Interchanging Idioms

Interchanging Idioms had over 61,000 visitors in 2009 27 CD's reviewed, 60 concert reviews and over 850 posts We here at Interchanging Idioms would like to thank our readers, subscribers and friends helping to make this one of the top Classical Music blogs on the internet today. This is just a hobby for us, but obviously one you are enjoying... so we will endeavor to keep up the pace through 2010. If you have any thoughts, suggestions or comments, please let us know. Happy New Year     - from all of us at Interchanging Idioms

He performed at President Obama’s Inauguration, he’s one of the best selling recording artists in the classical field, and he’s been entertaining audiences around the globe for 30 years with his awe-inspiring cello playing. His name is Yo-Yo Ma and he’s making his way to Vail Colorado. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform a recital with pianist Kathryn Stott during the Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival’s opening night of its 23rd season. This will mark Ma’s debut performance in Vail. This recital takes place June 25, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater in Vail. The program starts with Ennio Morricone’s “Gabriel’s Oboe” from the film The Mission , followed by George Gershwin’s Prelude No. 2 and Cesar Mariano’s “Cristal” and Brahms’ Sonata No. 1 in E Minor for Cello and Piano. Following a short intermission the duo will play British composer Graham Fitkin’s “L,” written for Yo-Yo on the occasion of his 50th birthday, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Sonata in G minor for Cello and P

Yuja Wang , whose DG debut recital was recently nominated for a Grammy®, returns with an all-new solo recital. As in her debut album, Yuja tackles some formidable repertory and covers a wide-range of styles. The recital includes two Scarlatti sonatas (K 87 & 380), Stravinsky Three Movements from Petrouchka, Brahms Variations on a Theme of Paganini (Books 1 & 2) and Ravel La Valse. Yuja will head into the studio January as well as perform a number of concerts throughout January, February, March, April and May, 2010 including solo recitals, chamber music programs and concerti with a variety of orchestras. She will perform across the US from San Francisco and LA through Detroit and Denver to Miami and Washington DC with many stops in between.

After his successful Deutsche Grammophon debut recording of Chopin Preludes, Rafał Blechacz returns to the composer who helped make him famous with this all-new recording of Chopin’s Piano Concertos nos. 1 & 2. As the winner of the 2005 International Chopin Competition at the young age of only 20, Blechacz was awarded not only the rarely given first prize but also all four special prizes for best sonata, mazurka, concerto and polonaise performances. Since then, Blechacz has performed in Europe, Japan and North America to critical acclaim and has already ensured himself a huge following among piano aficionados. These two concertos, cornerstones of every pianist’s repertory, are especially central to Rafał Blechacz’s introduction to the world-stage. He performed the E minor concerto at the 2005 Chopin Competition and has used both works for numerable memorable debuts around the world. His affinity with Chopin runs deeper than just their shared nationality, Blechacz possess an

Bach - Violin and Voice to be released January 4, 2010 with Hilary Hahn • Christine Schäfer • Matthias Goerne Grammy® award winning violinist Hilary Hahn releases a stunning album of Bach’s compositions for voice and violin. The works chosen, all from Bach’s Leipzig years and dating from around 1724 to 1739, are part of the composer’s core output. The cantatas form a central part of his canon, and his mastery of integrating instrumental and vocal writing created some of the most moving and haunting works imaginable. This is Hahn’s second Bach album on Deutsche Grammophon and her first to collaborate with vocalists. She is joined by Christine Schäfer and Matthias Goerne throughout the recording. “That this project has come to fulfillment – and with such superb colleagues – is for me a dream come true. These magnificent pieces go to the heart of Bach’s artistry as a composer of polyphony: multiple voices, at once clean and complex, presenting layer beneath layer for discovery. No

Alan Gilbert returns to New York City in late December and January for several weeks of concerts with the New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, with such leading soloists as the celebrated Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes (Dec 29, 30, & Jan 2); baritone Thomas Hampson, who is the Orchestra’s first Artist-in-Residence (Dec 31 & Jan 14-16); and powerhouse pianist Yefim “Fima” Bronfman (Jan 7-9 & 12). The concert with Hampson on New Year’s Eve will be broadcast on public television’s Live From Lincoln Center series, which will air in New York on WNET/Channel Thirteen beginning at 8pm (check local listings). From January 21 through February 4, Hampson and Bronfman will join Gilbert for his first European tour with the Orchestra. “Europe / Winter 2010” comprises 13 performances in nine European cities: Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Madrid, all in Spain; Zurich, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Cologne, and Dortmund (the Orchestra’s debut there) in Germany; Paris, France; and London

