Classical Singer Competition Results Are In
The seventh annual Classical Singer Vocal Competition was held in Los Angeles May 20-22 at the Westin LAX Hotel. Nearly 1,000 singers participated in the High School, Undergraduate, and Graduate Divisions.
More than $2,000,000 of scholarships were awarded throughout the competition with more than a dozen students receiving university and summer program scholarships at the Final Round Concert. Dowling Music sponsored the First Place cash prizes of each division and VirtuallyVocal.com and American Singers’ Opera Project helped sponsor the remaining prizes, totaling $6,750.
Hannah McDermott won First Place in the High School Division, Samantha Hankey took second, and Matthew Swensen placed third. In the Undergraduate Division Michelle Alexander won First Place, Bor Liang Lin won Second Place, and Meghan Rinehart won Third Place. Finally, the First Place winner in the Graduate Division was Adam Barta, followed by Julienne Walker, Sarah Parnicky, and Lauren Edwards. More photos online at www.classicalsinger.com/convention/photos.php.
April Is the Cruelest Month
At least, that seems to be true this year. In April 2011, the Syracuse Symphony suspended operations after musicians refused a large pay cut, the New York City Opera withheld its announcement of a 2011-2012 season until a review of its finances has been conducted, and the Philadelphia Orchestra filed for bankruptcy. Unfortunately, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Performing arts organizations and performers will have to look closely at the business models they are now using and try to realign them with current conditions.
In past years, opera companies and symphonies sold subscriptions and received income before the season began to spend on necessary expenses. Today’s audience does not want to commit to dates six or eight months in advance. Unions have been taking pay cuts, but in many cases they have not been sufficient to save organizations in serious trouble. The market for live performance is decreasing while the popularity of much lower-priced spectacles, such as opera at the movies, is exploding.
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704330404576291033972112542.html
Donation Will Allow UCLA to Expand Music Program
Recording executive Mo Ostin has donated $10 million to UCLA’s School of the Arts and Architecture. It will be used to build a two-building facility to be called the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Music Center. One structure will include a state-of-the-art recording studio and the other will be devoted to offices, classrooms, a rehearsal room, and a café where students can meet and discuss their projects. It will be a big step up for on-campus recording facilities. The total cost of the new buildings slated to open in 2014 will be $20 million. The Ostin gift will cover half, and the university will need to raise the rest from other sources.
latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2011/05/mo-ostin-ucla.html#more
Gockley Says San Francisco Opera Is Teetering
David Gockley, who recently signed a contract for another five-year term as general director of the San Francisco Opera, expressed serious concern about the company’s finances for the coming season. He told a reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle, “I look at this company as teetering.” He said that the annual expenses are about $7 million more than they can reliably fund and that half of their annual donations are made by a small group of elderly individuals. He said that the situation “is sleep depriving!”
He went on to state that the opera’s $136 million endowment is only one-half the size it should be and that the fixed costs for the next season are daunting. He also finds the theater, the geographically scattered office space, and the storage facilities seriously out of date.
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/07/MN341JD19A.DTL
Opera by Zhou Long Wins Pulitzer Prize
American composer Zhou Long has been awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his first opera, Madame White Snake. Using a Chinese folktale for his theme, the composer blended Eastern and Western musical traditions into what the judges called a most expressive work. The opera, which tells of a snake demon who forgoes immortality to become human and fall in love, has so far been seen in Boston and Beijing.
Oxford University Press has published the score. South Dakota Symphony Music Director Delta David Gier chaired the Pulitzer jury, which included Washington Post critic Anne Midgette as well as composers George Lewis, Paul Moravec, and William Banfield.
www.ascap.com/playback/2011/04/action/ZhouLong.aspx
Gala Dinner at the Met Celebrates Levine’s 40th Anniversary
On May 1, the opera world feted conductor James Levine for his 40 triumphant years at the Metropolitan Opera. The first presentation was a documentary by Susan Froemke entitled “James Levine: America’s Maestro.” After that, Levine invited the more than 600 guests to join him on stage where the tables were decorated with white hyacinths, tulips, and vintage photographs of the maestro.
The evening’s entertainment included selections sung by Elaine Stritch, Bryn Terfel, Barbara Cook, and Plácido Domingo. The gathering raised $2 million for the opera company.
www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-02/scene-last-night-kovner-fleming-domingo-celebrate-james-levine-at-met.html
Barenboim Brings Orchestra to Play in Gaza
Conductor and Israeli citizen Daniel Barenboim arrived in Gaza at the beginning of May with an orchestra comprised of players from the great orchestras of Paris, Milan, Berlin, and Vienna, according to the British publication the Guardian. They traveled by chartered plane and arrived in armored cars led by armed guards, but they came to play for Palestinian workers and school children. The conductor said that the aim of his orchestra was to bring solace and pleasure through music to the people of Gaza and to let them know that people all over the world care for them. Barenboim has been widely praised for reaching across the divide between Israelis and Arabs.
The orchestra played Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 and Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Afterward, Barenboim said that violence can only weaken the righteousness of the Palestinian cause. Referring to the upheavals in Arab countries and the catastrophe in Japan, he said, “Every musician here has played these pieces many times, sometimes hundreds of times. Yesterday we looked at this music as if we had seen it for the first time. We never accept that the next note will be played the same way it was played before. Thinking anew is our daily activity. I hope all the people of this region can take note of that.”
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/03/daniel-barenboim-orchestra-gaza-concert
