DOS Orchestra #27 - 18 January 1995

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

Topics

Atlanta Symphony to Perform at Olympics Arts Festival

Officials of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta announced a showcase of Southern culture to be staged at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. The festival will feature over 200 performances, including an appearance by Jessye Norman, a native of Georgia, with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Other local groups appearing will include the Atlanta Ballet and the Ballethnic Dance Company, as well as the Miami City Ballet and the Dallas Black Dance Theater. There will also be premiere performances of plays by Sam Shepard, Joseph Chaikin, and Alfred Uhry.

Several well-known popular music performers will appear as well, including Travis Tritt, Lynyrd Skynyrd, James Brown, Trisha Yearwood and Willie Nelson.

Boston Symphony Substitutes for Uncompleted Commission

The Boston Symphony has announced that, due to the illness of composer Henri Dutilleux, the work commissioned from him by the BSO and scheduled to be premiered in February in Boston and Carnegie Hall will be replaced. For the BSO's appearance at Carnegie Hall and two performances in Boston, pianist Dubravka Tomsic will perform Beethoven's "Emperor" concerto, while two other scheduled performances of the Dutilleux work in Boston will be replaced by the local premiere of Witold Lutoslawki's Fourth Symphony, which will be performed in memory of the composer.

In spite of his recent illness, Dutilleux has accepted the position of composer-in-residence at Tanglewood for next summer.

Boston Symphony: New Assistant Principal Violist

Hui Liu has been appointed assistant principal violist of the Boston Symphony by music director Seiji Ozawa, replacing Patricia McCarty, who resigned last year. Lui is a graduate of the Curtis Institute and Boston University, and has studied with Michael Tree, Karen Tuttle, and Felix Galimir. He was a Tanglewood Fellow in 1989, and has played as a substitute musician with the Baltimore Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The BSO has announced auditions for the vacant position of principal viola in the spring.

Chicago Symphony: Substitute Musician Injured in Accident

Rachel Barton, a violinist who has performed with the Chicago Symphony and Chicago Lyric opera as a substitute musician and who has won several international competitions, was severely injured in a freak accident on a Chicago commuter train on January 16.

Barton, 20, was disembarking from a train in Winnetka, a suburb of Chicago, when her violin case was trapped in the door of the train. She was unable to free herself from her case and was dragged under the train for 200 feet as it left the station before the train was stopped by railroad officials. Her left leg was severed below the knee, and she also sustained serious injuries to her right leg.

After nine hours of surgery at Evanston Hospital her condition was described as "serious."

Barton, who made her debut with the Chicago Symphony at the age of 8, is a student of Almita Vamos. She won the J.S. Bach International Violin Competition (Germany) in 1992, and won second prize at the Kreisler Competition in Vienna in 1992 as well as the Szgeti Competition in Budapest. She had been concertmaster of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 1989 to 1992, and teaches at the Music Center of the North Shore in Chicago.

Eugene Opera: A Barry Unusual Appearance

Humorist Dave Barry, who has written scathingly of his dislike for opera in several of his nationally syndicated newspaper columns, made an appearance as a corpse - presumably a non-singing role - on January 8 in the Eugene (OR) Opera's production of Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi." His role consisted of reposing on a bed and then being stored under it.

After the performance, Barry returned to the stage and introduced the next opera on the program.

Florida Philharmonic: Music Director Re-ups

from the management of the Florida Philharmonic on January 10:

Florida Philharmonic Chairman Martin Coyne and Music Director James Judd today announced that the board of Directors and Maestro Judd have agreed to extend their association into the 21st century. Under the leadership of the British-born conductor, named music director beginning with the 1987-88 season, the Philharmonic has grown from an ensemble of regional impact into an orchestra which has received international attention for its recordings, live performances, and syndicated radio broadcasts.

"I am thrilled that Maestro Judd has determined that the Florida Philharmonic will be his home until at least the year 2000. In these days of instability on the classical music scene, this is a most important commitment to the communities throughout southeast Florida. We can now get on with the important administrative tasks to be done with the full knowledge that our artistic standards and musical integrity will continue to flourish under our incredibly talented Maestro. We can all be proud that he has chosen to lead us on what will be a magnificent musical journey into the next century, " said Philharmonic Chairman Martin Coyne.

"I am delighted with the commitment shown by this agreement to keep moving forward; forward to the next century. We will work together to continue the wonderful growth and development of great musical experiences and we all look forward to sharing the excitement with a growing public," said Judd in making the announcement.

"Most importantly, I relish the opportunity to continue working with the fine musicians in the FPO," Judd continued. "They deserve our continued admiration and support. I thank Martin Coyne and the board for according me this wonderful possibility. Together we will play a part towards making South Florida a significant cultural center and thereby enriching the quality of life for the entire community."

