“Jaap van Zweden, in his fourth season as music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, will also become music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic starting in the 2012-13 season. Recently named Musical America‘s Conductor of the Year, and widely viewed as a major rising star, van Zweden will succeed another Dutchman, Edo de Waart, in the … position.”
Category: music
Staffers Rebel Against New Boss At Israel’s Classical Radio Network
“Editors at Israel Radio’s Voice of Music have accused the Israel Broadcasting Authority of killing off the classical music station by appointing a person to head the station who has no musical background.”
The Sad Neglect Of A $25 Million Collection Of Musical Instruments
“A massive cache of musical treasures that’s grown to include a fragile harp-piano, the pioneering Moog synthesizer and the theremin used for The Green Hornet radio show has been shuffled over the years from a theatre to an unheated barn and now languish, rarely seen or heard, in a Michigan storage vault.”
Bring ‘Em In Young With Drinks And Dancing, Late Nights At The Symphony
At the New World Symphony’s “Pulse” concerts, young (that is, under 40) audience members mingle at the bar, with fellow audience members and the musicians. One 38-year-old says, “What I liked most was that it was really informal. That was fabulous. The musicians are very young, so it was great to be close to them.”
Jazz Kills Classical, But News Rules Them Both
The sound of anguished classical fans howling for their music? No one at the public radion stations can hear it; they’re too busy checking (possibly flawed) ratings numbers.
Should A Piece Of Music Ever Be ‘Finished,’ Or Should It Adapt And Change?
“When I was younger, I shied away from revising after imbibing the notion that making changes to my work indicated weakness or failure; but now I’ve realized that my work needs to grow, change, and react to stimuli from audiences and collaborators in order to truly be its best.”
Lost Brahms Piano Work To Have Belated Premiere
“Entitled Albumblatt, meaning ‘sheet from an album’, the composition was discovered in the library at Princeton by the conductor and musicologist Christopher Hogwood. It will be performed by the pianist Andras Schiff on [BBC Radio 3’s] Music Matters on 21 January.”
Velvet Underground Says No Banana On Apple Products
“The band have accused the Warhol foundation of trying to ‘deceive the public’ into thinking they had given their ‘sponsorship or approval’ to a number of products that now carry the image – including iPad covers and accessories.”
Thomas Quasthoff Retires From Singing
The admired bass-baritone said in a statement, “My health no longer allows me to live up to the high standard that I have always set for my art and myself. I owe a lot to this wonderful profession and leave without a trace of bitterness.”
Washington National Opera To Finish Ring Cycle, Begin Commissioning Project
After having abandoned the production with one opera left to go, the company announced that it would revive and stage the full Wagner tetralogy in 2016. In addition, WNO is launching a three-tiered New American Works project, beginning next season.