2016: The Year in Classical Music - Deutsche Welle

Numbers, facts, people: it was a year of milestones in the classical world

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Vivienne Westwood, Andreas Kronthaler Design for Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

For the Vienna Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Knonthaler — her designer partner, creative director and husband — have designed a new stage outfit, the Philharmonic Suit, for the musicians.

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IN MEMORIAM | Classical Music Deaths Of 2016 - Musical Toronto

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Violinist Sarah Chang Robbed of Valuables on Flight to Russia

Russian media has today reported that Korean-American violinist Sarah Chang has had more than US $12,000 worth of valuables stolen from her luggage on a flight from the United States to Russia yesterday.

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How an 11-year-old prodigy composed an opera - CBS News

Alma Deutscher began playing the piano when she was two, and violin at age three. Now she's written and composed her first opera.

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What does this year's FTSE sound like?

Professional musician Jenny Wilkinson obliged and played her viola for us in the key of C to reflect the market's ups and downs between 19 December 2015 and 19 December 2016.

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Military choir amongst victims of Russian plane crash

Sixty-four members of the official choir of the Russian armed forces, men and women, were on the doomed plane, including Lt-Gen Valeri Khalilov, the Alexandrov's conductor.

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Conductor Zubin Mehta to retire after 50 years with IPO

The Indian-born musical director, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year, made the announcement at a special gathering of the orchestra’s musicians.

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Norwegian airline cancels Christmas for a violinist - Slipped Disc

German violinist Elia Kaden was denied boarding on his Norwegian flight DY1104 from Oslo to Berlin two days before Christmas.

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Tuba Players Take over Thanksgiving Square for 39th Annual Tuba Christmas

Warren Brooks, who is dressed as Santa Claus, performs with over 250 other tuba, sousaphone and euphonium players during the 39th annual Tuba Christmas on Friday, December 23, 2016 at Thanksgiving Square in downtown Dallas.

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Texas teen with cystic fibrosis gets his wish to play tuba with the Boston Pops

“He’s a real sharp, young musician,” Roylance said. “You can tell a great musician by how quickly they make adjustments to playing with you without anything needing to be said. So he’s going to be great.”

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Andre Rieu's Long-Serving Trombonist Has Died – Aged 47

Dutch trombonist Ruud Merx has died this morning, aged just 47, following a massive heart attack on Saturday morning

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Were you paying attention? Classical music in 2016 – quiz

How many of the classical world’s comings and goings, openings and closings, bouquets and brickbats do you remember from the past 12 months?

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This Bach chorale composed by machine learning is pretty good

This Bach chorale composed by machine learning is pretty good. Gaetan Hadjeres and Francois Pachet at the Sony Computer Science Laboratories in Paris created DeepBach, then entered Bach's 352 chorales. The resulting composition is certainly in the style. So why does this work better than some other attempts?

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Music Director David Robertson to Step Down from St. Louis Symphony

Music Director David Robertson is set to stand down from the role at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season.

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BSO oboist plays Jingle Bells on recorder. Two of them. With her nose. - Baltimore Sun

Katherine Needleman of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra says she used to get in trouble in elementary school music class for a trick she learned on the recorder. The principal oboist at the BSO showed off her "party trick" in a Facebook post Tuesday ...

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Pinched notes are common for musicians at Christmas - MetroNews Canada

Indeed, one occupational therapist at the University of Alberta, who also plays the oboe, is using her experience with musical-induced injuries as inspiration to for new research into the strange spike in injuries that musicians face each year at Christmas.

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The Brilliance of a Stradivari Violin Might Rest Within Its Wood - New York Times

In the study, done in collaboration with the Chimei Museum in Taiwan, Dr. Tai and his colleagues used five analytical techniques to assess wood shavings from two Stradivari violins, two Stradivari cellos and one Guarneri violin.

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Toronto Symphony Orchestra board chair and directors resign - Toronto Star

rTurmoil behind the scenes at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra reached a crescendo as eight members of the board of directors, including its chair, abruptly resigned this month.

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New Berlin Philharmonic principal hornist got boost in Philadelphia - Philly.com

David Cooper went to Curtis, and recently played with the Philadelphia Orchestra

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The cellist and conductor Heinrich Schiff has died

Born on November 18, 1951; Died on December 23, 2016

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Fazil Say: 'I make music like a Turk'

Music between Orient and Occident: the Turkish pianist, composer and Beethoven Prize winner tells DW how his work crosses frontiers and about the responsibility of artists like himself.

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Will Andrea Bocelli also sing at Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony?

After reported difficulties in securing musical acts to perform at the presidential inauguration ceremony, it looks like Andrea Bocelli could be in line to sing for Donald Trump.

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The Best Classical Music Recordings of 2016 - New York Times

It is a preposterous notion: choosing a mere five albums for a list of the year's most remarkable, out of the dozens, even hundreds, of memorable ones that land on a music critic's desk over 12 months. So if this collection of 20 ...