On December 31, the Boston Pops will present the United States premiere of best-selling author Neil Gaiman’s short film Statuesque as part of the New Year’s Eve gala concert featuring the provocative and inventive singer/songwriter/cabaret artist Amanda Palmer. Statuesque has been described as “a love triangle between two living statues and an admirer who observes his object of affection every day among the Christmas shoppers, unaware that he too is being watched.” The short film stars Amanda Palmer and Bill Nighy ( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Main’s Chest and At World’s End , Love Actually ), with Becca Darling and Liam McKean. It will be shown to open Amanda Palmer’s set. Neil Gaiman is an author with a wide-ranging body of work, including his novels Stardust , American Gods , and 2002’s Coraline , recently made into an animated film and nominated for a Golden Globe. He has previously collaborated with Amanda Palmer on her photo book, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? The world premi

The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University and American Composers Orchestra announce a new collaborative project: the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute (JCOI). With generous support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, this program will provide instruction to jazz composers in working with the symphony orchestra, an area that many jazz composers wish to engage, but for which access to educational and performance opportunities are few. JCOI will take place in two stages: the Intensive and the Readings. From July 20 to 24, 2010, up to 35 participants, selected from a national pool of applicants, will take part in the JCOI Intensive on the Columbia University campus, where they will work with prominent composers, performers, conductors, and music industry leaders in seminars, workshops and performance labs in orchestration, instrumentation, contemporary techniques, score preparation and ideas for incorporating improvisation within an orchestral framework. Professional de

This is pretty much a constant topic on the internet today. Gred Sandow writes a blog " The Future of Classical Music " which is somewhat devoted to this topic. John Terauds writes on " Sound Mind " about what's happening to classical music. Brian Micklethwait writes for " Samizdata.net " raves about the death of classical music. The list goes on... Amid the myriad reasons for the death, one continues to crop up - our youth are turning away from classical music, and for good reason; our youth and their enthusiasm for music are not wanted at classical music concerts. I attended several concerts this weekend, but two are most prominent in terms of this topic. One concert was with Marin Alsop conducting the Colorado Symphony Orchestra with " Too Hot to Handel ", an explosive fusion of classical and gospel music. Another concert was with the Boulder Chamber Orchestra and their "A Gift of Music." Both concerts were wonderful pe

Ott performs the complete waltzes of Chopin “The young pianist Alice Sara Ott . . . elicited one sleight of the hand after another from the instrument in breathtaking displays of virtuosity enhanced by a sparkle of poetic charm.” – Basler Zeitung, May 2008 Rising young piano virtuoso Alice Sara Ott makes her international recording debut on Deutsche Grammophon with the complete waltzes of Chopin, available January 19, 2010. “I feel a deep attachment to Chopin’s waltzes,” says Alice Sara Ott. “They reflect the whole arc of his composing life, and they also reflect his split personality – between Polish and French – and his lifelong search for identity. I feel split in a similar way, between Japanese and German. Only in music do I feel completely at home.” Though still young, Ott’s commentary on the waltzes is often illuminating. Of the A flat waltz, op. 64 no. 3, Ott says, “I don’t take this one too fast. It needs to retain its waltz quality – these are salon pieces, and the

There are a few items available on eBay with proceeds to benefit City of Hope . Autographed Elton John Live at Madison Square Garden DVD: http://bit.ly/5jIaMB Autographed Bon Jovi guitar Pickguard: http://bit.ly/4Xjhds Autographed The Fray “My First Piano”: http://bit.ly/4NC9UJ City of Hope, an innovative biomedical research, treatment and educational institution, is dedicated to the prevention and cure of cancer and other life-threatening diseases, guided by a compassionate patient-centered philosophy, and supported by a national foundation of humanitarian philanthropy.

