May 3, 2013   |
| | | Thought of the Day | Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you. --Princess Diana |
| Quote of the Week | | Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. --Buddha |
| | Osmo Vänskä Threatens to Resign |  Minnesota Orchestra music director Osmo Vänskä has tightened the screws on the dispute between players and management, threatening to resign if the lockout is not resolved soon. In a letter to the orchestra's board sent on Tuesday, he says the dispute has already cost the orchestra several of its players and concertmaster Erin Keefe had told him she has been offered positions elsewhere. No concertmaster, no music director, Vänskä told the board, stating: "my own position as music director may become unsustainable." The tipping point for Vänskä will be if the orchestra loses four planned concerts at Carnegie Hall starting November. |
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Back in Business |  After a lockout that began at the same time as the Minnesota Orchestra's, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians have officially ratified a new contract, good through the 2015-16 season. The orchestra will be making up for lost time between the date of its first concert, May 9, and the end of the season on June 15. The terms of the agreement include an annual minimum salary of $60,000 (18 percent less than the previous contract) and a reduction in performance weeks from 37 to 32. Orchestra size will shrink from 34 to 28 players, through attrition and voluntary retirement buyouts of up to $200,000. Insurance coverage remains the same, as does the level of artistic control. SPCO President Dobson West said the new terms should enable the orchestra to eliminate its accumulated deficit of about $1 million and balance the budget in future. |
| | | Emmanuel Villaume New Music Director at Dallas Opera |  Dallas Opera has named Emmanuel Villaume its new music director. He is only the third person to be named to that position in the 56-year history of the company. He said: "I am honored to be selected as music director of the Dallas Opera and to be a part of such a talented artistic community. The Winspear Opera House is one of the most beautiful performing arts venues in the world, and I am excited to be working with the superb orchestra and dedicated staff of the Dallas Opera. I look forward to helping create even more brilliant performances with this impassioned opera company." The new music director will open the company's 2013-14 season with Carmen in October then return to the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden for performances of Massenet's Manon and to Venice's La Fenice for performances of L'africaine. |
| New Mariinsky Opens With Gergiev 60th Birthday Gala |  The Mariinsky Theater's new opera and ballet house, Mariinsky II, opened on Thursday with a gala performance celebrating the 60th birthday of Valery Gergiev, who has made it his artistic and spiritual home since becoming assistant conductor there 35 years ago. Gergiev conducted and the artists included Plácido Domingo, Yuri Bashmet, Anna Netrebko, and the ballet dancer Diana Vishneva. Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a birthday telegram calling Gergiev "A man endowed with truly unending creative energy, brilliant, inimitable Maestro ... one of the outstanding musicians of our time." Built just behind the original Mariinsky and connected by a pedestrian bridge over a canal, the new building forms part of one of the largest theater and concert venues in the world. Covering 79,114 square meters, it took eight years to build at a cost of $700 million. MA.com subscribers read the full story |
| Kristin Lancino to Head Up IMG Artist Management |  IMG Artists has named Kristin Lancino its new executive director. She will manage the Artist Management divisions for North and South America under the leadership of president and CEO Jerry Inzerillo and be based in IMGA's New York headquarters.
Lancino comes from G. Schirmer, Inc., where she has been vice-president since 2007. She previously served as Carnegie Hall's director of artistic planning.
IMG Artists team leader Jerry Inzerillo said: "Kristin is a uniquely talented and creative leader with a superb reputation and known for her deep commitment to her artists as well as colleagues. |
| New Artist of the Month: Thomas Gould |  LONDON -- In the seven years since violinist Thomas Gould graduated from the Royal Academy of Music he has quietly built the model career. He got off to an early start with lessons with Sheila Nelson at the age of three, then entered the Academy on a scholarship with György Pauk as his principal teacher. It was a good start, and the results caught the attention of the Young Concert Artists Trust, an organization that supports and represents young artists while they find their way up the lower rungs of the career ladder and establish themselves with a professional agent. Gould, 30 this year, navigated his way up, and now enjoys the kind of portfolio career that many young students must dream of. He is leader of the Britten Sinfonia and Aurora Orchestra, two orchestras known for their fresh approach and youthful appeal, and frequently works as guest leader and director of many other ensembles, including the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, City of London Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. At the same time he free-lances with several London orchestras and plays regularly on soundtracks for film and television. Read the full story |
| When To Negotiate A Contract | | To submit a question to GG Arts Law write to Dear Law and Disorder: A successful duo I represent has recorded a CD which is being released by a record company. Although the artist made attempts to obtain a contract, because of time restraints, according to the record company, it was only possible to give a contract AFTER the recording was made. The terms include exclusivity universally for several-year options, and although the company paid for the recording and manufacture of the cd, these costs will come out of the royalties. The company controls the cd universally with power of attorney from the artists. To obtain copies, the artists buy the cd at a reduced price. The company insists these are normal terms which are standard practice and always given after the recording is made. This is news to me. Can this be true? Read the full story |
| Can You Plan to be Remarkable? |  From Ask Edna by Edna Landau In the past few weeks, I was pleased to be invited twice to speak to students at the Juilliard School. My first visit was to performance psychologist Dr. Noa Kageyama's Performance Enhancement class and the second was to Assistant Dean Dr. Barli Nugent's Career Development Seminar. In both instances, I was extremely impressed by the creative approaches taken by the teachers in hopes of stimulating and inspiring their students to listen to their inner voice and to begin to identify concrete steps that they could take towards their personal goals. Dr. Kageyama had given an assignment to his class to read bestselling author and marketing expert Seth Godin's book Purple Cow. |
Stravinsky's Sacred Music, the Trinity Way |  From Why I Left Muncie by Sedgwick Clark The Rite of Spring, the centennial of which we celebrate on May 29, has been played everywhere this season and undoubtedly will the next. But while The Rite is forever ubiquitous, much of Stravinsky's huge output languishes--such as his rarely played sacred works, which New York's Trinity Church presented in toto in three concerts last weekend (4/26-28). It was a genuine event, well attended, and performed sympathetically by the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Trinity Youth Chorus, and instrumentalists from NOVUS NY under the interpretive warmth of Trinity's music director, Julian Wachner. Appropriate for a festival of such importance, the beautifully printed and illustrated program booklet, with thought-provoking notes by Matthew Guerrieri, was a keeper. The rarity of Stravinsky sacred-music performances is no surprise. Most of it was written during his last period, when he was adapting Schoenberg's "method of composing with 12 tones" to his own aesthetic. While the expatriate Russian's unique voice could not entirely be quelled, the concert-going public has voted on Schoenberg's technique (and Stravinsky's use of it) with its feet. After more than a century since its genesis, few 12-tone or serial works are played with any frequency, and even those are capable of emptying a room of non-believers before you can say "boo." Read the full story |
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