Hobart Baroque Folds
After two highly popular and successful years, the 2015 Hobart Baroque Festival has been cancelled over funding. Organisers had requested an amount of $3 million over the coming triennium, but for next year had been promised $400,000 the same as in previous years.
Casting The Net For Classical Audiences
With orchestras and opera companies around the world facing an uncertain future, this feature from the New Statesman argues that in London at least, the marketing of classical music events, especially opera, is flawed. It says the selling of opera is too often “conceived by people who already love the art form for people who already love the art…
What Makes The Vienna Philharmonic Unique?
This is a fascinating feature from the New York Times about what makes the Vienna Philharmonic sound so unique. Maestro Zubin Mehta gives his views along with some of the musicians from the orchestra. For a start, the horns and the oboes in the orchestra are of the Viennese type and distinct from those played…
2014 Art Music Award Finalists
APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre have announced the finalists for the 2014 Art Music Awards. The awards recognise achievement in the composition, performance, education and presentation of Australian music and encompass a range of endeavours including outstanding contributions by individuals and organisations in Australian music, music education, experimental music, jazz and regional music. The…
More On The Looming National Review Of Opera Companies….
“The reviewers will face some thorny issues ……..which are “artistic vibrancy”, “ engagement with audiences” and “highest quality … in a financially sustainable way”. Writing in The Guardian, Donald McDonald former chief executive of Opera Australia articulates some of the difficult issues facing the national review of opera companies announced last week.
Robertson On The SSO Tour To China: “Electricity In The Air”
Sydney Symphony Orchestra chief conductor and artistic director David Robertson shares his thoughts on the orchestra’s recent tour to China – “…..there was electricity in the air, making soft passages seem loud and close up. You could sense the audience didn’t take the music for granted, that they don’t often get to hear these works played…
Opera World Loses Two Luminaries
SoundsLikeSydney reports the sad loss of two luminaries of the opera world – soprano and voice coach Eilene Hannan and Opera Australia Italian language coach Renata Fresia-Verdino. Eilene Hannan passed away in London last week aged 67. Her roles for OA included the Marschallin and Katya Kabanova. She also sang the role of Natasha in Prokofiev’s War and…
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National Review of Opera Companies Announced
Funding of $32 million for the nation’s opera companies is to come under the scrutiny of a three person panel. Read the feature in The Australian