The Fauré Quartett continues to add authoritative recordings to the chamber music catalog with their new recording of two Brahms quartets, available from Deutsche Grammophon on January 12, 2010. These large, some say symphonic, works test the limits of technical and musical capabilities, and the Fauré Quartett once again proves why they are one of the most acclaimed ensembles performing today. Within a short period of time the Fauré Quartett has conquered the great concert halls of London , Paris , Berlin , Amsterdam , Brussels , Geneva , Hamburg , Frankfurt, Milan , Buenos Aires , Rio de Janeiro and elsewhere. “They attract superlatives wherever they go,” wrote The Strad following a concert at London ’s Wigmore Hall, while the Süddeutsche Zeitung praised them for a performance that “brought tremendous pleasure by highlighting interpretative details that had scarcely ever been heard before”. The Fauré Quartett strives to achieve a unique sound for Brahms (as indeed for every work)

Last Night, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra presented their holiday tradition of “Too Hot to Handel”, a Gospel rendition of Handel’s Messiah . Conceived by Marin Alsop (pictured), CSO Composer Laureate, with colleagues Gary Anderson and Bob Christianson, the music takes the beautifully familiar music of George Frideric Handel and updates it with a mix of soul, jazz, gospel, Latin and bebop. And if that isn’t enough to entice you, Maestro Alsop conducted the piece with some of the finest gospel soloists in the industry. From classical beginnings the music quickly shifts into a brilliant swing rhythm, and then becomes of fusion of the two – within the first couple of minutes letting the audience know just what an exciting evening they are in for. Thomas Young sang “Comfort Me” overtop some funky organ music. His stellar command of both classical and jazz vocal music was evidenced in his ability to switch from classical lines taken directly from the original Messiah to scat singin

Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher’s new production of Les contes d’Hoffmann , starring Anna Netrebko as Antonia, Kate Lindsey as Nicklausse, Alan Held as the four villains, Joseph Calleja in the title role, and conducted by James Levine, will be broadcast live to movie theaters around the world on December 19 at 1:00 pm EST, as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s “The Met: Live In HD” series. The new staging of Offenbach’s late masterpiece opened on December 3, and the Russian soprano’s portrayal of the innocent Antonia – as well as her short appearance as the prima donna Stella – received much acclaim. The New York Times wrote that she “was vocally lustrous, charismatic and wrenching as Antonia” and that she made a “captivating and tart Stella.” Further performances of Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera are on December 23, 26, 30 and January 2. Four days after “The Met: Live in HD” broadcast of Hoffmann , PBS’s “Great Performances” presents the first American

“Johannes Moser is one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.”– Gramophone On January 17, cellist Johannes Moser and his collaborator, the performance artist and toy pianist Phyllis Chen, embark on their first U.S. tour together: “ Sounding Off: A Fresh Look at Classical Music ”. The two will travel to six cities across America, bringing their fresh and original take on the creative process and concert experience to universities, schools, and community groups. Before each performance – featuring works ranging from classical to experimental – they will conduct a variety of educational outreach activities, designed to allow each city’s audience to find and develop its own unique identity. Moser and Chen begin their “Sounding Off” tour on January 17 in San Diego, CA, with further stops in San Francisco (Jan 19-20), Detroit (Jan 22), Malibu’s Pepperdine University (Jan 24), Boulder (Jan 27), and New York City (Feb 1). For this bold audience developmen

Music Director Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra today announced the appointment of violinist David Coucheron as ASO Concertmaster, effective September 2010. Mr. Coucheron’s chair is endowed by Mr. and Mrs. Howard R. Peevy. He succeeds Cecylia Arzewski, who completed her tenure with the Atlanta Symphony at the end of the 2007-08 season. Originally from Oslo , Norway , Mr. Coucheron began playing violin at the age of three. He earned his Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music, his Master of Music from The Juilliard School, and his Master of Musical Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with teachers including Igor Ozim, Aaron Rosand, Lewis Kaplan, and David Takeno Mr. Coucheron has worked with conductors such as Robert Spano, Alan Gilbert, Michael Tilson Thomas, Simon Rattle, Mstislav Rostropovich, David Zinman, Roger Norrington, Simone Young, and Charles Dutoit, and performed as a soloist with orchestras including t

While at University I have been asked (encouraged) to write a number of small works for ensembles. There are multiple reasons for this: ensembles are easier to organize performances therefore easier to get compositions heard (which is incredibly important), small chamber works are easier to see the context and flow of the music (so as a composition tutor you're not having to sort through a huge score to see the progress of the music), and fewer instruments means less actual composition for the student. All of these are valid reasons and worthy of continuing this process of composition education at the university level. However, writing a chamber work is not the same as writing for an orchestra or large ensemble (more than 15 instruments). When studying to be a writer, whether you want to be a novelist, poet, journalist or other there are a variety of writing classes you can take. Each of these styles requires a very different process when writing for the different genres.

