October 5, 2012   |
| | | Thought of the Day | | Man is what he reads. --Joseph Brodsky
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| Quote of the Week | | Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. --Carl Sagan
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| | A Weill Hall in WIne Country |  ROHNERT PARK, CA -- Located about an hour's drive north of the Golden Gate Bridge, on the campus of Sonoma State University amid the bucolic rolling hills of the region's wine country, Weill Hall is destined to be a significant draw for audiences throughout the Bay Area and beyond. The 1,400-seat space, which opened least weekend, is the jewel in the university's $110 million Green Music Center, a sprawling complex of performance and teaching spaces. Named for its principal donors, Sanford I. Weill and his wife, Joan, it is a remarkable creation. After opening performances by Lang Lang, the Santa Rosa Symphony, and bluegrass superstars Alison Krauss and Union Station, Weill Hall proved itself an acoustical marvel, modeled after Tanglewood's Seiji Ozawa Hall and designed by architect William L. Rawn III and acoustician Larry Kirkegaard. Conductor and former Cal Performances Director Robert Cole and San Francisco-based theater designer Len Auerbach served as primary consultants. |
NY City Opera Unloads Past Productions |  If there was any question as to whether the new New York City Opera would ever again attain the glory days of old, the news that General Manager and Artistic Director George Steel is in the process of either destroying or selling the company's past productions puts an end to all speculation about a possible return to the past. Steel says storing the old productions -- from the Harold Prince Candide to Beverly Sills's Donizetti Stuart trilogy of Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, and Roberto Devereux to a 2009 Don Giovanni -- is too expensive. The company spends $500,000 annually to rent a warehouse in New Jersey. Glimmerglass has been told to collect any of the co-productions the two companies mounted during Paul Kellogg's tenure as their mutual general and artistic director; the Portland Opera has been told to destroy the aforementioned Don Giovanni when done with it. At the moment, there are 90 productions for rent listed on the company's website. Not for long. |
| | | October Video of the Month | | |
MacArthur Foundation Grants Announced |  CHICAGO -- Mandolin player/composer Chris Thile learned the hard way that when you get a call from the 312 area code this time of year, you should probably answer the phone. Thile is among 23 recipients of this year's MacArthur Foundation "genius grants," which are given in a secrecy-shrouded process. Winners have no idea they've been nominated for the $500,000 awards until they get the call, and nominators must remain anonymous. Thile ignored the incessant phone calls from the foundation at first, thinking they were election-year robocalls. Then his tour manager searched for the number online and told him, "It appears to be from something called the MacArthur Foundation." "I think I must have turned white," said Thiele. "I've never felt so internally warm. My heart was racing. All of a sudden, I felt very askew physically. I was trying to catch my breath. ... I thought, 'Oh my God, did I win a MacArthur?'" MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| |  Carlos Moseley, the southern gentleman who quietly presided over the New York Philharmonic during a period of tremendous growth and artistic vitality, died Oct. 1 at his home in Spartanburg, S.C. He was 98. Mr. Moseley, an accomplished pianist, started with the orchestra in 1955 as a press officer; within four years, he was promoted to associate managing director. Two years later, in 1961, he became managing director; he was the orchestra's first paid president, from 1970 to 1978, and served on the board of directors until 1985. He was subsequently named chairman emeritus, in 1985, and an honorary member of the Philharmonic-Symphony Society in 2001. On his watch, the orchestra expanded from a 36- to a 52-week season; launched its Parks Concerts; tripled its audience; established the Philharmonic radio network; toured the Middle East, Europe, and Russia; and moved into what became known as Avery Fisher Hall from Carnegie Hall. Music directors during his tenure were three giants: Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, and Zubin Mehta. |
Minnesota Musicians Locked Out |  Minnesota Orchestra musicians and management failed to come to a contract agreement last weekend and, as anticipated, players have been locked out, as of midnight Oct. 1. Concerts are cancelled through November and no further talks are scheduled. The season was to have opened Oct. 18. The final (rejected) offer from management called for a pay cut of 34 percent on average, reducing salaries from $135,000 to $89,000. Musicians' compensation represents about 50 percent of the orchestra's $31 million budget. Meanwhile, irony of ironies, Orchestra Hall is undergoing a $52 million renovation. If there is a season, it will be in the Minneapolis Convention Center. The orchestra is carrying a $3 million deficit and predicting ever larger ones in future if player salaries remain at their current levels. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| New Artists of the Month: The Ariel String Quartet | |  CINCINNATI -- In their debut concert here this fall, the players of the Ariel String Quartet surprised and delighted listeners when they took their seats without music or music stands, and performed Haydn's Quartet in E flat, The Joke, entirely from memory. It was a daring feat, exhilarating to hear and fun to watch. It was also clear that this is an ensemble that breathes every note together with precision and refreshing spontaneity. And spontaneity, said violinist Gershon Gerchikov, "is the goal always, regardless whether you have the music in front of you or not."
