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16. January 2019

Kent Nagano and Wagner Readings: First concert in Cologne Philharmonie (January 2019)

On Sunday, 20 January, Kent Nagano and Concerto Köln are presenting their first concert as part of the project Wagner Readings in the Cologne Philharmonie. They have launched this project in autumn 2017 together with the Kunststiftung NRW: Richard Wagner’s »The Ring of the Nibelung« will be developed and performed from the perspective and with methods of ›historical performance practice‹. In addition to reflecting on the project theoretically, particular focus will lie on the reconstruction of the instrumental and vocal or linguistic practice at the time of Wagner.

In 2019, three concerts by Concerto Köln and Kent Nagano will be performed in the Cologne Philharmonie, with the first practical approach to works by Richard Wagner, as the Wesendonck Lieder or Siegfried Idyll. Find here further news and information about the Wagner Readings.

4. January 2019

Gregory Kunde sings Andrea Chenier at Vienna State Opera (January 2019)

American tenor Gregory Kunde is currently guest at Vienna State Opera (the first time since 2012) and will sing the title role of Giordano’s Andrea Chenier on Sunday, 6 January 2019 (revival) and also on 9, 11 and 15 January 2019.

Find here further information on those performances.

In Jun 2019 Gregory Kunde will return to the Vienna State Opera for performances of Verdi’s Aida (Radames).

 

20. December 2018

Kent Nagano’s concerts and opera performances in Hamburg around Christmas (December 2018)

Hamburg’s General Music Director Kent Nagano will spend this year’s Christmas and New Year in the Hanseatic city and will conduct the following concerts and opera performances:

  • Mozart’s Magic Flute on 21, 23, 27, 29 December and 1and 4  January 2019 at the State Opera Hamburg
  • Strauss’ Frau ohne Schatten on 26 and 30 December and on 5 and 9 January in the State Opera Hamburg
  • The New Year’s Eve concert with the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg on 31 December at 11.00 in the Elbphilharmonie
17. December 2018

BBC Radio 3 broadcasts concert with Omer Meir Wellber (December 2018)

On 18 December, you can listen on air to Omer Meir Wellber’s first concert with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra from Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, which took place on 6 October 2018. The concert will be aired on BBC Radio 3 at 14.00 (GMT). You can listen here to the livestream of the radio channel online.

In July 2019, Omer Meir Wellber will be Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.

14. December 2018

Manfred Honeck & PSO receive three Grammy nominations (December 2018)

Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra have been nominated for three Grammys with their current CD (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 “Eroica” and Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1) with the Label Reference Recordings, in the categories “Best Orchestral Performance” , “Best Engineered Album, Classical” and “Producer of the Year, Classical”.

“We are honored to be recognized again this year with these three GRAMMY® Award nominations. On behalf of the entire PSO, I want to say how pleased we are that the outstanding talent of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and our wonderful Sound Mirror and Reference Recordings Team have received this honor,“ said Music Director Manfred Honeck.

The award ceremony will take place on February 10, 2019 in Los Angeles.

14. December 2018

Omer Meir Wellber in Stockholm (December 2018)

Omer Meir Wellber is currently conducting the Sveriges Radios Symfoniorkester in the Berwaldhallen in Stockholm. At the concerts on 13 and 15 December, pianist Jonathan Biss plays two piano concertos by Beethoven and Sally Beamish. Furthermore, Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben” is presented.

Find information about the concerts here.

14. December 2018

Jan Vogler: Interview with SPIEGEL (December 2018)

Cellist Jan Vogler gave a big interview for the German magazine SPIEGEL. You can read this here  (only for subscribers).

Furthermore, a few weeks ago Jan Vogler finished the successful Australia and New Zealand tour with “Bill Murray, Jan Vogler & Friends”. Read here an interview with the cellist on the occasion of this tour.

13. December 2018

Midori travels to Vietnam with her Music Sharing foundation (December 2018)

Violinist and UN Messenger of Peace Midori travels with MUSIC SHARING’s International Community Engagement Program (ICEP) through Vietnam. As every year in the second half of December, ICEP as a non-political foundation brings Western classical music into regions in Asia with limited exposure to it. From December 18-27, ICEP’s touring string quartet performs and interacts with Vietnamese residents. They will visit schools and music schools, orphanages, hospitals, communities and schools for people and children with special needs such as for patients with Hansen’s Disease, as well as the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in and around Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. A visit of the touring musicians to Tuyên Quang Province is being coordinated by the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with field visits and programs in the IFAD projects.

MUSIC SHARING, which was founded by Midori in 1992, focuses on bringing live music to people who are living under special and marginalized circumstances such as resulting from natural disasters, medical conditions, geographical limitations, and economic positions. ICEP, in particular, coordinates and organizes musical presentations into regions in Asia with limited exposure to it.

The touring string quartet, with Midori, this season includes Tatjana Roos (violin), Charlotte Malin (viola) und Alan Toda-Ambaras (violoncello). The young musicians were selected through a rigorous audition process and will travel in June 2019 to Japan for follow-up concerts.

Here you’ll find more information on Music Sharing and ICEP and here about the Touring Party Personnel.
Midori and her team are chronicling their activities in Vietnam on the Music Sharing Blog, which also includes entries from the last travels to India in 2017 and Nepal in 2016. On MUSIC SHARING’s YouTube channel you can also find videos of those last two ICEP tours.

For further information on Midori’s commitment as a UN Messenger of Peace, you can find

  • here a video of her visit to Mexico in October 2017, where she played music for the victims of the earthquake in Morelos in September 2017, advocated for the UN’s Sustainable Developmental Goals and gave a master class in Mexico City which she combined with a public interview,
  • and here a short video statement of Midori for International Day of Peace 2016.

 

This year’s ICEP tour is, in part, organized in collaboration with IFAD, the office of the Honorary Consul of Vietnam in Aichi – in commemoration of the 45th anniversary of the Vietnamese-Japanese Diplomatic Relations –, and the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation.

Special thanks go to the United Nations’ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). MUSIC SHARING values the IFAD’s commitment to invest in rural people, empowering them to increase their food security, to improve the nutrition of their families and to increase their incomes.

MUSIC SHARING is a non-political entity and operates solely on generous support provided by individuals, corporations, and foundations. For ICEP Vietnam, these include:  Kikkoman Corporation, Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd., Kao Corporation, Saigon Tourist, Hermes Gift Ltd., The Japan World Exposition 1970 Commemorative Fund.

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