A principal theme of the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music’s performance season is the 100th birthday of composer Samuel Barber (’34), one of the school’s most illustrious alumni. Events center around the Barber anniversary in March 2010, with Curtis 20/21, the school’s contemporary music ensemble, performing an all-Barber program on the composer’s 100th birthday, March 9. Later that month, the Curtis Opera Theatre presents Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra at the Perelman Theater in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, in a new production directed by Chas Rader-Shieber and conducted by George Manahan. Curtis On Tour marks the centenary with performances of Barber’s String Quartet No. 1, the source of the famous Adagio for Strings , in New York and nationwide in February and March. The Curtis Symphony Orchestra performs Barber’s Symphony No. 1 under conductor Giancarlo Guerrero at Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall on April 24. Curtis alumni will also join the centennial celebrations, gi

If you have tickets for weekend and your plans have changed, please call CSO Box Office 303.623.7876 to exchange your tickets so we may release your seats for sale to other patrons. It's classical meets gospel. It's Handel meets the groove factor – however you describe it, Too Hot to Handel is a Colorado tradition, the likes of which only Conductor Laureate Marin Alsop could bring. Dec 18-19 · 7:30 p.m. Marin Alsop, conductor laureate Lillias White, soprano | Vaneese Thomas, mezzo-soprano Thomas Young, tenor | CSO Chorus | Guest Choirs

Featuring the world premiere of a new string quartet based on Ann Patchett’s novel Bel Canto by composer Elena Ruehr San Francisco, CA – The Cypress String Quartet (Cecily Ward, violin; Tom Stone, violin; Ethan Filner, viola; and Jennifer Kloetzel, cello) presents its 11th Annual Call & Response concert on Friday, February 26 at Herbst Theatre (401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco). The concert includes the world premiere of a string quartet based on Ann Patchett’s novel Bel Canto , commissioned by the Cypress Quartet from Boston-based composer Elena Ruehr, as well as Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, K.575 and Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor, “Death and the Maiden.” A pre-concert talk with Ms. Ruehr will begin at 7:15pm. Additional performances and discussions with the Cypress and Ms. Ruehr, free and open to the public, take place beginning on January 26. The Call & Response program was born out of the Cypress’s commitment to present music as a dynamic and ongoi

Saturday morning live broadcasts run Dec. 12 – May 8 Colorado Public Radio (CPR) will kick off the 79th Metropolitan Opera season this Saturday with a live broadcast of Puccini's Il Trittico at 10:30 a.m., starring Patricia Racette and Stephanie Blythe, conducted by Stefano Ranzani. “The Met Opera's Saturday broadcasts are the longest-running continuous classical program in radio history. So many people tell me that they grew up listening to the Met on Saturday afternoons, and every year it seems to get better and better,” - CPR Classical Music Program Director Karla Walker CPR will air twenty-two broadcasts this season, from Dec. 12, 2009 through May 8, 2010. Margaret Juntwait returns as the series’ host for her sixth season, joined by commentator Ira Siff. “We're delighted to be able to bring the Met to Colorado audiences every Saturday – for those who have been listening for years and those who are just discovering the thrill of live opera,” Karla Walker To se

Perfect Christmas CD recorded live in 2008 This new, live, complete recording of the Service of Nine Lessons and Carols from Christmas Eve, 2008 includes traditional hymns, modern carols, old favorites, and new voices, all combining to convey the experience, both comforting and transcendent, of a service known and loved around the world. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is broadcast live on the radio worldwide every year and the release of this two-CD set coincides with the celebration of the University of Cambridge’s 800th anniversary and also with the frontline King’s Christmas release of the DVD-version of Handel’s Messiah . The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge is the world’s most famous choir and one of today’s most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great British choral tradition. The choir dates back to the 1400s and consists of 16 choristers and 14 choral scholars. Its international reputation, established by the radio broadcast worldwide of the Fest

Decca Releases the Souvenier, 2-CD Set of Brendel's Final Concerts, Recored Live, Available January 19, 2010 2008 marked the 60th anniversary of Alfred Brendel’s professional debut and he chose that year in which to retire from public performance. Brendel’s exclusive association with Universal Music (originally with Philips and now Decca) since the 1970s ensured that Decca would be on hand to document these momentous concerts and preserve a living legend of the piano in his final public performances. The 2-CD souvenir set is available now exclusively from ArkivMusic.com and will be available everywhere on January 19, 2010. Recorded live in Hanover , Brendel's farewell recital (December 14, 2008) featured composers with whom he was most closely associated throughout his career with a set of variations by Haydn and sonatas by Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Just a few days later, on December 18, he appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic and Sir Charles Mackerras in his last

