Gerard Schwarz became well-known for his work with the Seattle Symphony, garnering quite a few Grammy nominations along the way.  He is now taking the helm of the Palm Beach Symphony, and will also serve as Distinguished Professor at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

The Palm Beach Sun-Sentinel has details here.

Just about two hours ago, the Baltimore Symphony announced that it is cancelling all summer concerts.  The players--just coming out of rehearsal at the time of the announcement--had not been informed.

The BSO had already planned to shorten future seasons due to severe financial constraints.  The orchestra is predicted to barely be able to make it's payroll in July and August.

The Baltimore Sun has the story here.

The official statement from the orchestra can be read here.

The California Symphony doubled it's audience using information gleaned from its data gathering efforts.  

An interesting article on what they did and how another orchestra is approaching things can be found here.

The BBC Philharmonic is encouraging it's audience members to leave their phones on during concerts--because they're sending out live program notes during the events.

Live program notes will be offered for select programs beginning this September. Participating audience members will be seated in one section so as not to bother other concert goers.

​You can learn more about the program here.

(from a press release)

BMC Artistic Director and alumnus Keith Lockhart, Principal Conductor of the Boston Pops and Chief Guest Conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra, will preside over this inspiring ten-week summer music festival featuring almost 100 performances and events spanning a multitude of genres and musical tastes. Symphony, chamber, and opera masterpieces by Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Chopin, and others will take center stage at the 2019 Festival, while music legends such as David Sanborn, The Temptations and The Four Tops, Michael Feinstein, Lyle Lovett, and Béla Fleck headline a superstar lineup of non-classical talent. A two-week Festival within a Festival celebrating composer Aaron Copland offers students and audiences alike an immersive opportunity to enjoy works by the beloved American composer. Family-friendly concerts featuring performances like Raiders of the Lost Ark in Concert (movie + live symphony) and Patriotic Pops bring classical music to audiences of all ages. 

Opening Weekend, Friday June 21 - Tuesday, June 25
On June 21, BMC Principal Guest Conductor JoAnn Falletta formally kicks off an inspiring summer with an All Tchaikovsky opening night concert featuring Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 and violinist Chee-Yun, "a talented instrumentalist with the kind of high-gloss tone that pulls sensuously at the listener's ear" [New York Times] in the powerful and evocative Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. On June 22, BMC Presents invites two Motown legends, The Temptations & The Four Tops, to take the stage for an unforgettable evening of R&B and soul. On June 23, Maestra Falletta leads performances of Respighi's illuminating Church Windows and GRAMMY®-winning composer Michael Daugherty's Trail of Tears, featuring renowned flutist and BMC faculty member Amy Porter. 

Michael Feinstein, the multi-platinum selling, five-time GRAMMY®-nominated entertainer dubbed "The Ambassador of the American Songbook,” concludes the opening weekend on June 25 with the Center’s resident orchestra for a program titled "That’s Entertainment," saluting classic MGM musicals with unforgettable songs made famous by Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and other legendary performers. 

A Festival Within A Festival: Celebrating Aaron Copland
On July 8, BMC will launch its fourth Festival Within a Festival honoring Aaron Copland, "the Dean of American Composers," with two weeks of symphonic and chamber masterworks including Appalachian Spring, the Clarinet Concerto, and the Sextet. Additionally, cultural historian Joseph Horowitz will curate music, multi-media and film experiences for BMC’s production of the acclaimed Copland and Mexico. 

Something for Everyone: 2019 Season Highlights
Brevard’s natural beauty provides exquisite backdrop for an array of symphony and chamber concerts including Mendelssohn's "Italian" Symphony, Brahms's Symphony No. 4, Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto, Dvořák's Serenade for Strings, and Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, as well as the return of The Shanghai Quartet in year two of their esteemed Beethoven Cycle. 

