Latest news – Page 240
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Violinist William de Pasquale, former co-concertmaster of the Philadelphia Orchestra, dies aged 78
American violinist William de Pasquale has died at the age of 78. He played at the front of the Philadelphia Orchestra violin section for four decades in various concertmaster positions. Born in Philadelphia, de Pasquale studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Veda Reynolds. In 1958 he made ...
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Violist Yuri Bashmet to form Russian youth orchestra for Sochi 2014 Cultural Olympiad
A competition is under way in Russia to select 60 musicians between the ages of 9 and 22 to form the first All-Russian Youth Orchestra. The orchestra will make its debut this November as part of the Cultural Olympiad for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Violist Yuri Bashmet, an ...
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British Library acquires Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra manuscript
The British Library has acquired the original manuscript of one of Britten's most famous works, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. The complete draft score was sold at Sotheby's in November 2011 to an overseas buyer, who paid £212,250 on an estimate of £40,000–£60,000. But the UK Culture Minister ...
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Louisville Orchestra begins hiring and rejects musicians' proposal of arbitrator
The Louisville Orchestra management has said it will begin hiring replacement musicians this month, reports the Courier-Journal. The orchestra players, who have been in negotiation with management for almost a year, had proposed that both sides work with an orchestra industry professional who would have up to a year ...
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Violin concerto by Albert Schnelzer heads up inaugural Swedish–British festival
Violinist Hugo Ticciati is giving the first performance of the Violin Concerto by Swedish composer Albert Schnelzer at music.se, a new festival of collaborations between Swedish and British musicians and composers. The world premiere is on 10 May at Cadogan Hall in London. British-born Ticciati is based in Sweden, ...
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Thousands protest German plans to merge two symphony orchestras
Supporters of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg have reacted angrily to a proposal that the two ensembles should be merged to save money. German broadcaster SWR has drawn up plans to merge the two ensembles from 2016 as part of a major cost-cutting ...
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Arcadia Quartet wins at Wigmore Hall string quartet competition
The Arcadia Quartet has won first prize at the Wigmore Hall London International String Quartet Competition. The Romanian group was awarded £10,000 plus a UK tour, a Wigmore Hall recital and a two-week residency at the Banff Centre in Canada. Second prize went to the Meccorre Quartet from Poland. The ...
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Putin among those remembering cellist Rostropovich at unveiling of new monument
A monument to Mstislav Rostropovich has been unveiled in the centre of Moscow, reports the Voice of Russia. The bronze and granite statue of Rostropovich with a cello in his hands took sculptor Alexander Rukavishikov two years to complete. It was unveiled in the week of what would have been ...
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Queen Elisabeth violin competition selects 88 competitors from 29 countries
The Queen Elisabeth Competition has chosen the 45 female and 43 male violinists who will compete in Brussels for a first prize of €25,000. Twenty-nine nationalities will be represented at the competition, which starts on 30 April and runs until 14 June. South Korea tops the table of countries when ...
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London Music Masters violinists named
Music charity London Music Masters has named the three violinists receiving its 2012–15 career development awards. American Benjamin Beilman, 22, South Korean Hyeyoon Park, 20, and 22-year-old Alexandra Soumm from France were each awarded a package including £10,000 to support their career development, and performances at the Wigmore Hall and ...
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Leonidas Kavakos's premiere of Golijov violin concerto is shiftedto November
Anyone waiting to hear Osvaldo Golijov's already delayed Violin Concerto will have to wait another nine months. The concerto was originally due to be given its world premiere by Leonidas Kavakos and the Los Angeles Philharmonic last May. But when the Argentine composer didn't finish the piece on time, the ...
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Violinist Amyn Merchant named Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concertmaster
London-born violinist Amyn Merchant has been named the new concertmaster of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO). The 34-year-old makes his debut as leader at the orchestra's concert tonight (Wednesday 28 March) in Poole. He joins the BSO from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, where he was principal second violinist.
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Busch Ensemble wins Royal Over-Seas League Competition
The Busch Ensemble has won first prize in the ensemble division of the Royal Over-Seas League Competition in London. The UK-based chamber group, founded in November 2010 by violinist Mathieu van Bellen and cellist Jonathan Bloxham, received £10,000. First prize in the solo strings division went to violinist Ben ...
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14-year-old Chinese violist among first-prize recipients at Johansen Competition
The prize winners of the Johansen International Competition for young string players have been announced. The event for students aged 13 to 17 was held in Washington DC from 22 to 24 March. US players won all three of the top prizes in the violin division. Gallia Kastner, 15, ...
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Stolen $40,000 cello taken from car in Minneapolis found in a garden
A $40,000 cello stolen from a musician's car in uptown Minneapolis turned up two weeks later in a local community garden, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Cellist Scott Lykins, a 26-year-old Eastman graduate and artistic director of the Lakes Area Chamber Music Festival, said he may have left the car ...
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Former concertmaster's violin stolen in Japan
Police in Japan are investigating the theft of a French violin and bow from a concert hall in Nara Prefecture, reports Japan Today. The instrument, which dates from 1804 and is valued at ¥13m (£100,000) is owned by Kazuto Umezawa, a former concertmaster of the Osaka Philharmonic and Nashville ...
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New York conference to explore treatments for musicians' dystonia
Medical experts and musicians will meet in New York next month for the first-ever Musician's Dystonia Summit. The conference on 9 and 10 March will explore the latest research and treatment possibilities for dystonia, a neurological condition that in musicians is characterised by involuntary muscle spasms triggered by playing an ...
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Plans revealed for 18-day US spring tour by North Korean national orchestra
An Atlanta-based humanitarian group is planning to bring the North Korean National Symphony Orchestra to the US this spring, reports the Associated Press. Global Resource Services, a non-profit organisation that works in North Korea, is organising an 18-day visit for 164 musicians, journalists and officials. The schedule features concerts ...
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Future of Music Coalition presents case studies of performers' earnings
The US-based Future of Music Coalition (FMC) has released the first financial case studies in its Artist Revenue Streams project, which aims to examine how musicians' income streams are changing, and why. The FMC, a national non-profit advocacy organisation for musicians, profiled a symphony orchestra string player and a contemporary ...
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Nine German quartets launch association to press for more ensemble residencies
A new association of German string quartets is campaigning for more ensemble residencies at the country's Musikhochschules and universities. The Verband Deutscher Streichquartette (German String Quartets Association), which officially launched yesterday, has nine founder members: the Auryn, Diogenes, Henschel, Klenke, Kuss, Leipzig, Mandelring, Minguet and Vogler quartets. The organisation, ...