January 29th Program includes the New York Premiere of the Pioneering Composer’s Ballet Score Atlantis and the New York City Premiere of His Symphony No. 11 (“Seven Rituals of Music”), plus His Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra and More Henry Cowell was an American original – as composer, pianist, theorist, author, and teacher. He helped to create a modernist American music not derivative of Europe, a music that tapped homegrown sounds even as it embraced influences from Asia. Yet during Cowell’s lifetime and after, his compositions have lived in the shadows, for reasons that often have little to do with the music. Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra will help shine a light on this pioneering composer’s creations with “An American Biography: The Music of Henry Cowell” on Friday, January 29 at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall (all tickets are just $25 each). The program includes local premieres of two of Cowell’s works. Cowell’s influence is in the DNA of the 20t

Grammy Award-Winning Bronfman Scores New Grammy Nomination for Salonen Concerto CD “It’s safe to say there is no pianist around remotely like Yefim Bronfman.”– Philadelphia Inquirer Grammy Award-winning pianist Yefim “Fima” Bronfman has a full winter ahead, featuring high-profile engagements with some of the nation’s leading conductors and orchestras, in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls. Having been selected as soloist for “Europe / Winter 2010”, the New York Philharmonic’s first European tour since Alan Gilbert took the reins as music director, the powerhouse pianist will perform Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto in nine European cities, including London, Paris, Zurich, Cologne, Madrid, and Barcelona (Jan 21 – Feb 4), and as part of an all-Russian program at the orchestra’s home in New York, early in the New Year (Lincoln Center, Jan 7, 8, & 12). Fima also performs Bartók’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Zubin Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic thi

BSO SuperPops Conductor Jack Everly leads Linda Eder and the BSO in “Almost Like Being in Love,” “Over the Rainbow” and other favorites BSO Principal Pops Conductor Jack Everly, internationally-acclaimed Broadway star Linda Eder and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will perform a special tribute to the Judy Garland songbook on Thursday, January 28 through Saturday, January 30 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday, January 31 at 3 p.m. Thursday’s performance will take place at The Music Center at Strathmore, and the other three performances will be held at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Winner of the Drama Desk Award in 1996, Linda Eder will perform memorable hits from the Judy Garland songbook, including “Almost Like Being in Love,” “It Never Was You,” “By Myself,” “The Trolley Song” and “Over the Rainbow.” Judy Garland was an Academy Award-winning American vocalist and actress. As a child, she performed the Vaudeville circuit, and later was signed by film producer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Garla

In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at

I've been working with Peter Auricchio on fixing some of the playability problems in the 3rd movement of my trumpet concerto. We settled on having him begin the piece on the B-flat trumpet to give a richness to the opening - then move to the piccolo trumpet to allow for some soaring moments. The movement returns to the B-flat trumpet to round out the piece and give the melodic line warmth. Here is a midi realization: The piece is destined to be performed by Mr Auricchio with the Niwot Symphony Orchestra for their 2010-11 season, although a final date hasn't been set. I'll keep you posted.

OrchKids continues to expand and thrive in second year The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in partnership with the Baltimore City Public Schools, announced today that Baltimore philanthropists Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker will make a leadership gift of $1 million to the BSO’s music education and life-enrichment program, OrchKids. This gift provides essential seed capital to support 50% of the OrchKids’ incremental expenses as it expands over the next four academic years (years 2-5 of the program). These expenses include hiring additional instructors, purchasing supplies and instruments and adding one full-time administrative position to oversee the program as it grows to more than 300 students over the next four years. A press conference announcing the gift took place today at 10:00 a.m. at Lockerman Bundy Elementary School. Inspired by BSO Music Director Marin Alsop’s artistic leadership and community vision, OrchKids is a year-round after-school program that provides music e

Voigt Also Hosts Met’s “Live in HD” Broadcast of New Tales of Hoffman Production to Theaters Worldwide on December 19 On Thursday, December 10, internationally-renowned soprano Deborah Voigt returns to her home company, the Metropolitan Opera, for the first time this season, and in a signature role, as Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss’s spine-chilling Elektra (six performances through Dec 29). An engaging entertainer and conversationalist, Deborah Voigt has also developed a following as host of “The Met: Live in HD” (besides portraying Isolde in Tristan und Isolde during the transmissions’ first season). On Saturday, December 19 she is to serve as host of the international transmission of Offenbach’s Contes d’Hoffmann (Tales of Hoffman) conducted by James Levine and featuring Anna Netrebko, Joseph Calleja, and Alan Held. Chrysothemis was Ms. Voigt’s first Strauss role at the Met, which helped advance her rapidly growing reputation as one of the world’s most important rising-st