Two perennial audience favorites return to BMC's Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium in 2019: the rousing Fourth of July concert, Pendergrast Patriotic Pops, and a very special night at the movies featuring the beloved adventure classic, Raiders of the Lost Ark, with live symphony performing John Williams's Academy Award-winning score on July 20. 

Opera has been an integral part of BMC programming throughout much of its 83-year history. This summer, opera lovers enjoy a superb selection of three fully-staged operas, Floyd's Susannah (June 27 & June 29), Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (July 11 & July 13), and Strauss, Jr.'s Die Fledermaus (July 25 & July 27), plus two recitals including Opera's Greatest Hits (June 20) and Broadway in Brevard: An Evening of Frank Loesser Favorites (August 1). All fully-staged operas are presented in the Scott Concert Hall at the Porter Center on the Brevard College campus on Thursdays and Saturdays, and are complemented by English supertitles above the stage.

On August 2 the season finale performance of Mahler 2, the composer's impassioned and apocalyptic Resurrection Symphony, gives a powerful closing chapter to the 2019 festival as Keith Lockhart leads hundreds of orchestral and choral artists on the Whittington-Pfohl Auditorium stage.

Among non-classical guest artists like Michael Feinstein and The Temptations & The Four Tops, the Music Center is also pleased to introduce jazz legend David Sanborn to Brevard audiences on June 7 (the Sanborn concert is currently sold-out), as well as welcome back Harpeth Rising on July 16, Lyle Lovett and his Large Band on August 8, and Béla Fleck, who headlines a Blue Ridge Banjo Concert on August 17 in conjunction with his second annual banjo camp. The Lyle Lovett and Béla Fleck concerts are produced in collaboration with Mountain Song Productions.

More information can be found here.

Actor/Director Ron Howard has produced a new documentary on the life of famed tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

The film will preview in select markets on June 4, with wider distribution beginning June 7 in the US. The film is scheduled to reach the UK on July 15th.

​Howard discussed the film with Variety in an article you can find here.

Brandon Keith Brown was hired to lead the orchestra at Brown University for the year 2017-18.  He was fired after a being there for just over one month, and has now filed a complaint with the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights claiming discrimination.

While Brown University would not comment, the Providence Journal has reports from students who were involved with the orchestra at the time stating that there were multiple complaints about the conductor during his brief tenure.  According to reports, he was rude, excessively stringent about his requirements and expectations, and would not listen to student concerns.

The Brown University Orchestra is comprised mostly of students who are not music majors.

​The Providence Journal has the complete story here.

(from a press release)

Castleton CEO and Artistic Director Dietlinde Turban Maazel, a renowned German actor and opera coach, will be joined by award-winning Russian pianist Ilya Kondratiev for an open masterclass and classical performance Sunday, May 19, at 5 p.m. at Castleton. This Castleton in Performance event will feature transcriptions by Hungarian Romantic composer Franz Liszt. The transcriptions will feature three famous works by Austrian composer Franz Schubert, based on poetry by the great German author Goethe. During the masterclass, Maazel and Kondratiev will examine the fascinating connectivity between the music and the text. Kondratiev’s performance at Castleton will first feature three of Liszt’s Schubert’s transcriptions: Serenade, Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, andErlkönig. After an intermission, Kondratiev will end the evening with two of Liszt’s own compositions, 3 Sonetti del Petrarca S.161 and Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata S.161. Austrian-born Schubert (1797-1828) bridged the Classical and Romantic musical periods, and his compositions greatly inspired other musicians, including Liszt (1811-1886), who transcribed various works by other composers, taking them from large-scale arrangements to pieces fit for solo works. Presented by the London-based Keyboard Charitable Trust, the Trust’s mission is to help young pianists build a professional musical career.

​More information can be found here.

A new study finds that attending live concerts does more to increase both the quality and length of life than many other "healthy" activities.

As a caveat, the company that did the study owns several music venues in the UK.  But still...

WFMT has an article about the study here.