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International Opera Awards 2016

The Chorus of English National Opera, conductor Gianandrea Noseda and soprano Ermonela Jaho among Opera Award winners 2016 Read more at http://ift.tt/2h9hDej

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Here's A Dual Clarinet Cover Of NECROPHAGIST's "Epitaph," Complete With Solos

Does anyone remember Caleb Canatheviphth? Dude did a solo clarinet cover of Necrophagist's "Foul Body Autopsy" nearly 4 years ago, and now he's back with "Epitaph." This time he does the song in full with both guitar parts on clarinet, and doesn't skip ...

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Symphony Refuses To Perform In North Carolina Because Of Bathroom Bill

The San Francisco Symphony canceled their performance in North Carolina, citing the state's transgender bathroom bill. The symphony announced that it would no longer have two performances at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill next spring, 

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Why don't men get to play women in opera? (pay wall)

The curtain rises on Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier to reveal a scene that Bradley Pearson, the lecherous narrator of Iris Murdoch's novel The Black Prince, finds so emotionally tormenting – "a plump luscious heart-piercing cascade of sugary agony"

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Violin buried in World War I, dug up to be played in Knoxville

In 1915, a French craftsman built this violin, but the fate of his finest creation was in the crushing grip of World War One.

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Vienna Philharmonic returns Nazi-looted art

An Austrian cultural icon, the Vienna Philharmonic has revealed new details of its history during the holocaust. Nearly half of the orchestra's members had been members of the Nazi partY

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Vienna Philharmonic promotes Gerhard Marschner to principal viola

The Vienna Philharmonic has announced the appointment of Gerhard Marschner to the position of principal viola from September 2017.

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Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra considering new venue

For more than 40 years, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has serenaded audiences at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, but it could join the potential renaissance taking shape in another part of downtown.

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Boost for local young musician - Ulster Star - Ulster Star

Boost for local young musician - Ulster StarUlster StarVisit now for the latest music news - direct from the Ulster Star.and more »

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San Francisco Symphony Cancels North Carolina Concerts, Citing Anti-Gay-Rights Law - New York Times

New York TimesSan Francisco Symphony Cancels North Carolina Concerts, Citing Anti-Gay-Rights LawNew York TimesThe San Francisco Symphony, under Michael Tilson Thomas, at Carnegie Hall in April. To protest a new North Carolina law restricting anti-discrimination measures against gay, bisexual and transgender people, the orchestra has canceled concerts planned ...SF Symphony cancels tour concerts in North CarolinaSFGateSan Francisco Symphony cancels UNC concerts over HB2News & ObserverSF Symphony

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Presidents of Fort Worth Symphony and Musicians' Union Talk About What's Next

This week, we saw the end of a three-month strike by Fort Worth Symphony musicians. The players and management agreed on a four-year contract.

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Cellist wins prestigious Janos Starker Award

The Janos Starker Foundation was established to support the future of cello playing and assist exceptional young musicians in advancing their careers.

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Musician's £1m violin snatched from under his nose at same spot where his wallet was stolen three years ago - Telegraph.co.uk

Telegraph.co.ukMusician's £1m violin snatched from under his nose at same spot where his wallet was stolen three years agoTelegraph.co.ukA Ukrainian musician whose prized 260-year-old violin was stolen from a packed train in Geneva has said he feels as if he has lost his own baby. Pavel Vernikov, an artistic director at the Sion music festival, had been travelling to the city by train ...Prized violin worth millions stolen on Swiss train - The LocalThe Local SwitzerlandTheft alert: Professor has

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Raubkunst: 100.000 Euro Entschädigung für eine Guarneri-Geige

Seit rund zwei Jahren verfolgen Provenienzforscher die Spur einer Geige. Womöglich war ein jüdischer Instrumentenhändler zur NS-Zeit zum Verkauf der Violine gezwungen worden. Nun könnten seine Erben entschädigt werden.

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Was 2016 the year women stormed the citadels of classical music?

Where does the best hope for classical music lie? In gifted, passionate and engaged musicians – not in grand plans for swanky new buildings.

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Daniel Barenboim opens Berlin music academy for Middle East students

Daniel Barenboim has called it an “experiment in utopia”, a project that marks the culmination of the leading musician and conductor’s life’s work in bringing together musicians from the Middle East.

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20 years later, India's only opera house reopens

The Royal Opera House was built in a Baroque style complete with Italian balustrades, marble statues, crystal chandeliers and a gold ceiling. It was inaugurated by Britain's King George V in 1911 and completed in 1916.

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Seventeen-year-old Nottingham student gifted rare cello worth around half a million pounds

Nottingham student Sheku Kanneh-Mason played an Amati cello made in 1610 lent to him by dealer and restorer Florian Leonhard Fine Violins

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Northern Ireland Opera appoints new Artistic Director

Following an extensive recruitment process attracting applications from across the world, Northern Ireland Opera is delighted to announce opera and theatre director Walter Sutcliffe as its new Artistic Director.

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Orchestra Wellington Appoints New Concertmaster

Orchestra Wellington Music Director Marc Taddei says Hall is a major young star in New Zealand's musical life, and one whose gifts have already brought her international acclaim.

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This instrument is the musical love-child of a double bass and a trumpet

This is the Tromba Marina – an instrument that was popular in medieval and Renaissance Europe

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British Composer Awards 2016: winners revealed

Of the recipients of this year’s British Composer Awards, 76% were first-time winners.

