Latest news – Page 297
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Romanian-born American violinist Sergiu Luca dies
Sergiu Luca, the Romanian-born American violinist, has died of cancer at the age of 67. Since 1983, he had been professor of violin at Rice University in Houston, the city in which he was also director of the Da Camera concert series, and the founder, in 1995, of period instrument ...
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Min-Jin Kym's 1696 Stradivarius violin is taken from a sandwich bar
A £15,000 reward has been offered for information leading to the recovery of a Stradivarius violin stolen in London. The 1696 instrument, valued at around £1.2m, was stolen along with two bows from a branch of Pret a Manger outside Euston Station on 29 November. The victim of the theft ...
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Bassist organises flashmob-style performances to protest against UK cuts to music education
Pop-up orchestras are expected to give simultaneous renditions of Lalo Schifrin's Mission Impossible theme in cities across the UK today (Friday 10 December). The orchestras are due to take to the streets and shopping centres of London, Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Cardiff and Liverpool at 6pm for impromptu performances in protest ...
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BBC Radio 3 to broadcast all of Mozart's works in first 12 days of 2011
Following on from previous intensive celebrations of Beethoven and Bach, BBC Radio 3 is to devote its entire schedule to Mozart for the first twelve days of January. Alongside special Mozart editions of regular programmes such as Private Passions and In Tune, live music highlights include a performance by the ...
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Four-year-old violinist to perform in Arizona
A four-year-old violinist who has become something of a YouTube sensation is taking to the stage with a local symphony orchestra this weekend, reports the Arizona Republic. A video of Jonathan Okseniuk conducting along to a recording of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony when he was just three years old has been ...
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Violinist Julia Fischer up for a Grammy
Julia Fischer is one of the bigger string luminaries to feature in the nominations for the 53rd Grammy Awards, which will be presented in Los Angeles on 13 February. The violinist is nominated in the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) category for her Decca recording of Paganini’s 24 Caprices. ...
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Violinist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky takes first prize at Helsinki Sibelius competition
Nikita Boriso-Glebsky has won first prize at the Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki. The 25-year-old, who studies with Augustin Dumay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, received €20,000, plus €2,000 for the best interpretation of the Sibelius concerto. Second prize went to Finnish violinist Petteri Iivonen, 23. Sixteen-year-old ...
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National Symphony Orchestra cellistt Frederick Zenone dies
Cellist Frederick Zenone, who became an influential mediator in orchestral labour disputes, has died of cancer at the age of 74. Having learnt the trumpet in his youth, Zenone took up the cello very late, at 21. After joining the National Symphony in Washington DC in 1969, he became chairman ...
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Cellist barred from entering UK to play no-fee concerts
An American cellist was questioned by UK Border Agency officials at Heathrow airport for eight hours before being sent back on a plane to Chicago, according to a report in the Guardian. Kristin Ostling, a member of the Carpe Diem Quartet, which is resident at Ohio Wesleyan University, had been ...
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International Viola Society gathering set for Würzburg
The International Viola Society is set to hold its 2011 congress at the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg, Germany, next October. The 39th congress will run in combination with Bratschistentag, the annual German viola festival. Next year's Bratschistentag will include a pedagogic focus in tribute to Egon Sassmannshaus, the string-method ...
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Atlanta Symphony Orchestra launches own recording label
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) will release the first recording on its new label ASO Media next February. The orchestra, which ended a 32-year association with Telarc in September, has chosen two new commissions for the 2011 release: QED: Engaging Richard Feynman, a choral work by Michael Gandolfi, and Jennifer ...
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UK orchestras compete for chance to record 209 national anthems for London 2012 Olympics
The organisers of the 2012 Olympics in London are looking for an orchestra to record 209 national anthems for the event. The anthems will be used at the Olympic medal ceremonies and also to welcome the teams to the Olympic village. The organising committee said that it wants 'an ...
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French violinist Solenne Païdassi wins Long–Thibaud contest
Solenne Païdassi has won the first grand prize at the Long–Thibaud International Competition in Paris. The 25-year-old, who lives in Hannover, is the first French winner of the top violin prize since Devy Erlih won in 1955. Païdassi received €30,500 and also won the audience prize. The second grand ...
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Polish composer Henryk Górecki dies aged 76
The composer Henryk Górecki has died at the age of 76 after suffering a long illness. Born in Silesia, south-west Poland, in 1933, Górecki studied violin before composition. He is most famous for his Third Symphony of 1976, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, a 1991 recording of ...
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Austrian violinist and conductor Thomas Zehetmair commits to Northern Sinfonia
Thomas Zehetmair has signed a new contract with the Northern Sinfonia, the orchestra of The Sage Gateshead in the UK. The 48-year-old Austrian violinist and conductor, who became the orchestra's music director in 2001, will now remain in the position until at least August 2014. Under the terms of ...
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Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra bassist dies in hiking accident
A bassist in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has died in a hiking accident. Georg Straka slipped and fell to his death while climbing Mount Fuji on a free day during the orchestra's current tour of Japan. He was 41. Born in Mödling, south of Vienna, in 1969, Straka studied ...
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Russian violist, quartet player and conductor Rudolf Barshai dies aged 86
Russian violist and conductor Rudolf Barshai has died in Switzerland. He had been struggling with health problems for the last year. Born in 1924, Barshai studied violin with Lev Zeitlin and viola with Vadim Borisovsky at the Moscow Conservatory before starting his career as a solo and ensemble player ...
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60-year-old violinist accuses Young Concert Artists of age discrimination
A violinist in New York is suing Young Concert Artists (YCA), claming that its eligibility rules for musicians are age-discriminatory, reports the New York Post. Martin Stoner, a 60-year-old former member of the New York City Ballet orchestra, wanted to enter YCA's audition competition, the winners of which receive ...
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Irish violinist Emma Waldron's performance puts her into Miss World finals
Miss Ireland Emma Waldron secured her place in tomorrow's finals of Miss World 2010 after playing a medley on her violin. The 21-year-old's performance won her the Miss World Talent 2010 title at this year's contest in Sanya, China. Waldron has previously co-led the Dublin Youth Symphony Orchestra on a ...
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Cleveland Orchestra receives $20m gift to increase access for younger audiences
The Cleveland Orchestra will put a gift of $20m towards the creation of a new Center for Future Audiences. The money has been pledged by the Maltz Family Foundation to support the orchestra's plans to increase accessibility for young people. The orchestra has set itself the goal of having the ...