James Judd first came to American prominence as the Assistant Conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, a post he accepted at the invitation of then-Music Director Loren Maazel. After four seasons in Cleveland, he returned to Europe after being appointed Associate Music Director of the European Community Youth Orchestra by Claudio Abbado, an ensemble he currently leads as Artistic Director.

Since that time,Judd has guest conducted such prestigious ensembles as the Berlin and Israel Philharmonics, Vienna and Prague Symphonies, Salzburg Mozarteum, Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, Orchestre National de France, and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, as well as all of the major British ensembles. In addition, he frequently collaborates with the Halle Orchestra and the Zurich Tonhalle on recording and video projects, as well as international concert tours. This season, he leads the renowned English Chamber Orchestra on the worldwide tour in celebration of their 25th anniversary.

Judd's first two CD's with the Philharmonic, an all-Walton program and Mahler's Symphony No. 1, received unqualified international praise, with the Mahler named "Recording of the Month" by STEREOPHILE. He has also garnered acclaim for his recordings of Mahler's Ninth and Tenth Symphonies with the European Community Youth Orchestra and Elgar's Symphony No. 1 with the Halle Orchestra. He is currently recording all of the Brahms symphonies with the Royal Philharmonic on the Tring label.

RadioTelevision Luxembourg Symphony: Funding to Cease

A new protocol agreement between the government of Luxembourg and Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Telediffusion (CLT) will release CLT from its current obligation to support the RadioTelevision Luxembourg Symphony.

The cessation of CLT funding for the RTL Symphony is part of an agreement to renew CLT's broadcasting concession for the next 15 years. CLT has agreed to pay five billion francs (Luxembourg) over the period for the rights to continue to broadcast in the country.

A spokeswoman for CLT said that, to replace CLT's support for the RTL Symphony, "a publicly-funded foundation will be established to support the orchestra instead." No information was available about whether the new foundation would be able to fully replace the lost funding from CLT.

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra: Wolff to the Millennium

The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra announced on January 11 that music director Hugh Wolff had signed a new five-year contract, which would extend his tenure with the orchestra through the year 2000. Wolff came to the SPCO in 1988 as principal conductor, part of a "triumvirate" that included Christopher Hogwood as director of music and John Adams as creative chair. He was appointed music director in 1992.

Wolff said "I never considered doing anything else at this point in my life. I love living and working here, I love the chamber orchestra repertoire, and I am discovering a surprising amount of music we have never played."

SPCO President and CEO Brent Assink said that the new agreement would reassure supporters of the orchestra and presenters elsewhere about the orchestra's future, which seemed very much in doubt at the beginning of the 1993-94 season, when the SPCO's board threatened to declare bankruptcy during difficult labor negotiations.

Wolff's contract with the SPCO requires him to conduct at least 12 weeks of each season. He is also principal conductor of the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, which runs during the summertime.

St. Louis Symphony: New Music Director

Hans Vonk, chief conductor of the Cologne Radio Orchestra, has been appointed music director of the St. Louis Symphony. He will begin his new position in September 1996. His contract with the orchestra runs through 1999. Vonk succeeds Leonard Slatkin, who left St. Louis to become the music director of the National Symphony.

Vonk has served as chief conductor of the Resident Orkestra in The Hague and is a former chief conductor of the Dresden Staatskapelle and the Dresden Semper Opera. He has also been active on the guest conductor circuit, having conducted many of the major American orchestras.

He described the St. Louis Symphony as "truly one of the finest in the world."

Deaths

Joseph Gingold, one the greatest violinists and pedagogues of his generation, died on January 11 in Bloomington (IN) at the age of 85.

Gingold, who was professor emeritus at Indiana University, was born in 1909 in Russia and emigrated to New York with his family at the age of 11. He later returned to Europe to study with the great Belgian violinist Eugene Ysaye.

Gingold was an active freelance musician in New York and was a member of the NBC Radio Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini. He also served as concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra.

He came to Indiana University in 1960 after teaching at Case Western University in Cleveland.

His many students included not only such renowned soloists as Pinchas Zukerman, Itzhak Perlman, and Joshua Bell, but many members and leaders of the violin sections of all the major American orchestras
Sir Alexander Gibson, founder of the Scottish Opera and its music director until 1987, died on January 14 in London at the age of 68 following a heart attack.

Gibson, who had guest-conducted widely in Europe and the United States, was music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 1959 to 1984, and also served as principal guest conductor of the Houston Symphony Orchestra from 1981 to 1983.

Gibson was a graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music in Glascow and the Royal College of Music in London. He is survived by his wife Veronica and his four children.
Elisabeth Harting Percy, a violinist and mother of former U.S. Senator Charles Percy, died on January 15 at the age of 102.

Percy, who was a professional violinist, toured the United States and Canada with orchestras and chamber ensembles.

Senator Charles Percy, a Republican, served as United States senator from Illinois from 1966 to 1984, when he was defeated by Democrat Paul Simon.
Copyright 1995, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

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