Marcel Reijans (tenor), Norman Reinhardt (tenor), George von Bergen (baritone), John Chest (baritone), Jason Howard (baritone), Jacques Imbrailo (baritone), Brett Polegato (baritone), Matthew Willis (conductor), Stephen Barlow (director), Paul Curran (director), James Robinson (director) and Alessandro Talevi (director).

 

These artists join the Intermusica roster with immediate effect.  Simon Goldstone will begin on Monday 20 September 2010.

 

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Biographical notes

Simon Goldstone read French and Music at King’s College, London University. After an early career in real estate he made a major career change and spent the next five years in arts administration, initially at the Royal Albert Hall and then at the Southbank Centre. Simon, a fluent French speaker, moved to Paris in 1990 and into the music agency business for Organisation Internationale Artistique, where his clients included Roberto Alagna and José van Dam. Five years later, Simon was invited to join IMG Artists, where he was an Artist Manager in the Vocal Division for fourteen years. When not at the opera Simon enjoys scuba diving and, as a former member of the British Junior Swimming Team, he still swims several miles a week.

 

Intermusica is one of the leading international classical music agencies, representing some of the foremost conductors, instrumentalists and singers as well as composers and orchestras around the globe. Founded in 1981 by Stephen Lumsden, the company – which now employs nearly 40 staff – works to develop the careers of 80-plus artists and manages touring projects for a number of the world’s leading orchestras. Next year Intermusica celebrates 20 years as promoters of the International Chamber Music Season in London (in collaboration with the Southbank Centre) and among its other promotions, presents an international recital series at the Mariinsky Concert Hall in St. Petersburg in conjunction with its artistic director, Valery Gergiev. Intermusica is committed to creative partnership with all sides of the music world whether in building careers, implementing high-level projects or developing new media initiatives.

 

Vocal & Opera, Intermusica

Intermusica manages the careers of leading singers, stage directors and opera conductors, including Felicity Palmer, Susan Bickley, Iain Paterson and David Alden. For a complete list of the new Vocal & Opera department roster, please find an artist list attached.

 

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