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Cleveland Orchestra reports deficit and decline in endowment, strong attendance and fundraising

Like Santa's magic satchel, the Cleveland Orchestra's annual report for 2016 is a mixed bag.

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Independent thinking: can music shops survive on today's high street?

Small retailers everywhere are struggling to compete with online competition. But one classical music store in north London is surviving - and even thrivingThree years ago Ian Rosenblatt went into his local music shop in Muswell Hill, north London.

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Baltimore Symphony Orchestra names new CEO, from Grand Rapids Symphony

"I will never forget hearing the extraordinary Baltimore Symphony live for the first time in June," Kjome, 49, said, referring to a concert given at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall during the League of American Orchestras' conference in Baltimore.

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The first woman principal trombone?

We have been informed of the death last weekend, aged 92, of Maisie Ringham Wiggins, principal trombone of the Halle Orchestra from 1946 to 1956, an era when women were seldom seen in brass sections, let alone on trombone

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Women in Music 2016

Women In Music 2016: The 100 Most Powerful Executives

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Top Hong Kong Philharmonic official blasts city for asking Berlin Philharmonic to play at SAR's 20th anniversary

Michael MacLeod, chief executive of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra since 2011, urged the government to realise its company of professional musicians are as capable as Berlin’s. “This Special Administrative Region needs to wake up,” MacLeod said in an exclusive interview with the Post.

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Sir George Bain, man who helped rescue Ulster Orchestra, quits role

Sir George Bain is stepping down as chairman of the Ulster Orchestra after five years in the post

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Introducing the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp and what makes it very special

One of Europe's finest orchestras, the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, have a new musical home - the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp.

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I Went to My First Classical Music Concert. It Was in My Living Room

A few minutes later, as I glanced around my living room, my friends' toe-tapping and head-nodding confirmed I wasn't the only one enjoying the music. I barely listen to classical music, so how did a live string quartet end up in my apartment

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What's so bad about taking sponsorship money from Big Oil?

Even if you didn’t glimpse the BP-branded sea monster that invaded the British Museum during a protest in September, and managed to avoid a naked man being slathered with oil at Tate Britain, you’re unlikely to have missed the bitter guerrilla war raging between Big Oil and sections of the art world.

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Radio 3 launches hunt for unsung female composers in pledge to play their music for the first time

For centuries, they have been the unsung talents of classical composing, overshadowed by men in their time and airbrushed from history ever since.

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DSO family grows with new training orchestra for adults

Several other major orchestras have started musical training programs for avocational musicians, but the DSO model of an ongoing chamber orchestra appears unique.

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Musicians' strike shows we all need to be stronger supporters of the FWSO

Musicians' strike shows we all need to be stronger supporters of the FWSOFort Worth Star Telegram (blog)

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As Pittsburgh Symphony resumes play, financial woes persist

The symphony, which settled a 55-day strike Nov. 23, hasn't had a balanced budget since the 2007-08 season.

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Expert who ruled Beethoven score was a fake tried to buy manuscript at knockdown price

A row over the authenticity of a handwritten Beethoven score, which led to the failure of a £200000 Sotheby's sale, intensified yesterday

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I used to love playing violin. But mastering it broke my heart.

It's what made me want to be a violinist. The first time I remember experiencing it, I was listening to Brahms's Violin Sonata in A Major.

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Attending The Symphony Reverses Cognitive Decline, Study Finds

A Colorado State University study found that the majority of dementia and Alzheimer's participants experienced an unexpected reversal of cognitive decline from listening to classical music.

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Violinist Bethan Doci jailed for £300000 cancer fraud

A professional violinist has been jailed for conning more than £300,000 out of well-wishers by pretending that she had cancer. Bethan Doci, 38, claimed she needed the money for her treatment, but was fit and well and instead funded a lavish lifestyle 

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Berlin Philharmonic violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley gives Mozart audition masterclass

Berlin Philharmonic first concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley gives an orchestral audition masterclass on the first movement of Mozart's Symphony no.40. The violin student is Ann Yu.

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After 100 Years, First Opera by a Woman Opens at the Met

After 100 Years, First Opera by a Woman Opens at the MetWNYCThe new opera "L'Amour De Loin" by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho premiering at the Metropolitan Opera tells a harrowing story about love across two continents set in the 12th century.

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Landlord bags historic violin made from Winston Churchill's cigar boxes…and it plays a fine Irish tune

THE IRISH landlord of a popular bar in west London has snagged a violin constructed from Winston Churchill's cigar boxes at auction. Gerry O'Brien, the manager of The Churchill Arms in Kensington, purchased the incredibly rare historical instrument

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A Jazz Pianist Considers Fidel Castro's Music Education Legacy

Harold Lopez-Nussa was trained in the formidable classical music education system set up in Cuba after the revolution.

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What makes Bach sound like Bach? New dataset teaches algorithms classical music

At a high level, we're interested in what makes music appealing to the ears, how we can better understand composition, or the essence of what makes Bach sound like Bach. It can also help enable practical applications that remain challenging

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