Latest news – Page 246
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Walken film A Late Quartet film to depict egos and lusts
The first pictures have emerged of A Late Quartet, an independent movie starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Christopher Walken and Mark Ivanir as members of a world-renowned quartet facing up to illness and inner tensions. The film was shot in New York earlier this year, and will likely be ...
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Manchester International Violin Competition delays closing date for applications
The RNCM Manchester International Violin Competition has extended its deadline for applications from 1 September to 30 September. The competition will run at the Royal Northern College of Music from 26 November to 3 December 2011. Violinists aged between 20 and 30 will compete for a top prize of £12,000 ...
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Spanish bassist José Vilaplana Herruzo wins Edouard Nanny competition
José Vilaplana Herruzo has won first prize at the Edouard Nanny International Double Bass Solo Competition, held in Capbreton, France, from 15 to 18 August. The 24-year-old from Spain received €4,000.
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Investigators of violin dealer Dietmar Machold publish list of missing instruments and bows
Austrian authorities investigating the violin dealer Dietmar Machold have published a list of instruments and bows they want to trace in connection with the case. The instruments are believed to have been consigned to Machold for safekeeping, or used as collateral for bank loans. The list includes five violins by ...
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US violinist Sirena Huang wins Cooper Competition
Sirena Huang, from South Windsor, Connecticut, won first prize in the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition for violinists, held in Cleveland, Ohio. The 17-year-old Huang, who studies with Stephen Clapp and Sylvia Rosenberg at the Juilliard School, received $10,000 and a full, four-year scholarship to the Oberlin Conservatory of ...
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Bassist Nico Abondolo joins Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra has appointed Nico Abondolo as its new principal bass. Abondolo joins the orchestra for the start of the 2011–12 season on 24 September. Abondolo made his debut at age 14 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in 1983 became the first double bassist ever to ...
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New York Philharmonic signs partnership with Shanghai Symphony
The New York Philharmonic has signed an agreement with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra to develop a new orchestral training institute in Shanghai. The institute, which is set to open in 2013, will provide graduate-level training to 20–30 students, who will get the opportunity to study with members of the Shanghai ...
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Violinist Nigel Kennedy accuses period specialists of pushing Bach into a ghetto
Nigel Kennedy has accused fellow performers of ghettoising Bach's music with soulless, 'so-called authentic' interpretations. In programme notes for his recent evening performance at the BBC Proms, he said he wanted to 'keep Bach in the mainstream and present his music with, rather than without, its emotional core'.Kennedy also ...
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Former English Chamber Orchestra leader José-Luis Garcia dies
Violinist José-Luis Garcia has died at the age of 67. Born in Madrid, he started studying the violin when he was six, receiving lessons from his father. After winning first prize at the Sarasate Violin Competition in 1960, he moved to London to study with Antonio Brosa at the Royal ...
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US violinist and Suzuki teacher Louise Behrend dies
Louise Behrend, a leading Suzuki method pioneer in the US, has died at the age of 94. Behrend studied violin with Louis Persinger at Juilliard, and began teaching there immediately after gaining her graduate diploma in 1943. She remained on the Juilliard School faculty until her retirement in 2009. ...
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Steve Reich responds to controversy over Kronos Quartet album cover
The controversial cover of the Kronos Quartet's new recording of Steve Reich's WTC 9/11 is to be dropped and replaced by new artwork. The composer himself announced the decision in a message posted on the Nonesuch Records website, explaining that he did not want the cover to distract anyone from ...
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Mahler Chamber Orchestra concertmaster gets a 1723 Stradivari
The Mahler Chamber Orchestra (MCO) has been loaned a Stradivari for use by the orchestra's concertmaster. The 1723 violin, which belongs to an anonymous group of heirs, was presented to the concertmaster, Gregory Ahss, by the MCO Foundation during the Lucerne Festival, where the orchestra is currently in residence.
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West Australian Symphony Orchestra appoints Giulio Plotino as concertmaster
Italian violinist Giulio Plotino has been appointed concertmaster of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Plotino joins the Perth-based orchestra after leaving the concertmaster position at the La Fenice opera house orchestra in Venice. He has previously served as guest concertmaster of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Teatro alla Scala in Milan ...
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Violinist Aaron Dworkin to serve on National Council on the Arts
Aaron Dworkin, violinist and the founder of the Detroit-based Sphinx Organization, is to serve a six-year term on the National Council on the Arts. Dworkin, who founded Sphinx in 1996 with a mission to increase the participation of minorities in classical music, was nominated for the position by President Barack ...
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Jazz bassist Christian McBride to premiere George Duke concerto in Los Angeles
Leading US jazz bassist Christian McBride is set to give the first performance of a new concerto written for him by composer and bandleader George Duke. McBride will perform the work with the 67-member Symphonic Jazz Orchestra in a free concert at UCLA's Royce Hall on 24 September. Duke said: ...
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Jonathan Crow named Toronto Symphony Orchestra concertmaster
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) has officially announced Jonathan Crow as its new concertmaster. The orchestra's music director, Peter Oundjian, had previously made an onstage announcement of Crow's impending appointment during a concert in June. The 33-year-old Crow currently teaches at the Schulich School of Music at Montreal's McGill ...
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Violinist Bénédicte Lauzière receives $15k Michael Measures Prize
Montreal violinist Bénédicte Lauzière, 21, is the first winner of a new prize set up to support promising young Canadian classical music performers. The $15,000 Michael Measures Prize was established through a $1m bequest and is co-sponsored by the Canada Council for the Arts and the National Youth Orchestra of ...
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New Australian orchestra set for debut
The Australian World Orchestra has its inaugural concert series at the end of this month. The ensemble, which comprises around 90 Australian musicians from more than 45 orchestras around the world, will give three concerts at Sydney Opera House (26–28 August) as well as a children's concert in Parramatta. A ...
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Stolen violins found in Montreal
Police have recovered eight out of nine violins stolen last month in Montreal. The violins, which have an estimated total value of C$210,000 (£135,000), were stolen by a man who was cat-sitting for a couple in the Plateau Mont Royal district. The eight violins were traced to three pawn ...
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In Harmony gets approval from Sistema founder Jose Antonio Abreu
The In Harmony music education programme in England has incorporated the name of its Venezuelan inspiration after getting the seal of approval from El Sistema founder José Antonio Abreu. Abreu met Julian Lloyd Webber, the chair of In Harmony, when the cellist was in Caracas last month to give ...