Latest news – Page 238
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Stefan Lindholm and Christian Lijsen claim top prizes in Pisogne violin making competition
German maker Christian Lijsen and Swedish luthier Stefan Lindholm won multiple prizes at the third International Violin Making Competition in Pisogne, Italy. Lijsen took both the gold and silver medals for his copies of historical instruments. Pal Racz, from Hungary, received the bronze medal. In the antiqued instruments ...
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Kelemen and Benyounes quartets split second prize at Sándor Végh competition
The jury at the inaugural International Sándor Végh String Quartet Competition in Budapest chose not to award a first prize. The Kelemen Quartet from Hungary and the Benyounes Quartet from the UK shared the second prize, each receiving €12,000. Swiss ensemble the Belenus Quartet won a special €6,000 prize for ...
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Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's online concerto competition ends with no winner
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's (PSO) nationwide search for a concerto soloist via an online competition has ended without a winner. Four finalists, including violinist William Hagen, 19, from Salt Lake City, and cellist Angela Park, 25, from Philadelphia, auditioned for the chance to win $10,000 and perform with the orchestra. ...
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Chinese violist Wenting Kang triumphs in Tokyo viola competition
Wenting Kang has won first prize at the Tokyo International Viola Competition. The 24-year-old, who studies with Kim Kashkashian at the New England Conservatory, received ¥1m (about £8,000). Second prize went to Barbara Buntrock from Germany. Japanese violist Kimi Makino took third prize.
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Violinist Laura Samuel named leader of BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Violinist Laura Samuel has been named leader of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. She will take up the post at the start of the 2012–13 season, though she will perform as leader designate with the orchestra at this year’s Edinburgh International Festival. Born in 1976, Samuel studied with Itzhak ...
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Guadagnini quartet assembled in Australia
Four instruments by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini have been brought together through a philanthropic project in Australia. All four instruments have been loaned to the Australian Quartet for its current national tour. The Ngeringa Farm Arts Foundation has spent AUD4m (£2.55m) acquiring three instruments by the Italian master, and is currently ...
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Hieronymus Quartet takes first prize at Cavatina competition in London
The Hieronymus Quartet has won the Cavatina Intercollegiate Chamber Music Competition, held at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London. The quartet, whose members study at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, received £2,000. The Wilhelm Quartet, from the RAM, and the Zelkova Quartet, from the Royal ...
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ISM slams British Airways baggage policy on instruments
The UK’s Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) has denounced the decision by British Airways (BA) to reduce the size of hand luggage permissible on its flights. The new restrictions mean that violinists and viola players must either check in their instruments to be stored in the hold, or else buy ...
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Violinist Frances Darger to retire from Utah Symphony after 70 years
A Utah Symphony violinist is retiring this summer after 69 years in the orchestra. Frances Darger, 87, joined the orchestra in 1942. Apart from one year that she took off to pursue a singing career with her four sisters, she has played continuously for the orchestra. Her tenure is one ...
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Violinist Andrey Baranov takes first prize at Queen Elisabeth violin competition
Russian violinist Andrey Baranov has won first prize at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. The 26-year-old received €25,000 and the loan of the Nippon Music Foundation's 1708 'Huggins' Stradivari for three years. The second prize went to 20-year-old Tatsuki Narita from Japan. Hyun Su Shin, 24, from South Korea, ...
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Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow to leave New York Philharmonic
Glenn Dicterow has announced he will be stepping down as the New York Philharmonic's concertmaster at the end of the 2013–14 season. He will have held the position for 34 years – the longest tenure of any New York Philharmonic concertmaster. In autumn 2013 Dicterow is set to take ...
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Beijing Symphony Orchestra fires cellist for rude behaviour
A Russian cellist in the Beijing Symphony Orchestra has been sacked after a video of him insulting a train passenger went viral on the internet. Oleg Vedernikov was filmed resting his bare feet on the seat of the woman in front of him, and then insulting her in Chinese when ...
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Avery Fisher grant for violinist Benjamin Beilman
Violinist Benjamin Beilman, 22, has been awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant worth $25,000. Just this March he received a £10,000 career development award from music charity London Music Masters. A first-prize winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 2010, Beilman also won first prize at the ...
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Northwestern University breaks ground on $117m Bienen School music building
A groundbreaking ceremony took place at Northwestern University in Chicago last Friday for a new $117m building to house the Bienen School of Music. The five-storey lakeside structure will house a 400-seat recital hall, rehearsal and recital rooms, soundproofed teaching studios and practice rooms, and administrative and faculty offices. It ...
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The Tesla Quartet wins gold at Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition
The Tesla Quartet won the gold medal in the senior string division of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in South Bend, Indiana. The quartet, whose members study with the Takács Quartet at the University of Colorado at Boulder, received $3,000. The silver medal went to the piano trio Trio ...
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Violin maker Jin Chang Heryern dies in Japan
Korean-born violin maker Jin Chang Heryern has died at the age of 82. A resident of Japan since the age of 14, he was one of the first Asian luthiers to be recognised by the Violin Society of America. Jin’s work received five gold medals in the society’s 1976 competition ...
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra appoints Alexander Hanna as principal bass
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra has appointed Alexander Hanna as its new principal bassist. The 26-year-old is currently principal bass of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and will start his new position in Chicago next month. He succeeds Joseph Guastafeste, who retired from the Chicago Symphony in 2010 after 49 years in ...
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Cellist Laura van der Heijden wins BBC Young Musician competition
Laura van der Heijden, a cellist from East Sussex, won the final of the BBC Young Musician 2012 competition, held at the Sage Gateshead. The 15-year-old, who studies with Leonid Gorokhov, received £2,000. She performed the Walton Concerto in the final.Violinist Juliette Roos, 16, from Surrey, who was a strings ...
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17-year-old Norwegian Violist triumphs at Eurovision in Vienna
Norwegian violist Eivind Holtsmark Ringstad, 17, won first prize at the Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Vienna. Ringstad, who studies with Soon-Mi Chung at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, played the second and third movements of the Bartók Concerto in the final. Austrian violinist Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, ...
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New memorial for Titanic cellist John Woodward
A new memorial will be built in West Bromwich, England, to commemorate a musician who played cello in the Titanic band, reports BBC News. John Woodward was 32 at the time of the disaster. His body was never found but he is remembered on a family gravestone, which is badly ...