Menil Repurposes Sacred Space For Contemporary Art

When the Byzantine Fresco Chapel at the Menil Collection in Houston opened in 1997, it displayed a group of 13th-century Greek Orthodox frescoes. But after restoration of the works, which the Menil had rescued from looters for the Church of Cyprus, the museum returned the frescoes to Cyprus as a donation when the agreed loan expired in 2012.

So what to do with that chapel (at right), which has now been deconsecrated? The Menil has commissioned a year-long installation from the team of Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. Cardiff’s Forty Part Motet has been a hit wherever it is installed, but especially when in 2013 it was place in the Cloisters’s 12th-century Spanish chapel, as the first work of contemporary art ever to be shown at the Met’s medieval art branch. More

Grammys 2015: List of Classical Nominees

In-house orchestra labels had a particularly strong showing in the nominations for the 57th Grammy Awards, which were announced on Friday afternoon.

Dominating the orchestral categories are Seattle Symphony Media (three nominations), the Atlanta Symphony's ASO Media (two different albums, each receiving one nod), and Berlin Philharmonic Recordings (one nod). Seattle scored two further nominations with its recording of John Luther Adams's Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean, released on the Cantaloupe label. More

Classical Recordings Distributor Goes Belly Up

Classical Recordings Distributor Goes Belly Up   Another classical recording distributor has collapsed. This time it is Netherlands-based T2 Entertainment group, whose labels included Brilliant Classics, Alia Vox, Col Legno, Membran, Preiser, ARC, and Newton Classics, a reissue label of about 230 titles, most of them from the archives of Decca, Philips, and EMI. Its demise follows that of Qualiton in the U.S., Harmonia Mundi Iberica in Spain, Codaex in Benelux and--just a few months ago--Fuse Group of Australia. Theo Lap, founder of Newton Classics, in receivership when T2 took it over, has been hired by Brilliant, one of T2's backers, to set up an independent distribution network. Lap reports that he already has agreements with "quite a few important labels." Much of the distribution business had moved from business-to-business to business-to-consumer, he said. MA.com subscribers read the full story

Wolfgang Rihm wins 2015 Grawemeyer Award

Wolfgang Rihm Wins 2015 Grawemeyer Award   German composer Wolfgang Rihm, 62, has won the 2015 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for his In-Schrift 2,commissioned last year by the Berlin Philharmonic to honor the 50thanniversary of the Philharmonie. Rihm's prize is the first of the five Grawemeyer Awards, $100,000 each; the others go to ideas improving world order, psychology, education, and religion. "The work evokes dark colors and uses mostly low instruments--no flutes, violins, or violas, for example," Award Director Marc Satterwhite said. "It begins and ends in quiet and mystery, taking many interesting paths along the way." Described as an exploration of spatial boundaries, the 15-minute piece uses six clarinetists and three percussionists. At its 2013 premiere, they were stationed in various spots around the room.

New in our ref collection: The Bizet Catalogue / by Hugh Macdonald

Welcome to the Bizet Catalogue. This is primarily a list of Bizet's works, providing essential information about the history and content of each one. It gives information on manuscript and printed sources, on documentary materials relating to the composition, performance and publication of each work, and is intended to provide a full historical documentation of Bizet's work as composer and transcriber.

U DIG IT?: Zach Resnick digitizes Mel Lewis's 1982 recording Live in Montreux

The James R. and Susan Neumann Jazz Collection presents

the neUmann DIGITization project

In fall 2013, we gave interested students the chance to choose an LP to digitize from the ca. 50,000 jazz-related recordings currently in the Neumann Jazz Collection and then to answer a few brief questions about their experience. Their contributions can be found here.  Today we're returning to the project to feature a Mel Lewis recording of Herbie Hancock compositions, many of which will be included on the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble's upcoming December 6 concert. Today's post is by Zach Resnick (OC '16).

