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Sibelius in Helsinki

1/30/2015

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The Finnish capital Helsinki has produced a guide to important sites and moments in the life of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Entitled Path of Sibelius, the guide marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sibelius this year. The guide is available both online and in print.

Path of Sibelius covers Helsinki and three nearby communities. Most of the sites are in Helsinki, reflecting the fact that the composer achieved the greatest accomplishments of his career in the city. All sites are marked on a map and can be easily walked through.  

The guide sheds new light on Sibelius from multiple angles. Sibelius enthusiasts learn where he was born, went to school, studied, composed, partied with other famous Finnish artists, enjoyed nature, played music, premiered his major works, and lived his family life.   “The sites have been so selected that they add to the obvious Sibelius scene,” says Helsinki City Museum curator Jere Jäppinen, who authored the guide.  

In addition to the well-known monuments to the composer, Path of Sibelius leads cultural travelers to lesser-known monuments. One of these is a musical tribute to Sibelius at Helsinki’s Kallio Cathedral, which has played the composer’s Bell Melody at noon and 6 p.m. daily for over one hundred years with cathedral bells chosen by Sibelius himself.  

In addition to Helsinki, the guide presents the composer’s birth town Hämeenlinna, Tuusula and Järvenpää where the Sibelius home Ainola is located, and Sibelius’s favorite summer resort Loviisa.

You can see the guide here.
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So, what's this domain worth?

1/30/2015

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(Diverging momentarily from my usual content...)

I visited a website which purports to tell you the value of your domain name.  This particular site tells me that the value of classicalmusictoday.net is $9,789,814.  To which I say:

DOMAIN FOR SALE--half-price!!!  Leave a comment if you're interested.


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Philip Glass scores new film

1/29/2015

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Composer Philip Glass is the composer of the score for the new Fantastic Four film.

Billboard has more here.


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Scholarships for students of early music

1/29/2015

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Early Music America, an organization that fosters and promotes the performance and study of early music, has announced their slate of scholarship opportunities for 2015. 

First, there is the
Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of the singer, musicologist, and founder of the medieval music ensemble Sequentia, is an award offered every other year, and goes to an outstanding and highly motivated (and possibly unconventional) young performer of medieval music who seeks to widen his/her experience through more advanced study and/or auditions in Europe.

Second, there are the College-Level Ensemble Development Grants.  Early Music America offers grants annually to college or university Early Music Ensembles to support a specific project or event that will enrich or broaden the educational experience of the students, and/or help to elevate the profile of the ensembles on campus, in their community or nationally.

Third, there are outreach grants.  Early Music America offers grants annually to support outreach and/or educational projects for children or adults by ensembles or individual artists.

And finally, there are Summer Workshop Scholarships.  Early Music America offers scholarships annually to students at all levels of experience to support attendance at early music workshops in the United States and Canada.

Learn more by clicking here.




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How to save an orchestra

1/28/2015

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The Danish National Chamber Orchestra had only three months' notice that their funding was going to be eliminated, and so they officially shut down January 1.  But not to be deterred, they mounted a Kickstarter campaign--and along with donations from business, have been able to resurrect themselves.

The Guardian tell the story here.


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Celebrating Mozart's birthday with Rachel Barton Pine

1/27/2015

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Rachel Barton Pine is one of the most prolific and versatile violinists on the music scene today.  You may find her performing chamber music, rock, or standard repertoire with an orchestra.  Her most recent effort is a recording of the complete Mozart violin concertos.  I received a review copy recently and had the chance to talk to Rachel about the set.  I was curious, given all the repertoire she's done to this point, as to why she felt now was the time to record the Mozart.

She related to me that in October 2011 (three weeks after the birth of her child), she performed all 5 of the concertos in one evening--an experience that prompted her to re-examine her way of looking at them and concluding that playing "good Mozart wasn't going to cut it".  She began to examine the character of each concerto, and found something very operatic about them--almost as though each has a plot, telling a story.  In her words, they aren't "just polite, friendly Mozart". 

In addition to the 5 concertos the set includes the Sinfonia Concertante which she performs along with Matthew Lipman, a beneficiary of the Rachel Elizabeth Barton Foundation which exists to promote awareness and appreciation of classical music.

Rachel performs along with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, conducted by (the 89 year old!) Sir Neville Marriner. The set is available on the Avie label should you decide to give it a listen.



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We want our music--but we want it for free

1/26/2015

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The Atlantic  has an article breaking down the numbers--and they're not good news for the recording industry (and by extension, I'd say, for musicians).  CD and download sales are down by double-digits, but streaming is up dramatically.  Vinyl sales are up dramatically as well, but it's a very small niche.

You can read the entire article here.
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But how does it sound?

1/22/2015

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Hungarian pianist Gergely Boganyi has designed a new piano for the 21st century.  Made largely of carbon fiber, it certainly looks impressive.  But how does it sound?  Supposedly the carbon fiber construction will make it less prone to heat, humidity and the like.

For the time being, Boganyi isn't letting any of Hungary's top pianists play the instrument--and says he won't until he's totally happy with the instrument.  So until then, I suppose we'll have to be happy just looking at it.

There's a story in The Guardian about the instrument here.



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A tribute to a harpist/composer

1/21/2015

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As I prepared this morning to air a selection by Elias Parish Alvars, the 19th century harpist and composer, I was doing a little research and ran across a website devoted to him.  The site is the work of harpist Floraleda Sacchi, who evidently is quite the Alvars historian.  The site contains information about Alvars, his life and work, and the opportunity to purchase sheet music of the composer's works.

You can check out the site here.




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If you're excited, why not shout?

1/20/2015

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Greg Sandow today writes about a National Symphony performance at a non-traditional venue (a nightclub) where about 2000 younger folks were in attendance.  At one point, the crowd got so excited, they let out a shout.

Contrast that with a typical concert hall, where they might be expelled for such.

You can read Sandow's thoughts on the whole experience here.


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    I'm a classical radio announcer, blogger, and musician.

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