Formed 14 years ago in Jerusalem, the Ariel quartet (the name means "Lion of God") has already won a fistful of prestigious awards, including the Fischoff Grand Prize. In Cincinnati, where the ensemble was recently named quartet-in-residence at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the four musicians, all 28, are turning heads for their fresh approach to chamber music. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| Can A Visitor Record An Album? | | To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to LawAndDisorder@MusicalAmerica.com Dear Law And Disorder, So glad I found your page on the internet, so far it's been the most helpful out of all my Google searches! I have just a couple of questions. We are from Australia and I have a 14 year old son who has signed a recording contract in the US. Currently we are traveling back and forward on the Visa Waiver Program. I understand he is not allowed to perform until he has an "O" visa. However, is he allowed to record music in his producer's studio for the album and take label meetings in the hope of placing a major recording contract? When I say meeting, it's meeting with music labels for an interview/audition and you normally have to sing a song so that they can hear you and see if they like you in their office. Read the full story |
| Who Should Write Program Notes? |  From "Ask Edna" by Edna Landau
For the answers to the questions below, click here. Dear Edna: As a manager of classical musicians, I have the opportunity to work with many different presenters. No matter the type of presenter, size of the hall, the budget or the number of staff members, one question frequently pops up: Who is writing the program notes? Some organizations hire a professional writer, others handle the task on site, and still others have generous (and well informed, very skilled) volunteers. Yet, there are others who expectantly ask me for this material. This has led to the very last thing I want to have: an uncomfortable exchange with a presenter. As a concert goer, I love program notes and read them carefully. I think they go a long way in engaging our audiences. I also see the presenter's point of view that the notes should be included as part of the "whole package". Nevertheless, as an artist manager, writing program notes on Beethoven string quartets falls outside of the duties I can realistically handle. Please help me solve this. What is the industry norm? - Mollie Alred, Associate, Sciolino Artist Management |
| Dudamel's Mahler 8th for All Time | 
From Why I Left Muncie by Sedgwick Clark Gustavo Dudamel's recording of Mahler's Eighth Symphony will restore your faith in life. Quite simply, it is the most thrilling newly recorded release I've heard in decades. This Mahler Eighth must be seen to be believed. With a mind-boggling choral phalanx of 1,200 on risers, the combined orchestras of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, eight soloists, and lord knows how many more choristers tucked into the nooks and crannies of Caracas's Teatro Teresa Carreña, the work handily earns a new nickname as the "Symphony of Over 1,400." Deutsche Grammophon has released it on Blu-ray, conventional DVD, and CD, but forget about the latter format unless you want to listen in the car or on a walk in Maiernigg. Read the full story
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| Latest Roster Changes | |  Musical America is helping presenters keep up with its advertisers! Managers whose rosters appear in the 2012 edition of the Musical America Directory should write to listings@musicalamerica.com with the names of artists and attractions that have been either added or removed, and please be sure to indicate "added" or "removed."
NEW THIS WEEK Glaser, Attilio, tenor, added, Artistainternational Glover, David, conductor, added, William Reinert Associates Litton, Andrew, conductor, added, Hazard Chase (Europe) Zimmerman, Christopher, conductor, added, Chesapeake International Artists
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