Why in general did you want to take part in this project?
I wanted to digitize this record because there wouldn't have been any way for me to hear this music without digitizing the record myself; there is currently no place to buy this record or download any of the audio files. I very much appreciate that something like the Neumann Collection exists so it's possible for a student of jazz at Oberlin to have access to almost any obscure jazz record that is of interest to them.

Why did you choose this particular record?
I chose this record because the Oberlin Jazz Ensemble just received new music, and we're playing four of the five songs on the record. When I play/learn music of any kind that's not original, it's very helpful to have a recording to reference.

How was this experience different from simply locating an existing digital version of the LP on YouTube or Spotify?
Digitizing the record forced me to listen actively and have my focus for the time I was listening to music be solely on the music. As much as I try to do this when listening to music normally, it's somewhat regular that my mind might wander, I'll choose to change the track, or even stop listening completely.

What stood out to you musically as you listened to the recording?
The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra is one my favorite big bands of all time. I haven't heard a bad record of theirs, only ones I think are good and ones I think are great. This recording is special because it featured the music of Herbie Hancock arranged by Bob Mintzer. These are two of my favorite artists who have never been featured by The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra before. The result is fantastic, with the songs on this record being now some of my favorite tracks ever recorded by this band. On top of great songs and great arrangements with outstanding ensemble playing, the solos are out of this world with some of the hottest performers of The Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra at their career's best. Make sure to watch out for Dick Oatts's solo on "Dolphin Dance," as well as Rich Perry on "Wiggle Waggle."

Can other students listen to the LP now that it's been digitized?
 Yes, just click here and, when prompted, enter your ObieID and password.  If you’re off campus, you’ll need to authenticate using Oberlin’s VPN.

Dejan Lazic, Pianist Who Demanded Removal of Review, Confronts Critic

In 2010, the Croatian pianist Dejan Lazic played a recital in Washington, D.C., and got a mildly critical review. Somehow that stuck: It's the second item that comes up when you Google Lazic's name, after his own website. Now he wants it permanently removed from the search engine in Europe, citing the European Union's new "right to be forgotten" ruling as legal justification.

The review, titled "Sparks But No Flame," is by Washington Post classical music critic Anne Midgette. It describes Lazic's performance as technically well-played but a little superficial. In this WQXR exclusive, the two parties involved – Anne Midgette and Dejan Lazic – join host Naomi Lewin to make their cases. More

New in the Reference collection: Latin Music: Musicians, Genres, and Themes

Latin music : musicians, genres, and themes / Ilan Stavans, editor-in-chief ; Joshua Stavans, project manager. Santa Barbara, California : Greenwood, [2014]

Con Reference ML101.L38 L37 2014 vol. 1 -2

Great resource for students and scholars of music, Latino culture, Hispanic civilization, popular culture, and Latin American countries. Comprising work from nearly 50 contributors from Spain, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States.

MUSAIC—a collaborative digital initiative between the New World Symphony

MUSAIC—a collaborative digital initiative between the New World Symphony, Cleveland Institute of Music, Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London), Manhattan School of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and University of Southern California—is an online community of classical musicians and continuously updated video library curated by America’s Orchestral Academy. Just as teachers have traditionally passed down knowledge to their students, MUSAIC provides access to classical music instruction and conversations for students and performers alike. Watch videos here!

A Mozart Mystery: Sonata Manuscript Surfaces in Budapest

For Balazs Mikusi, a young Hungarian musicologist, it was the find of a lifetime. Leafing through folders of unidentified manuscripts at the National Szechenyi Library in Budapest recently, he came across four pages of what looked to him like Mozart’s handwriting. As he read through the music, he told Agence France-Presse, he realized that he had stumbled onto Mozart’s own score of the Piano Sonata in A, K.331 – one of the best-known Mozart sonatas because of its “Rondo alla Turca” finale.

