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Borletti-Buitoni Trust
http://www.bbtrust.com
The
Borletti-Buitoni Trust is a unique and prestigious foundation
for developing and sustaining the international careers
of exceptional young classical musicians. With the backing
of an international panel of the highest calibre, the
BB Trust has been established to help young performers
in as flexible and innovative a way as possible. Working
in partnership with managers, concert promoters, broadcasters
and recording companies, the B B Trust aims to nurture
selected musicians by encouraging their musical growth
and providing an extended platform of opportunities which
will gain them greater public recognition.
DBPR
initiates PR campaigns for major projects of every BBT
winner including CD launches (e.g. for sopranos Emma Bell
and Hyunah Yu, mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn, cellist
Christian Poltéra, violist Antoine Tamestit, violinist Viviane
Hagner and pianist Ralph van Raat), commissions and premieres
(clarinettist Martin Fröst) and concert tours (BBT winners
with Mitsuko Uchida in 2004 and Christian Tetzlaff in 2006).
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Hyunah Yu 2003 Award
Winner
Korean-American soprano Hyunah Yu made her operatic debut in 2006 in Peter Sellars’ production
of Mozart’s Zaide and has received warm praise for her EMI Debut Disc,
Bach·Mozart Arias (0946 3 68255 2 6) released in January 2007 : “a
fabulous voice” (The Independent); “Yu’s lightheaded coloratura
beams with both touching and fearsome character in the three arias from Zaide… …the
best here provides mouth-watering evidence of significant potential.” (Gramophone)
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Martin Fröst 2003 Award Winner
Swedish clarinettis Martin Fröst’s BBT award funded the commissioning
of a clarinet concerto from Finnish composer Kalevi Aho which was premiered in
April 2006 and also contributed towards the recording of the work. The
resulting CD is released by BIS in February 2007 (BIS-SACD-1463) featuring the
Lahti Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänska.
www.martinfrost.se
Photo: Mats Bäcker
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Viviane Hagner – 2004 Award Winner
German violinist Viviane Hagner is an ardent advocate
of neglected, rediscovered and new music. Her first BBT-supported
CD (of two) released January 2007:
Bach, Bartok & Hartmann (Altara - ALT 1016)
www.vivianehagner.de
Press
Release
Photo: Ben Ealovega
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Christian Poltéra 2004 Award Winner
Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra first of four BBT-supported
recordings is released April/May 2007(BIS-CD-1597) featuring
both of the Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck’s works for solo
cello, plus six songs arranged for piano and cello. Forthcoming
releases feature unfairly neglected works by two other Swiss composers,
Arthur Honegger and Frank Martin.
www.christianpoltera.com
Christian Poltera plays Schoeck
Photo: Marco Borggreve
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Leopold String Trio 2004 Award Winner
The highly acclaimed Leopold String Trio has utilised its award monies to realise
a long held ambition to programme and promote its own concert series. Over the
course of three seasons,
beginning 20 November 2005, the trio will celebrate music for its medium in two
of the UK’s finest chamber music venues, the Wigmore Hall in London and
the Turner Sims Concert Hall in
Southampton.
www.leopoldstringtrio.com
Photo: Eric Richmond
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Christianne Stotijn - 2005 Award Winner
Dutch mezzo-soprano Christianne Stotijn’s BBT award
supported the recording and release of two CDs – Schubert,
Berg, Wolf: Dreams and Fantasy Figures (ONYX 4009), and Mahler
- Urlicht (ONYX 4014) - both of which met with
universal critical acclaim. “Stotijn’s voice – rich
and suggestive, sly and sorrowful as required, with shades of Janet
Baker’s gravitas, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson’s candour,
and Anne Sofie von Otter’s playfulness – is tailormade
for Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder and Das Knaben Wunderhorn.” (Independent
on Sunday); “…a Mahler recital of astonishing
range and sophistication” (BBC Music Magazine); “ with
a mezzo voice this expressive, flexible, and free of faults no
wonder her star is rising.” (The Times).
www.christiannestotijn.com
Photo:Marco Borggreve
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Colin Currie – 2005 Award Winner
British percussionist Colin Currie’s BBT award used
to fund commissioned works from Lukas Ligeti and Dave Maric for
percussion and trumpet (with Håkan Hardenberger), plus another
piece from Simon Holt with co-commissioner City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra.
Also supporting the release of an all-Maric CD to be released early Summer 2007.
Photo: Chris Dawes
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Soovin Kim 2005 Award Winner
BBT award money used to support the release of his CD ‘Niccolò Paganini
24 Caprices’ (ACD-71235) - “A thrilling debut disc” (Classic
FM Magazine) - on the Azica label, plus PR, marketing and creation of a
new website.
www.soovin.com
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Ralph van Raat 2005 Fellowship Winner
Multi-award winning Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat has used
his BBT monies to further his passion for contemporary music. His
first CD is released in April 2007 (Naxos 8.559285) John Adams
Complete Piano Music and his BBT monies are also contributing towards
the commissioning of a piano concerto from British composer Gavin
Bryars.
www.ralphvanraat.com
Photo:Marco Borggreve
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Antoine Tamestit 2006 Award Winner
Bach Ligeti - Chaconne is the title of French violist Antoine Tamestit’s
debut solo recording on the Ambroisie label (AM111 AD 098) – the first
of a 3-CD series supported by BBT in which he aims to explore the range of work
written and arranged for solo viola. Bach and Ligeti both go to extremes
in these virtuosic dance-themed pieces and have been juxtaposed in a single recording
to reflect not only Tamestit’s particular fondness for both pieces, but
also his keenness not to be confined to any particular era of musical composition. The
CD is released in France, UK, Switzerland and Belgium on 26 Feb and in the US
and other territories in March 2007.
