Skip to main content
Read page text
page 6
NEWS ROUND-UP News in brief Following its successful event last summer, Classical Pride is set to return to London in July. The programme has been developed to include a choral premiere, an LGBTQ+ musicians showcase, a Classical Drag event featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor and a London Symphony Orchestra concert with Classical Pride founder Oliver Zeffman, broadcaster Nick Grimshaw and a lineup of star soloists. Chandos Records has been acquired by Naxos founder Klaus Heymann. While the Naxos Music Group will now handle worldwide physical and digital distribution for Chandos, the acquisition will not disrupt Chandos’s current schedule of new recordings. Managing director Ralph Couzens, son of label founder Brian Couzens and the engineer behind the highly acclaimed ‘Chandos sound’, will continue to run the company. The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards took place at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music on 5 March. The event, which was held outside the capital for the first time, saw Jasdeep Singh Degun become the first sitar player to win an RPS Award, while the Irene Taylor Trust received the Gamechanger Award for its work using music to empower people affected by the criminal justice system. Composers Illia Razumeiko and Roman Grigoriev travelled to Manchester from Ukraine to receive recognition for their opera Chornobyldorf, created with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. ABO Classical Music Award winners announced The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) recently presented the refreshed ABO Classical Music Awards as part of its 2024 conference, held at the newly renovated Bristol Beacon. Alongside three days of panels, performances and discussion around the theme of ‘creative solutions’, the ABO – along with media partner Classical Music – recognised and celebrated the achievements of winners that included the Scottish Ensemble, the Recruiting Classical consortium, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Music & Health team and Manchester Camerata’s principal flute and resident music therapist, Amina Hussain. The event, hosted by Classic FM’s Aled Jones, was the first instalment of the reimagined ABO Classical Music Awards, with recipients nominated by their peers throughout the industry. In a departure from previous years, during which Artist Manager, Concert Hall Manager and Orchestra Manager of the Year were named, this year’s awards recognised the initiatives, teams and individuals whose work demonstrated inspiration, innovation or collaboration. Classical Music magazine editor Florence Lockheart said: ‘The last year has been undeniably tough, with funding cuts making it ever clearer that those in power could certainly benefit from a greater understanding of how much orchestras and their music impact not only audiences, but entire communities. ‘Our award winners represent just that, and stand as testament to the value of our sector and its members in supporting the vulnerable, addressing inequality, working towards a better future for our planet – and much more besides.’ Scottish Ensemble was recognised for its leading work in using an evidence-based approach to environmental sustainability, while the Recruiting Classical consortium of symphony and chamber orchestra leaders, in partnership with Black Lives in Music, was celebrated for its pioneering work in driving diversity and opportunity in recruitment. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Music & Health team was also recognised for its healthcare programme supporting over 18,000 people living with mental and physical ill health across the Liverpool City Region, in partnership with the NHS. Manchester Camerata’s principal flute and resident music therapist Amina Hussain recieved an ABO Classical Music Award for her work with Manchester Camerata’s Music in Mind team delivering music-based therapy for people living with dementia, learning disabilities and isolation. The ABO also celebrated the work of outgoing Bristol Beacon chief executive Louise Mitchell with its annual ABO Award, voted by the ABO membership. The awards were held on the first night of the ABO conference, which welcomed more than 300 delegates from every part of the UK’s classical music industry to the Bristol Beacon to hear perspectives from prominent figures from across the fields of music, culture and politics. Victory lap: The 2024 ABO Classical Music Awards recognised winners' inspiration, innovation and collaboration © C H R I SC O O P E R , S H O T A W A Y 6 | Classical Music | Spring 2024 classical-music.uk
page 7
Musical excellence in Britain’s most historic city Elizabeth Watts Alice Coote Allan Clayton Available 19 April SACD | Digital Sir Simon Rattle Spring Symphony Sinfonia da Requiem Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Page Text

View plaintext

NEWS ROUND-UP

News in brief Following its successful event last summer, Classical Pride is set to return to London in July. The programme has been developed to include a choral premiere, an LGBTQ+ musicians showcase, a Classical Drag event featuring RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor and a London Symphony Orchestra concert with Classical Pride founder Oliver Zeffman, broadcaster Nick Grimshaw and a lineup of star soloists.

Chandos Records has been acquired by Naxos founder Klaus Heymann. While the Naxos Music Group will now handle worldwide physical and digital distribution for Chandos, the acquisition will not disrupt Chandos’s current schedule of new recordings. Managing director Ralph Couzens, son of label founder Brian Couzens and the engineer behind the highly acclaimed ‘Chandos sound’, will continue to run the company.

The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Awards took place at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music on 5 March. The event, which was held outside the capital for the first time, saw Jasdeep Singh Degun become the first sitar player to win an RPS Award, while the Irene Taylor Trust received the Gamechanger Award for its work using music to empower people affected by the criminal justice system. Composers Illia Razumeiko and Roman Grigoriev travelled to Manchester from Ukraine to receive recognition for their opera Chornobyldorf, created with Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

ABO Classical Music Award winners announced

The Association of British Orchestras (ABO) recently presented the refreshed ABO Classical Music Awards as part of its 2024 conference, held at the newly renovated Bristol Beacon. Alongside three days of panels, performances and discussion around the theme of ‘creative solutions’, the ABO – along with media partner Classical Music – recognised and celebrated the achievements of winners that included the Scottish Ensemble, the Recruiting Classical consortium, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Music & Health team and Manchester Camerata’s principal flute and resident music therapist, Amina Hussain.

The event, hosted by Classic FM’s Aled Jones, was the first instalment of the reimagined ABO Classical Music Awards, with recipients nominated by their peers throughout the industry. In a departure from previous years, during which Artist Manager, Concert Hall Manager and Orchestra Manager of the Year were named, this year’s awards recognised the initiatives,

teams and individuals whose work demonstrated inspiration, innovation or collaboration.

Classical Music magazine editor Florence Lockheart said: ‘The last year has been undeniably tough, with funding cuts making it ever clearer that those in power could certainly benefit from a greater understanding of how much orchestras and their music impact not only audiences, but entire communities.

‘Our award winners represent just that, and stand as testament to the value of our sector and its members in supporting the vulnerable, addressing inequality, working towards a better future for our planet – and much more besides.’

Scottish Ensemble was recognised for its leading work in using an evidence-based approach to environmental sustainability, while the Recruiting Classical consortium of symphony and chamber orchestra leaders, in partnership with Black Lives in Music, was celebrated for its pioneering work in driving diversity and opportunity in recruitment. The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s Music & Health team was also recognised for its healthcare programme supporting over 18,000 people living with mental and physical ill health across the Liverpool City Region, in partnership with the NHS.

Manchester Camerata’s principal flute and resident music therapist Amina Hussain recieved an ABO Classical Music Award for her work with Manchester Camerata’s Music in Mind team delivering music-based therapy for people living with dementia, learning disabilities and isolation. The ABO also celebrated the work of outgoing Bristol Beacon chief executive Louise Mitchell with its annual ABO Award, voted by the ABO membership.

The awards were held on the first night of the ABO conference, which welcomed more than 300 delegates from every part of the UK’s classical music industry to the Bristol Beacon to hear perspectives from prominent figures from across the fields of music, culture and politics.

Victory lap: The 2024 ABO Classical Music Awards recognised winners' inspiration, innovation and collaboration

©

C H R I

SC O O P E R ,

S H O T A W A Y

6 | Classical Music | Spring 2024

classical-music.uk

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content