The Los Angeles Philharmonic announced this morning that Deborah Borda, the orchestra’s President and CEO, will be stepping down from her post to take the same position with the New York Philharmonic. The move becomes effective September 15, 2017. The full press release is below. She is, of course, no stranger to the NY Phil. She … Continue reading
There’s been a fair amount of personnel movement at the Los Angeles Philharmonic over the past few months. Let’s get everybody caught up: Filling empty seats in the Bass section The LA Phil basses have had two openings since the 2014 retirement of John Schiavo and the sad passing of Fred Tinsley late last year. A … Continue reading
There are some jobs that people expect you to keep for life. Pope. US Supreme Court Justice. Principal Trumpet of the Chicago Symphony. But I guess if a Pope can quit early, we shouldn’t be shocked that the CSO’s first chair trumpet can do it too. Chris Martin — the trumpeter, not the lead singer of Coldplay … Continue reading
Kurt Masur, Music Director Emeritus of the New York Philharmonic and former Kappellmeister of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, has died at his home in Greenwich, CT. The German native was 88-years old. Notable obituaries: Margalit Fox for The New York Times Anastasia Tsioulcas for National Public Radio ————— Photo courtesy of Radio France / Christophe Abramowitz Continue reading
The New York Philharmonic has named Frank Huang as its new Concertmaster. Mr. Huang, 36 years-old, has been Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony since 2010. He is also on the faculty of Rice University’s Sheppard School of Music. He officially begins his tenure in September. The NY Phil’s concertmaster chair has been vacant since Glenn Dicterow retired last … 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
Two years ago, the New York Philharmonic made a tour stop in Santa Barbara. That, and a whole lot of negotiations, eventually led to yesterday’s announcement that the orchestra and Montecito’s Music Academy of the West agreed to a four-year partnership, beginning this summer. Neither the orchestra’s nor the Academy’s website have posted a press release, but according to details … Continue reading
As if there hasn’t been enough big, crazy musical news out of New York this week, the announcement came earlier today that Glenn Dicterow, Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic since 1980, will join the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music in Fall of 2013 and then step down from his NY Phil … Continue reading
Care of the folks at Composers Datebook at American Public Media: On today’s date in 1969, Leonard Bernstein conducted his last concert as the Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Bernstein had been named the orchestra’s Music Director in November of 1957, and was the first American-born and trained conductor to hold the position. … Continue reading
The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s all-Gershwin season opening gala may have occured many months ago, but PBS’s “Great Performances” is only now getting around to broadcasting the video from the concert — most of it, anyway. Better late (and abridged) than never. The first broadcast is this evening at 6pm Pacific Time (on KPBS and PBS … Continue reading
As previously mentioned, I made a “game day decision” last Saturday night to see Bernard Haitink conduct the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall. Note that I listed Mr. Haitink’s name first, then the orchestra, then the hall: chalk up the opportunity to see the legendary Dutch conductor in person for the first time … Continue reading
It is my last full day in NY, and as luck would have it, I was able to wrap up my Day Job responsibilities a little earlier than originally anticipated. After pondering some options, I decided to dash over to Lincoln Center to see Bernard Haitink conduct the “other” Philharmonic. The program is decidedly middle-of-the-road … Continue reading
A smattering of things to bring up: Forgot to mention . . . I was remiss in leaving this weekend’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra concerts off my previous post of less-publicized upcoming concerts. Jeffrey Kahane and crew will be doing the Beethoven 3rd Symphony (“Eroica”) along with the Dvořák Nocturne in B major. Adding to the … Continue reading
All is Yar 