The Atlanta Symphony is looking for someone to fill the principal viola position.

Resumes are due June 6.  Auditions will follow in November.

You can learn more here.

(photo: Jay Mallin)

(from a press release)

On June 2 at Strathmore the National Philharmonic will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Polish Independence.

The National Philharmonic ends its 2017-2018 season at The Music Center at Strathmore with a musical celebration, “100th Anniversary of Poland’s Independence,” on Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. at the Concert Hall at the Music Center at Strathmore. Conducted by world-renowned Polish Maestro Mirosław Jacek Baszczyk, the concert will feature music composed by Poland’s greatest musicians, performed by some of today’s leading vocalists and musicians. The performance will commence with an introduction by the Ambassador of Poland, Piotr Wilczek. The 100th anniversary of Poland has significant meaning for the National Philharmonic, which is led by Polish-born Music Director and Conductor Piotr Gajewski. One of the National Philharmonic’s veteran artists, Brian Ganz—who will perform at the Polish celebration concert—is also a frequent performer of Frédéric Chopin, beginning a quest in 2011 to perform all of the great Polish composer’s works. During this celebratory concert, Maestro Błaszczyk will lead the National Philharmonic Chorale, accompanied by Esther Heideman, soprano; Magdalena Wór, mezzo-soprano; Tyler Duncan, baritone; and the National Philharmonic in Krzesimir Dębski’s Hussars’ Polonaise and Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater and Mr. Ganz in Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21.  Ticket prices are $23-$76 and are free for young people age 7-17. Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.nationalphilharmonic.org or call 301.581.5100.

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– Christie's is pleased to organise its books sale on 29 May offering a selection of one an autograph music manuscript signed A. CL. Debussy for Hymnis, a comédie lyrique written by Théodore de Banville in 1867 (120,000 – 180,000 €). This score for piano and voice, dedicated to Debussy’s lover Marie Vasnier, appeared for the last time on sale in 1926. It has not been published before. 

Théodore de Banville’s comédie lyrique Hymnis was written in 1867 and intended to be performed in the following year with music by Jules Cressonnois, although owing to a series of misunderstandings it was not to be performed until the autumn of 1879, at the Théâtre Lyrique; it was published for the first time a year later by Tresse.

Until now, the musical setting of the work by Debussy was known from only two sources, one for the Strophes of the first scene (‘Il dort encore, une main sur la lyre’ in the Martin Bodmer collection), the other from the beginning of scene 7, the Ode bachique (‘À toi Lyaeos’, formerly in the Toscanini Collection, sold at Sotheby's, 26 May 1983, lot 17, £14,000). The present manuscript, untraced since it was sold at auction on 1 June 1926, has never been described in any of the catalogues devoted to Debussy. It is meticulously notated in brown ink and comprises, with new variants, the Strophes of scene 1 and the Ode Bachique, whilst also including three previously unknown sections: 
- The duo for Anacreon and Hymnis in scene 1 (‘Sous nos pas le ciel a mis’), pp. 7-8.
- The song of Anacreon in scene 2 (‘Quand par un jour de soleil’), pp. 9-11, lacking the end of the fourth stanza and the fifth stanza.
- The final trio of scene 7 (‘Ah! nous sommes bénis‘), pp. 23-31.

It is clear from a comparison of the shared sequences with the two other known autographs that the present manuscript is a calligraphic fair copy, intended to be offered, as a sort of musical love letter, to Marie Vasnier.

Between 1880 and 1882, at the height of his affair with Marie Vasnier, Debussy set to music 12 poems by de Banville and 3 plays, including Hymnis. Théodore de Banville is, with Paul Verlaine, the poet who most inspired the composer: indeed, Debussy’s first published work, in 1882, was a setting of de Banville’s Nuit d'étoiles. Most – if not all – of Debussy’s de Banville settings are dedicated to Marie Vasnier: an amateur soprano, the daughter of a music teacher, she had married Henri Vasnier, a clerk of works, at the age of seventeen. Her musical talent and charm are preserved in a beautiful pastel made in 1888 by Jacques-Émile Blanche, now in the Petit Palais, Paris. 

SALE 29 MAY – 2:30pm

​PUBLIC EXHIBITION: Christie’s : 9 avenue Matignon – 75008 – Paris. Free entry.

Dates and opening times: 24 to 28 May, 10am to 6pm (closed on Sunday)

A bassoonist was sitting on the trunk of his car playing his instrument, and suddenly noticed a police presence.  As it turns out, someone had mistaken his bassoon for a rifle, and had called 911.

The whole story is right here.

Or so it seems at a 7-Eleven store in Modesto. The owner of the store began playing classical music over the loudspeakers, and the "riffraff" left.  Patrons of the store now feel safer.

​The story in the Sacramento Bee can be found here.