I made the following update to my original post on the subject from this past Saturday, but in the spirit of providing some additional information . . . I’ve recently been told that at this point: John Sipher is the only remaining candidate for the open position of Principal Trombone with the Los Angeles Philharmonic His … Continue reading
Back by popular demand: our annual look at the changes in the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s roster of musicians at the start of this year. As usual, we’ve had a mix of arrivals and departures, some expected and explained, some . . . well, not so much. Let’s start with the percussion section. Principal Percussionist Raynor Carroll … Continue reading
Gustavo Dudamel is in the midst of a two-week stint at the Hollywood Bowl, conducting an eclectic mix of music ranging from the usual summer classical offerings by Beethoven to less common Bowl fare such as verismo opera and Pan-American music of various genres. Tonight’s program even includes the premiere performances of Mr. Dudamel’s own score for … Continue reading
American conductor Lorin Maazel died earlier today from complications of pneumonia at his home in Virginia. He was 84. The former child prodigy was born in 1930, began playing violin in “the Karl Moldrem Baby Orchestra” by the age of five, and was conducting at seven years old. In 1938, he made his first appearance on the … Continue reading
Over the past couple of years, my euphoria about the bad-assness of the three current brass principals of the Los Angeles Philharmonic — Andrew Bain (horn), Tom Hooten (trumpet), and Nitzan Haroz (trombone) — has been somewhat tempered by a fear that, for one reason or another, the trio might not stick together very long. … Continue reading
Yesterday’s news that Jeffrey Kahane was stepping down in 2017 as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra not only began a long goodbye three years in the making, it caused a little bit of consternation among fans of the pianist/conductor regarding what he’d do after his tenure was done. According to the Los Angeles Times, … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra officially announced that Jeffrey Kahane will step down as Music Director in 2017, at which time he will become Music Director Laureate. In addition, LACO announced details of their 2014-15 season; the complete press release is below. I’m especially excited about the coming “Westside Connections” series, with the coming year’s … Continue reading
(UPDATE: The official LACO press release about this announcement and details about their 2014-15 season is HERE) (UPDATE #2, April 26: Jeffrey Kahane’s full statement about his post-LACO plans is HERE) Pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane has announced that the 2016-2017 season will be his last as Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic wrapped up its whirlwind twelve day, seven city tour last week. Reviews from the trip were generally positive, many even glowing. Critics seemed most impressed by the performances of 20th & 21st Century works by Bjarnason, Corigliano, and Rachmaninoff, with Yuja Wang’s pianistic contributions also earning requisite praise. The smattering of negative comments made were mostly … Continue reading
The Berlin Philharmonic announced today that their new 1st Concertmaster will be Noah Bendix-Balgley, who is (gasp!) an American. Yes, I know that Americans have held jobs — even principal positions — with the Philharmoniker before (Carrie Dennis, the current Principal Viola of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, held the same position with the Berlin Phil before … Continue reading
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s principal trumpet, David Bilger, has many outlets for sharing his experience and wisdom with other musicians: he has his own blog, he has teaching positions at The Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University, and he just wrapped up a two-year stint as “William F. and Pamela P. Prokasy Professor in the … Continue reading
With the start of the new Los Angeles Philharmonic season, it’s time once again to examine the current personnel situation at the orchestra. The first thing worth mentioning is that there isn’t much to mention, especially compared to previous seasons. Just eyeballing it, but it looks like the orchestra has the fewest empty chairs to … Continue reading
Late last week, multiple sources started buzzing with word that the Los Angeles Philharmonic had finally filled their vacant Principal Flute chair. According to those sources, French flutist Julien Beaudiment was hired for the position. The current Principal Flute of the Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Lyon, he played a stint in Walt Disney Concert Hall this … Continue reading
The big buzz this morning is the Boston Symphony’s long-awaited announcement as to who will fill their Music Director’s chair that has been vacant since James Levine officially stepped down in 2011 (though health problems kept Mr. Levine away from the podium long before that). The choice: Andris Nelsons, the 34-year old Latvian maestro who has … Continue reading
The first time the Los Angeles Philharmonic held auditions to fill its Associate Principal Clarinet chair, no one was hired. During the past week, they tried again, and this time it looks like they made an offer — and it’s a doozy. No official word from the orchestra, but according to numerous sources, Burt Hara, … Continue reading
