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‘Sad day’: Han-Na Chang on leaving the Qatar PO

and I have had the privilege of seeing that belief vindicated through the skill, hard work and commitment of this wonderful group of players, culminating in the orchestra’s debut at the Proms yesterday.’ Danish National Chamber Orchestra to close in 2015 Denmark’s state broadcaster DR has announced that budget cuts will see its chamber orchestra close in January. DR’s chairman Michael Christiansen admitted that up to 200 jobs at the broadcaster would be lost in ‘a long-term plan’ to ensure the broadcaster’s future and ‘free up’ 161 million krone annually. Mixed findings from the ABRSM’s Making Music report According to the ABRSM’s Making Music report, more children than ever are now playing a wider variety of musical instruments: 76 per cent of UK children aged five to 14 say they ‘know how to play’ instruments compared to 41 per cent in 1999. But the report also shows an uneven social and geographical picture in terms of access, provision and progression: 40 per cent of children from lower social grades said they had no opportunity to learn at school.

BBC Radio 3 announces its New Generation Artists for 2014-16

BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists scheme has proved a vital career boost for some of today’s finest young classical artists. Benjamin Grosvenor, the Belcea Quartet and Alison Balsom are just some of the musicians who have benefited from the scheme, which exposes young musicians to broadcasts on Radio 3 and creates numerous live performance opportunities. This year’s roster of New Generation Artists are the Armida Quartet, baritone Benjamin Appl, horn player Alec Frank-Gemmill, cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov and violinist Esther Yoo. The scheme runs from 2014-16, during which time the six new artists will join, and be able to collaborate with, the six artists currently on the list who joined in 2013 and who will continue to be part of the scheme until 2015.

As Principal Horn of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Alec FrankGemmill has already received a positive review in Gramophone for his performance of Weber’s Horn Concertino with the SCO and Alexander Janiczek for Linn Records last year. ‘I especially enjoyed Alec Frank-Gemmill’s cheeky handling of the runs and decorations in the Horn Concertino,’ wrote Mike Ashman (A/12).

A recording on the Honens label by Pavel Kolesnikov was welcomed by Jed Distler in the February issue; he concluded that Kolesnikov’s playing was ‘full of promise’. Which would be an appropriate way of describing these six new members of the BBC’s New Generation Artists scheme.

New Generation Artists: the Berlin-based Armida Quartet will benefit from many performance opportunities gramophone.co.uk

The magazine is just the beginning Visit gramophone.co.uk for…

NEWS & FEATURES When an eight-months-pregnant Natalie Clein (pictured) arrived at City Halls in Glasgow to record Saint-Saens’s cello concertos, the scene was set for a memorable recording session, as Kate Molleson witnessed.

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