All News articles – Page 301
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Chicago Symphony Orchestra bassist retires after 49 years
Joseph Guastafeste has retired from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra after 49 years as principal bass. Hired in 1961 by the orchestra's then music director, Fritz Reiner, the Brooklyn-born Guastafeste had previously been principal in the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. His retirement in Chicago will be marked by an onstage ceremony later ...
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Visitor numbers at Mondomusica instrument fair beat all previous years
Newly released attendance figures for this year's Cremona Mondomusica trade fair offer encouraging signs for the health of the stringed instrument industry. The three-day fair, which closed on 3 October, received a record 11,624 visitors, up 4.5 per cent on last year. The event hosted 280 exhibitors, an increase of ...
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Violist and teacher Sebastian Ruth receives $500,000 MacArthur grant
Sebastian Ruth, the founder of Community MusicWorks, an inner-city music education project in Providence, Rhode Island, has been named as one of the 23 MacArthur Fellows for 2010. The violinist and violist, who plays viola in the Providence Quartet, will receive a $500,000 grant over five years. Ruth founded ...
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Clara-Jumi Kang wins Indianapolis International Violin Competition
Clara-Jumi Kang has won the gold medal at the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. The German–Korean violinist was awarded the top prize of $30,000 after her final-round performance of the Beethoven Concerto. Kang, 23, is a student of Nam Yun Kim at the Korean National University of the Arts, having ...
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Cellist Thomas Beckmann s Germany's 'Citizen of the Year'
Düsseldorf-born cellist Thomas Beckmann has won a new German award for outstanding citizenship. The prize, worth €20,000, was awarded by the Federation of German Newspaper Publishers in recognition of Beckmann's commitment to the homeless. The former student of Pierre Fournier was chosen by a jury of 50 newspaper editors from ...
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Nikita Borisoglebsky heads prizewinners at Vienna violin competition
The top three prizes at the International Fritz Kreisler Violin Competition in Vienna all went to Russian violinists. Nikita Borisoglebsky, 25, who studies with Augustin Dumay at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, took the €15,000 first prize. Second prize (€12,000) went to 24-year-old Ekaterina Frolova, and Aylen Pritchin, ...
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Qantas relaxes hand baggage policy on violins and violas
Qantas has issued a new instrument policy that should reassure violinists and violists booking to fly with the airline. The Australian carrier has raised its maximum allowable cabin baggage dimensions for violins and violas from 115cm to 130cm, meaning that most standard cases should be permitted in the cabin. The ...
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Philippe Girardin and Nicholas Gooch win at Pisogne international making competition
The winners of the first Pisogne International Violin Making Competition have been announced. The Italian contest was split into two categories: antiqued instruments and copies of historical instruments. First prize in the former category went to Swiss maker Philippe Girardin. Matteo Crotti, from Italy, took second prize. German maker Andreas ...
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Juilliard fundraising auction offers Peking duck date with Perlman
Itzhak Perlman is one of the Juilliard faculty members and alumni doing their bit for the school's scholarship fund. Juilliard has launched a 'Lessons of a Lifetime' internet auction to benefit the fund, and the items on offer include lessons and workshops with some of the school's renowned teachers.Emanuel Ax ...
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Violinist Dmitry Serebrennikov places highest at Lipizer Prize competition
Dmitry Serebrennikov from Russia was the highest-placed prizewinner at the International Violin Competition 'Rodolfo Lipizer Prize' in Gorizia, Italy. The 18-year-old, who studies with Alexander Stang at the St Petersburg State Conservatoire, won the €6,000 second prize, after the jury chose not to award a first prize. Suliman Tekalli, ...
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Cellist Rebecca Wenham exits Cecilia Quartet after Banff competition win
The founding cellist of the Cecilia Quartet has left the group just days after it won first prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition. Rebecca Wenham, who is relocating to California, will be replaced by Rachel Desoer, an Oberlin graduate from Hamilton, Ontario. Desoer makes her debut with the ...
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Alexandra Soumm and Veronika Eberle among latest BBC New Generation Artists
Three young European string soloists are among the new intake of BBC Radio 3's New Generation Artists scheme. They are violinists Veronika Eberle and Alexandra Soumm, both 21, and 28-year-old cellist Nicolas Altstaedt. The Escher Quartet, which was formed in New York in 2005, is another new recruit to the ...
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Cecilia Quartet wins first prize at Banff competition
The Cecilia Quartet took first prize at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in Canada. The Toronto-based ensemble won CAN$25,000, plus other awards including a quartet of gold-mounted bows. The Afiara Quartet from Canada took second prize. Third prize went to the Quatuor Zaïde from France. For more details, ...
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Cellist Julian Steckel triumphs at ARD Music Competition
Julian Steckel won first prize in the cello category at the ARD Music Competition in Munich. The 28-year-old, who studies with Antje Weithaas in Berlin, was awarded 10,000 euros and also received the audience prize of 1,500 euros. Gen Yokosaka, 24, from Japan, took second prize. Third prize went to ...
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Bow maker and jeweller Henryk Kaston dies aged 100
Henryk Kaston, who enjoyed an illustrious career as a bow maker and a jeweller, has died in New York at the age of 100. Born in Poland, he escaped wartorn Europe to settle in America, where he played violin in the Cleveland Orchestra and then the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. ...
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Remembering bow maker and jeweller Henryk Kaston
Violinist, instrument collector, bow maker, restorer and jeweller – these are the many lives of Henryk Kaston, one of the most venerable figures on the New York music scene. An extremely fit 95-year-old, he happily reveals the secret of his longevity and youthful vigour by demonstrating his morning exercise routine, ...
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Israeli Itamar Zorman wins Freiburg International Violin Competition
Itamar Zorman has won first prize at the Freiburg International Violin Competition in Germany. The 24-year-old Israeli, who studies with Sylvia Rosenberg in New York, was awarded €15,000, plus €2,500 for the best interpretation of a Mozart concerto. The €10,000 second prize went to 22-year-old Elena Graf from Germany. Martin ...
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Incorporated Society of Musicians issues Ryanair warning
The Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) is urging Ryanair to reconsider its policy of charging violinists and violists for an extra seat in order to fly with their instrument in the cabin. The UK professional body voiced its concerns after a 12-year-old pupil at Chetham's School of Music in ...
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Renato Scrollavezza reunited with violin after six years
A stolen 1958 Renato Scrollavezza violin has been recovered by police. The €25,000 violin was one of two instruments taken from the Parma-based luthier's home in 2004. The original police investigation had gone cold when two weeks ago Scrollavezza's daughter Elisa, also a luthier, suddenly received an email from ...
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Boston's Museum of Fine Arts puts violin audio recordings online
Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has put short recordings of violins and other stringed instruments in its collection online. The audio samples include a Bach Gavotte played on a 1641 Amati, a Purcell Prelude on a G.B. Gabrielli of 1761 and a Prelude by Marin Marais played on a French ...
