DOS Orchestra #26 - 9 January 1995

News from the world of professional orchestras.
Copyright 1995, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

Topics

American Federation of Musicians: New Symphonic Staffer

Barbara Nielsen, a member of the New Haven Symphony and Secretary of the Regional Orchestra Players' Association, has accepted a new position with the American Federation of Musicians Symphonic Services Division.

Replacing her as ROPA Secretary will be Laura Ross, delegate from the Nashville Symphony and ROPA member-at-large. She was appointed to the position by the ROPA executive board to fill the remainder of Nielsen's term.

Charlotte Symphony: Midwinter Dream Marriage

The Charlotte Symphony and the Charlotte Repertory Theater opened a two-week run of their first collaboration, Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," with a fund-raising gala preview on January 5. The two companies will share in the revenue and expenses from the joint production, which, according to theater managing director Keith Martin, "has generated more interest, more calls and more sales than any show in our 13-show season."

Both groups hope to to attract new patrons from the venture. Martin said "the crossover potential is tremendous." As well, the production is being promoted to high school students with tickets subsidized by a grant from McDevitt Street Bovis Incorporated.

The production, which features the orchestra not only performing Mendelssohn's incidental music to Shakespeare's play but acting onstage as well, required close cooperation between the two companies. Mary Watkins, managing director of the orchestra, said "we basically had to marry our staffs," but she described the results as a "win-win-win situation."

The production, estimated to cost $100,000, was partly funded by corporate sponsorships of $42,000 and a $5,000 grant from the North Carolina Arts Council.

Memphis Symphony: Third Annual Elvis Sighting

The Memphis Symphony held its third annual Elvis Presley pops concert on January 7. Ronnie MacDowell, who has performed as Elvis on several film soundtracks, joined two of Presley's backup groups and the Memphis Symphony for the multi-media event, which was conducted by MSO music director Alan Balter. Featured were eight Elvis videos and orchestrations that Presley used on tour. Ironically, Presley never performed with his hometown orchestra while he was actually alive.

The previous two Elvis Presley pops concerts by the MSO sold out the 4,300 seat North Hall.

New York Philharmonic: New Fourth Horn

Howard Wall, fourth horn of the Philadelphia Orchestra, has accepted the same position with the New York Philharmonic. Wall was on an one-year leave of absence from the Philadelphia Orchestra last season.

Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Wall was a member of the now-defunct Denver Symphony Orchestra.

New Zealand Symphony: Principal Guest Conductor Dies

Eduardo Mata, principal guest conductor of the New Zealand Symphony and the Orquestra Sinfonica Simon Bolivar (Caracas), was killed in a plane crash near his home in Xochitepec, Mexico. He was 52. Officials said that the plane, which was piloted by Mata, crashed shortly after takeoff from Cuernavaca airport. Also killed in the crash was the only passenger, Marina Anaya.

Mata had been music director of the Dallas Symphony from 1977 to 1993, and was widely credited with the growing international recognition of that orchestra. He was also a leading force in the construction of the DSO's new venue, Meyerson Symphony Center, which opened in 1989 and which is widely regarded as perhaps the finest new hall in the United States.

Prior to coming to Dallas, Mata had been music director of the Phoenix Symphony. He had also been an active guest conductor over the years, conducting the Pittsburgh Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the London Symphony, the Rome Radio Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottowa) and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, among many others.

Mata, regarded as the leading exponent of the symphonic music of Latin American, studied composition under Carlos Chavez and Julian Orbon at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City, where he began his conducting career.

His appointment as principal guest conductor of the New Zealand Symphony began on January 1, 1995. A memorial service was held last week at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City.

Opera San Jose: New Hall May Be Delayed

San Jose redevelopment officials are revising their long-term plans for new construction due to lower-than-anticipated tax revenues from the city's industrial zones. One of the projects that is a candidate for delay is a $24 million home for Opera San Jose.

The redevelopment agency depends on property taxes to issue bonds for its projects. During the 1980's, agency revenue increased at an annual rate of 15 percent, but last year its revenues went up by only 1 percent, while officials are estimating an increase in tax revenues of 2 percent for this year. Complicating the revenue picture are quicker depreciation schedules for high-tech equipment in the industrial zones and the shift of some Silicon Valley manufacturing capacity offshore.

The new theater for Opera San Jose is only one cultural facility being planned by the redevelopment agency; last month, the agency approved plans for a $19 million home for the San Jose Repertory Theater, and a theater for the new Mexican Cultural Heritage Gardens is also planned. A $1.5 million of the Fox Theater is also underway.

Philadelphia Orchestra: New Principal Trumpet

David Bilger, principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony, has been appointed principal trumpet of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He will assume his new position in September 1995.

Bilger, 33, has been a member of the Dallas Symphony since 1988. He has also played with the New York Philharmonic, the Oakland Symphony, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's (NY). He has performed with the New York Trumpet Ensemble, the Canadian Brass, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

Bilger is a graduate of the Julliard School, where he studied with Mark Gould, co-principal trumpet of the Metropolitan Opera orchestra.

Saito Kinen Orchestra: Ozawa Conducts Orchestra, Interviews

Seiji Ozawa, music director of the Boston Symphony, hosted a three-hour variety show broadcast nationally throughout Japan on January 1. The show, which included Ozawa conducting the Saito Kinen Orchestra, featured tapes of Ozawa interviewing Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, and Steven Spielberg. The show also featured music for two 'celli composed by John Williams, which was performed live by Mstislav Rostropovich via satellite from St. Petersburg and Yo-Yo Ma via satellite from Boston.

Deaths

Freda Pastor Berkowitz, who taught piano to thousands of students at the Curtis Institute of Music, died on January 6 in Roslyn (PA) at the age of 86.

Berkowitz, who was born in Newark (NJ), began her piano studies at the age of 7. She began her association with the Curtis Institute in 1928, where she studied with David Saperton and Joseph Hoffman, the renowned pianist who was director of Curtis. She graduated from Curtis in 1934 and joined the faculty in 1936, teaching a piano course to non-pianists, including several current and former members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. She retired from the Curtis Institute in 1990.
Heshmat Sanjari, who founded the Tehran Symphony and also served as its music director for many years, died on January 4 in Tehran at the age of 74.

Sanjari, who was a violinist, graduated from the National School of Music of Iran in 1949 and became music director of the Tehran Symphony in 1955.
Copyright 1995, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

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