Latest news – Page 264
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ArticleGidon Kremer plans concert to promote human rights in Russia
Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer has announced plans to hold a special concert in Berlin to promote awareness of the human-rights situation in Russia. Along with his own chamber orchestra Kremerata Baltica, Kremer has stated that cellist Nicolas Altstaedt will perform at the concert, as well as pianists ...
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ArticleSeven SPCO string players take retirement option
Ten musicians from the St Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) have retired from the ensemble. Seven are string players, and all the retiring musicians have played in the orchestra for at least 30 years. An incentivised retirement package for players aged 55 and older was part of ...
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ArticleAustrian double bassist and historian Alfred Planyavsky dies aged 89
Austrian double bassist and historian Alfred Planyavsky died on 18 June at the age of 89. A long-serving musician in several Vienna-based ensembles, he wrote extensively on the history of the double bass and the music of his homeland. Born in Vienna in 1924, Planyavsky received ...
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ArticleRoyal Liverpool Philharmonic gets £7.5m to revamp its home
The home of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) is set to be refurbished in 2014. Arts Council England (ACE) has awarded a grant of £7.5m towards the £12m revamp of the Grade II-listed Philharmonic Hall (pictured). After receiving £634,000 in seed funding from ACE in ...
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ArticleDetroit's Sphinx Organisation engages Yo-Yo Ma as artistic adviser
The Detroit-based Sphinx Organisation, which promotes diversity in the arts and supports young black and Latino classical musicians, has recruited Yo-Yo Ma (pictured) as a special artistic adviser. In his new role, the cellist will mentor Sphinx's leading young artists and will also advise on the organisation's programming ...
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ArticleBow maker uses human hair for shampoo advertising stunt
A bow maker in Singapore has swapped horsehair for human hair as part of a promotion for a shampoo brand. Paul Goh's services were called upon by the Singapore and Manila branches of advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, which wanted to find a new way to ...
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ArticleBow maker uses human hair for shampoo promotion stunt
A bow maker in Singapore has swapped horsehair for human hair as part of a promotion for a shampoo brand. Paul Goh's services were called upon by the Singapore and Manila branches of advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, which wanted to find a new way to ...
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ArticleUtah Symphony principal cellist Ryan Selberg dies aged 66
The Utah Symphony has announced that its principal cellist, Ryan Selberg, has died. He was 66. He had held the principal's chair since 1975. Selberg studied cello with Patricia Thomsen Pinkston and Joseph di Tullio, and graduated from UCLA with a BA in Music Performance. Staying ...
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ArticleChinese quartet wins Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition
The Amber Quartet won three prizes at the finals of the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne on 14 July. The Chinese ensemble took the grand prize, the quartets division prize and the prize for best interpretation of a contemporary work – Chinese composer Zhang Zhao's 2001 ...
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ArticleFrench violin expert Étienne Vatelot dies aged 87
French violin expert and luthier Étienne Vatelot died on 13 July at the age of 87. In a career that spanned almost eight decades, he became a world-renowned expert on stringed instruments and bows, serving as president of the French Association of String Instrument and Bow Makers, ...
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ArticleItalian researchers analyse Stradivari's varnish, purfling and decoration
A team of scientists in Italy has completed an investigation into the purfling and decoration techniques used by Antonio Stradivari in his early period. Led by chemist Marco Malagodi of the University of Pavia, the team employed non-invasive analytical techniques to determine the dye used in the ...
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ArticlePittsburgh Symphony receives $1.2m for musicians' salaries
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has accepted a $1.2m gift that will support salary increases for its 99 musicians. The benefactors, retired couple Pat and Michele Atkins, were impressed that the musicians had taken a 9.7 per cent pay cut in 2011 and wanted to contribute to pay ...
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ArticleCremona's new Museo del Violino to open in September
Cremona's new Museo del Violino will celebrate its public opening this September with a month-long festival of concerts, workshops and exhibitions. The festival launches with an inauguration concert on 14 September by the Lucerne Festival Strings and violinists Arabella Steinbacher and Daniel Dodds, before the museum opens ...
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ArticleGasparo da Salò bass for Australian Chamber Orchestra
The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) has been granted use of a rare Gasparo da Salò double bass. Made in around 1580, it is one of around a dozen surviving basses by the luthier, regarded as one of the founders of the Brescian school of violin making. ...
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ArticleRoyal outing in Japan for tsunami driftwood viola
Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan has performed on a viola made from debris from the March 2011 tsunami, reports the Asahi Shimbun. The Crown Prince, the eldest son of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, played the instrument at an orchestral concert given by alumni of Tokyo's ...
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ArticleDoes 18th-century orchestral drawing depict Mozart?
An anonymous picture of a 24-piece Baroque chamber orchestra has been sold at auction in Brussels. Dating from around 1770, the large-scale pen-and-ink drawing is said to include an early depiction of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Measuring 46 x 59cm, the drawing is notable for reproducing ...
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ArticleTarisio posts June auction results
Tarisio has released the results of its June sale in London. The top lot was a Pressenda violin from 1828 (pictured), which fetched £276,800. The internet auction house also had two violin bows in its top five, with an F.X. Tourte making £60,000 and a Persoit, which was ...
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ArticleViolist and pedagogue David Schwartz dies aged 96
US viola player and teacher David Schwartz has died at the age of 96. In a varied career, he performed as a soloist, a session player, and in orchestras and chamber groups. Born in 1916 in Detroit, Schwartz studied with Louis Bailly and Max Aronoff at ...
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ArticleLawrence Hurst heads list of 2013 ISB award winners
American double bassist and pedagogue Lawrence Hurst has received the International Society of Bassists (ISB) 2013 Distinguished Achievement Award. Hurst (pictured) was chair of the string department at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music from 1987 to 2012, and served as president of the ISB from ...
