Latest news – Page 225
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ArticleViolinist arrested for performing in Atlanta subway station
A US street violinist was arrested on 9 May for performing in an Atlanta subway station without permission. New York-based musician Juan Pablo Chavez, who performs under the name Johnny Arco, claims to have spent five days in police custody after the incident. Speaking to local ...
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ArticleBelgian violinist heads prizewinners in Montreal competition
Marc Bouchkov was awarded first prize in the Montreal International Musical Competition, which this year was for violinists. The 22-year-old Belgian, who studies with Boris Garlitsky at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, received C$30,000. Second prize went to American Stephen Waarts, 16. Another 16-year-old, ...
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ArticleSeattle Symphony players agree new two-year contract with management
The musicians of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera have agreed to ratify a new contract. Effective until 31 August 2015, the agreement stipulates cuts in salaries and healthcare benefits, although pension benefits will increase by ten per cent over three years. The new contract calls ...
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ArticleViolinists and string quartet receive 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grants
Two violinists and a string quartet are among the five recipients of the 2013 Avery Fisher Career Grants. The awards, administered by the Avery Fisher Artist Program, are worth $25,000 apiece and are designed to help young musicians build careers. Bulgarian-born violinist Bella Hristova (pictured) has ...
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ArticleChristie's quits instrument auctions for private sales
Christie's has become the latest major auction house to abandon musical instrument auctions. In a similar move to that made by Sotheby's in London at the end of 2012, the New York-based instruments arm of Christie's has shifted all its activities to private sales. The head ...
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ArticleSchumann Quartet takes grand prize at Bordeaux competition
The Cologne-based Schumann Quartet has won the €20,000 grand prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition. The group comprises three brothers – violinists Erik and Ken and cellist Mark Schumann – and violist Liisa Randalu. Second prize in the competition went to the Ellipse Quartet from ...
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ArticleBow maker Garner Wilson dies aged 68
British bow maker Garner Wilson has died at the age of 68 after a long battle with cancer. Born in 1944, he began his career at W.E. Hill & Sons, where he worked as a bow maker from 1960 to 1966. He later opened his own workshop in ...
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ArticleDouble bass teacher arrested in Manchester music schools abuse investigation
Duncan McTier, a double bass professor at London's Royal Academy of Music, was arrested on Friday 10 May by police investigating sexual abuse at top music schools in Manchester, UK. McTier, 58, was questioned in connection with an alleged indecent assault of a 21-year-old female student ...
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ArticleRemainder of Minnesota Orchestra's 2012–13 season cancelled
The management of the Minnesota Orchestra has announced that the remaining five concerts of the current season have been cancelled. This means that the musicians, who have been locked out since 1 October 2012, will have played none of the scheduled concerts by the end of the 2012–13 ...
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ArticleRemainder of Minnesota Orchestra's 2012–13 season is cancelled
The management of the Minnesota Orchestra has announced that the remaining five concerts of the current season have been cancelled. This means that the musicians, who have been locked out since 1 October 2012, will have played none of the scheduled concerts by the end of the ...
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ArticleNearly 40 Manchester music teachers under investigation after abuse claims
Police are investigating 39 teachers from the two leading music schools in Manchester, UK, following allegations of historic sexual abuse from more than 30 former pupils. According to the Guardian, ten of the tutors, all of whom have taught at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) or ...
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ArticleUK orchestras want 'sports star' tax breaks for visiting musicians
Orchestras and other UK arts organisations are calling on the government to give visiting musicians similar tax breaks to those being made available to visiting sports stars. The demand comes in response to the government's decision to give tax exemptions to athletes competing at this summer's ...
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ArticleCleveland Orchestra appoints Alexandra Preucil as assistant concertmaster
The Cleveland Orchestra has promoted first violinist Alexandra Preucil (pictured) to the position of assistant concertmaster. Preucil, who has been a member of the orchestra since 2008, is the granddaughter of János Starker, who died last month. Her father is William Preucil, the concertmaster of the Cleveland ...
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ArticleSeattle Symphony musicians reach tentative agreement on new contract
The musicians of the Seattle Symphony and Opera Players' Organisation have reached a tentative contract agreement with the orchestra and opera management. The musicians are expected to vote on the contract’s ratification on 14 May, although the musicians’ committee has recommended passage of the agreement. The announcement comes ...
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ArticleCellist Stephen Kates's widow is sued over the sale of his Montagnana
A 1739 Montagnana that was owned by American cellist Stephen Kates is the focus of legal action in New York. Violin expert and appraiser David Bonsey filed suit against Kates’s widow in Manhattan federal court in April, claiming she owes him $600,000 in commission after hiring him to sell ...
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ArticleCellist Raphaël Merlin has instrument seized at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Customs officers at Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, seized Raphaël Merlin’s cello on the morning of 27 April. The cellist was returning to his native France after a US tour with the Ébène Quartet. On 2 May, six days after the incident, Merlin was contacted to retrieve the ...
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ArticleSPCO musicians to return to work with new contract
The musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) have returned to the concert stage after a lockout lasting more than six months. On 29 April the musicians ratified an agreement with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Society, which reduces the size of the orchestra from 34 ...
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ArticleElysian Quartet, Scots chamber orchestra to premiere works in 2014 New Music Biennial
New works for chamber orchestra and string quartet have been commissioned as part of the first UK-wide New Music Biennial. Taking place over the course of 2014, the year-long series of world premieres has been put together by the PRS for Music Foundation, in partnership with Arts ...
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ArticleLegendary cellist and pedagogue János Starker dies at the age of 88
The renowned cellist and pedagogue János Starker has died at the age of 88. The Hungarian-born musician, who emigrated to the US in 1948, taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music for over 50 years. Among the hundreds of students he taught in his career ...
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ArticleKian Soltani triumphs at the International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland
Kian Soltani, from Austria, won the 15,000-euro first prize at the International Paulo Cello Competition in Finland. He performed the Lutoslawski Concerto in the final concert at the Helsinki Music Centre. Soltani (pictured) was born in 1992 and is a student of Ivan Monighetti at the ...