To verify his impression Mr. Mikusi showed a copy of the score to Ulrich Leisinger, the director of the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg, and Neal Zaslaw, the editor of the new Köchel catalog of Mozart’s works. Both agreed that the writing was Mozart’s, Mr. Mikusi said in an interview published in the library’s blog.  More

Man charged in $5M violin theft pleads guilty

Associated Press= MILWAUKEE (AP) — A man accused of masterminding the theft of a $5 million Stradivarius violin pleaded guilty to robbery on Friday, nearly eight months after the 300-year-old instrument was snatched from a musician who was attacked with a stun gun following a performance in Milwaukee.

Salah Salahadyn was taken into custody after changing his plea during a hearing in Milwaukee County Circuit Court. He could face as many as 10 years in prison when sentenced Nov. 10.

The instrument was missing for nine days before police found it, in good condition, in a suitcase at the Milwaukee home of Salahadyn's acquaintances. Police said the homeowner didn't know what was in the suitcase, which was found in the attic.   more

Naxos Music Library Mobile App Available!!!

Follow these steps, and start listening!

Need help? Contact Kathy Abromeit, Public Services Librarian, Conservatory Library

Joshua Bell to Play Again in D.C. Metro Station after 2007 Stunt

The Grammy-winning violinist played for spare change in a D.C. Metro station during a 2007 experiment with The Washington Post, and almost no one paid attention. It made for a good magazine story that won the Pulitzer Prize. But Bell hasn't been able to live it down after seven years.

Now, Bell tells the Post he is planning another public performance in the main hall at Washington's Union Station. And he hopes to have an audience this time. The performance is set for Sept. 30 at 12:30 p.m.  More

British conductor Christopher Hogwood has died aged 73.

He died at his home in Cambridge following an illness lasting several months, a statement on his website said.

It added his funeral will be private, with a memorial service to be held at a later date.

Hogwood worked with many leading orchestras around the world and was considered one of the most influential exponents of the early-music movement.

The conductor founded the Academy of Ancient Music (AAM) in 1973 and directed the academy across six continents for some 30 years.

The AAM also made more than 200 CDs, including the first-ever complete cycle of Mozart symphonies on period instruments.

Among his most famous recordings include the 1980 version of Handel's Messiah with Emma Kirkby and James Bowman, which was named by BBC Music Magazine as one of the top 20 recordings of all time. more

Beethoven the 5th - Carmel A-cappella - ENJOY!!!

Enduringly Dramatic Italian Soprano Magda Olivero Dies At 104

One of the last great Italian divas, and one of opera's most thrilling voices, has finally gone silent. Soprano Magda Olivero died in Milan, Italy today, according to multiple media organizations including the newspaper La Repubblica. She was 104. Olivero never had a glitzy recording career, but she did have something her contemporaries didn't: longevity. She sang in public for more than seven decades.

I first heard Olivero almost three decades ago on one of her hard-to-get bootlegged live recordings, and I immediately fell for her unique sound.

But don't take my word for it. Renée Fleming, one of today's reigning divas, is so crazy about Olivero that she made a pilgrimage to Milan to see her when the older soprano was a spry 94.  watch/listen/read

Maryland Ban on Grain Alcohol Hurts Violin Makers

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Binge drinkers and frat boys aren't the only ones despairing over Maryland's new ban on grain alcohol: Violin makers who used the liquor to make varnish are also affected.

Silver Spring violin maker Howard Needham tells The Washington Post that nothing works better than Everclear grain alcohol for making the varnishes he uses to repair chipped or broken musical instruments. He's been hoarding whatever grain alcohol he can get his hands on since the ban took effect last month.

Other violin makers report similar concerns.

Atlanta Symphony Labor Talks Approach Nervous Crescendo

In news that has an aura of deja-vu about it, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its musicians have been in contract talks for eight months and are now approaching a September 6 deadline that is prompting murmurs of an impasse.

It was at this time in 2012 that the orchestra – battling a projected $5 million budget deficit and mounting debt – hit a stalemate and locked out its musicians for four weeks. When two sides settled, musicians agreed to a two-year contract that included a 16 percent pay cut; the length of the season was reduced and the size of the orchestra trimmed, from 93 to 88 players. more