Often hailed as a YouTube star, cellist Joshua Roman is currently attracting attention for two very different videos. Last month his segment from a fall 2008 concert broadcast outside a temple in Kyoto won the Professional Music Recording Award of Japan. Oto Butai is one of Japan's biggest annual music events, televised nationally from a different temple each year. Watch Roman's performance of Piazzolla's "Otono Porteno" in this award-winning video, or catch it in-flight on Japan Airlines. On a different note, Roman was invited by photographer and Nikon spokesperson Chase Jarvis to collaborate on a video for the current Nikon Festival. Jarvis is one of the celebrity judges, along with Rainn Wilson of The Office and internet blogger Justine (iJustine) Ezarik, for Nikon's $100,000 contest, "Your day in 140 seconds or less". Watch Roman playing Bach in this 140-second video . Always in good company, the young cellist turns 26 this month...on B

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra welcomes in 2010 with a traditional Viennese concert in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall on 1 January at 7pm . Charismatic Romanian conductor Nicolae Moldoveneau, who last conducted the SCO’s New Year celebrations in 2006, directs a popular programme featuring traditional waltzes and polkas by Johann Strauss, as well as excerpts from Nicolae’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. He will be joined by Swedish soprano Hannah Holgersson, who makes her SCO and UK debut with a selection of songs by Walton and Offenbach. For the sixth consecutive year, the concert is given in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care, contributing towards the charity’s vital work, including running the Marie Curie Hospice in Edinburgh , and its home nursing service for terminally ill patients. Lord Provost George Grubb will join in the celebrations by wishing everyone a Happy New Year, before introducing Marie Curie’s Nursing Ambassad

Program features World Premiers by Sxip Shirey and Film Artist Michael Pope In a complete departure from the traditional Boston Pops New Year’s Eve concert, Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops will be joined by the provocative and inventive singer/songwriter/cabaret artist Amanda Palmer in a gala concert to ring in the New Year at Symphony Hall on Thursday, December 31, at 10 p.m. The evening’s centerpiece program features Palmer performing the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1, material from her ground-breaking punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, and songs from her recent solo album, Who Killed Amanda Palmer? , as well as several musical surprises. This special New Year’s Eve celebration begins at 8 p.m. and features a wide variety of pre- and post-concert performances throughout the Hall, including Sxip Shirey and Adam Matta, April Smith and her band The Great Picture Show, and Miss Tess and the Bon Ton Parade. All guests attending the Boston Pops’ New Year’s

The London Symphony Orchestra is honoured to work with a number of leading contemporary composers who also perform with the Orchestra. On 1 March 2010 the London Symphony Orchestra performs live to a film score by Nitin Sawhney . Sawhney has produced a thrilling new score to acclaimed Japanese director Mikio Naruse’s powerful melodrama, the 1933 silent film Yogoto No Yume (Nightly Dreams) centred around the tragic world of barmaid, Omitsu. Conducted by Kristjan Järvi. John Adams conducts the premieres of two of his works in March 2010. On 7 March the UK premiere of the revised version of his Doctor Atomic Symphony, inspired by his acclaimed opera of the same name, is performed alongside the Four Sea Interludes from Britten’s Peter Grimes and Sibelius’ Symphony No 6. On 11 March Adams conducts the European premiere of his LSO co-commissioned City Noir . The programme also includes Ravel’s Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Debussy’s Préludes, orchestrated by Colin Matthews, an

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is delighted to announce the appointment of Gregory Batsleer as Chorusmaster of the SCO Chorus. The appointment was sealed following Gregory’s work as Guest Chorusmaster for last week’s performances of Edward Harper’s Symphony No 2 in Glasgow and Edinburgh. His first work in post will be preparing the Chorus for performances of Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ in Edinburgh (Usher Hall, 4 February), Glasgow (City Halls, 5 February) and Aberdeen (Music Hall, 6 February). These concerts will be conducted by the Orchestra’s recently appointed Principal Conductor Robin Ticciati, who like Gregory is still in his twenties. Gregory Batsleer is Director of the Hallé Youth Choir, Co-Founder and Principal Conductor of The Manchester Consort and an Associate Conductor with the Royal Northern College of Music’s Outreach Department. He has also worked as Guest Chorusmaster for several performances by the Hallé Choir. During 2007-08 he held a Choral and Music Scholar