Houston Opera Announces Appointments
Houston Grand Opera reports that Hector Vásquez has been named program director of the company’s Studio, and that next fall Kathleen Kelly will become head of the music staff and music director for the Studio.
Vásquez, who has been singing professionally for 20 years and has been on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for 10 of those years, replaces Diane Zola, who became HGO’s artistic director last autumn. Kelly, a Met assistant conductor since 1998 replaces Richard Bado, who will remain in his position as chorus master, but will also head Rice University’s opera program.
www.houstongrandopera.org
Eastman School of Music Offers Help with Scores
The Sibley Library of the Eastman School of Music, a part of the University of Rochester, has a useful online service. The library will digitize almost any of their scores that are in the public domain and not available in reprint.
There is no charge for the service, which takes about three weeks. Scores will be presented in PDF format. More information is available on the website and from librarian David Peter Coppen, who can be e-mailed from there.
www.esm.rochester.edu/sibley/?page=request
New Orleans Opera Reopens
New Orleans Opera rebounded from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina on March 4 with a star-studded Gala Opera Concert in the city’s arena, a site that usually hosts basketball games. Among the singers announced as performers with Robert Lyall and the Louisiana Philharmonic were Plácido Domingo, Denyce Graves, Nathan Gunn, Elizabeth Futral and Paul Groves. Tickets were priced from $10 to $1,000 so everyone could attend, and those who could afford it could help the company get back to presenting opera.
Regular performances began with The Barber of Seville on March 23 and Madama Butterfly on March 25.
www.neworleansopera.org
Kentucky Opera Gets New Director
David Roth, formerly director of finance at Fort Worth Opera, is the new general director of Kentucky Opera. He was presented to the Louisville audience at a performance of Mark Adamo’s opera, Little Women, on Jan. 27.
With a background in stage direction, Roth is said to have both the artistic sophistication and the financial acumen necessary for the top position. He will have full responsibility for the company’s artistic, production and administrative operations.
Search for: www.kyopera.org/documents/DavidRoth.pdf
Mascagni Gets a New Pupil
An organ grinder began to play tunes from Cavalleria Rusticana outside the home of Pietro Mascagni. The composer was annoyed by his slow tempi and ran out to show him how the excerpts should be played.
The next day the street musician returned, playing the pieces just as slowly as before. When he looked out, the composer noticed that one thing had been added. A sign on the organ read: “Pupil of Mascagni.”
From E. Fuller “2500 Anecdotes”
www.anecdotage.com/index.php?aid=5317
New Classical Music Buffs Buy Online
Audiences around the world are being exposed to classical music because it is easily available online, according to a report from Agence France Presse in the Sidney Morning Herald.
Chas Jenkins of the London Symphony Orchestra’s LSO Live label says that: “Through our digital sales the LSO can reach a different audience. We believe there are a lot of people, especially young ones, who want to get into classical music but feel intimidated in retail stores. Digital music stores let them try out a huge variety of music in anonymity.”
http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/digital-opens-the-classics-to-new-music-audiences/2006/01/26/1138066901617.html
Glimmerglass Appoints McLeod
Glimmerglass Artistic Director Paul Kellogg recently announced his retirement. The company has announced that General Director Michael McLeod will assume Kellogg’s position at the end of the 2006 summer season. McLeod will serve as the company’s general and artistic director.
McLeod has already planned the company’s 2007 season, which is centered around the legend of Orpheus. The works presented will be Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Philip Glass’s Orphée, and Berlioz’ version of Gluck’s
Orphée et Eurydice.
www.glimmerglass.org
North Texas Arts Institutions Receive Grants
TACA, the North Texas arts funding organization, announced it distributed $650,000 among 37 recipients in April, including the Dallas Symphony, Dallas Opera, Turtle Creek Chorale, The Richardson Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of New Spain, and Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts.
Dallas’s Symphony and Opera received $75,000 and $70,000 respectively. Other grants were smaller, with the school receiving $5,000.
www.TACAdallas.com/pages/bottom/beneficiaries.html
Where’s the Money?
The Charlotte Observer and WSOC-TV report that in April, Opera Carolina filed a police report that accuses its former finance director of misusing $48,000. The police report allegedly says that $25,000 was spent on a vehicle at a Toyota dealership and the rest of the money was used to pay for personal items charged to one of the opera company’s credit cards.
The alleged discrepancies were discovered when the accused employee left the company and an interim financial director tried to sort out its monetary position, said the report. Insurance is expected to cover the alleged loss.
www.wsoctv.com/news/6220091/detail.html
Baseball and Music Play Together
The Baseball Music Project was devised to arouse more interest in The Baseball Hall of Fame and in symphony orchestras that wish to arrange concerts relating to the sport. The first orchestra to sign up was California’s Bakersfield Symphony, which hopes to use the impetus to begin presenting pops concerts. Photos and videos from Cooperstown will accompany the music about baseball.
Producers Bob Thompson and Michael Mushalla think the shows bring two completely different audiences together for the betterment of both baseball and music.
www.baseballmusicproject.com/about_us