Photo: Eric Larrayadieu
Press release
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Olli Mustonen
www.vanwalsum.co.uk/artists/om.php
Finnish musician Olli Mustonen has a unique
place on today’s music scene. As a pianist, he has challenged
and fascinated audiences throughout Europe and America with his
brilliant technique and startling originality. In his role as
conductor he founded the Helsinki Festival Orchestra and is Artist
in Association with the Tapiola Sinfonietta. As a composer he
forms part of a very special line of musicians whose vision is
expressed as vividly in the art of re-creative interpretation
as it is in their own compositions. In 2007, his 40th birthday
year, his profile in the UK will be enhanced by notable performances
and premieres, including Bach’s Goldberg Variations and
the British premieres of Rodion Shchedrin’s Piano Concerto
No 5 and his own Jehkin Iivana.
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East Neuk Festival
www.eastneukfestival.co.uk
A summer visit to Scotland’s East Neuk is fast becoming a must for classical music lovers who revel in hearing chamber music played by the world’s top artists in some of the quirkiest and most obscure – yet creatively appropriate – venues. In 2008 a concert of mystical proportions in a HAS (Hardened Aircraft Shelter) on the base at RAF Leuchars might just supersede the notoriety of the 2006 festival evening in Scotland’s Secret Bunker! In the space of just three years the East Neuk Festival has quickly become an established player on the British summer music festival scene (in 2007 it was awarded the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society for Audience Development) and presents in 2008 an eclectic array of the world’s leading musicians including the Eroica and Skampa Quartets, Anglo-Indian singer Sheila Chandra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) players in various line-ups and acclaimed young Welsh pianist Llyr Williams as artist in residence.
The characterful churches at St Monan’s, Crail, Dunino and Kilconquhar and the magnificent Holy Trinity Church at St Andrews are favourite concert venues from previous years , plus more new stages for the festival’s storytelling theme which is ghost stories.
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Paul Hillier
www.paulhillier.net
Paul Hillier is one of the world’s foremost choral
conductors. He is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
of the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir (EPCC), Founder
and Director of Theatre of Voices and Chief Conductor of
Ars Nova Copenhagen. He co-founded The Hilliard Ensemble
and during his tenure as musical director the group rose
to international prominence. Hillier enjoys close creative
relationships with many living composers, most notably Steve
Reich and Arvo Pärt, both of whom have written works
for him to perform with his various ensembles. Alongside
projects with his own ensembles, he enjoys guest conducting
with many of the world’s finest choirs. In 2007
Hillier brings the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir to
the UK for a major tour in May and also his two ensembles,
Theatre of Voices and Ars Nova Copenhagen, to the Edinburgh
Festival.
Further Information
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San Francisco Ballet
www.sfballet.com
San Francisco Ballet is approaching a milestone
anniversary: America’s oldest professional
ballet company will be 75 in 2008.
Acclaimed as one of the most innovative and artistically creative classical ballet
companies in the world, the Company will present a festival of 10 world premieres
by some of the world’s top choreographers, a programme of performances
by three international ballet companies, an additional world premiere by San
Francisco Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson, and the Company premiere of
Jerome Robbins’ West Side Story Suite. Other major initiatives include
a television broadcast, a commemorative book, a four-city American Tour, and
a refreshed brand identity that positions San Francisco Ballet as offering “a
new way of seeing ballet.” The San Francisco Ballet School will also celebrate
its 75th anniversary in 2008.
The company’s last European project was the inauguration of a new annual
festival of dance in the heart of Paris - les étés de la
danse de paris. In recognition of its featured position as the only company
performing in the three-week festival, San Francisco Ballet commissioned
three new works – one each from choreographers Lar Lubovitch,
Paul Taylor and Christopher Wheeldon performed alongside existing repertoire
by George Balanchine and San Francisco Ballet’s artistic director
Helgi Tomasson, plus the full-length production of Don Quixote by Tomasson
and Yuri Possokhov. The Company will return to London in Autumn 2009.
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Dance East - Rural
Retreat
www.danceeast.co.uk
Within the dance profession it has been acknowledged that no-one is every really prepared for what artistic leadership entails. With the 2008 Rural Retreat (11-14 January at Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire) DanceEast produced the first intensive programme for future dance leaders. Never before in the art form have future artistic leaders been brought together to discuss and be given insight into the realities of the top job. From a list of 75 applicants, 27 participants representing 12 countries and many nationalities, were chosen to reflect a wide cross-section of men and women of varying cultures, ages, backgrounds and experience in order to facilitate lively debate and maximum input. They included dancers, choreographers and producers plus some very recently appointed artistic directors from as far afield as Australia, China, North America and across Europe. The outcome was an inspiring weekend of intense and provocative discussions which left participants positive and committed. Royal Ballet Principal Dancer Tamara Rojo, summed up the weekend: “The art form of dance is not lost and is not adrift. There is vision, there are the people to take it forward, and there are the minds to challenge it, make it relevant to society and to the audiences of this new century. During these four days I had the privilege to share a common passion and see into the future and rejoice in what is coming and the artists that are going to take us there.”
Dance East has also put its money where its mouth is and has organised up to six placements to shadow artistic directors of leading dance companies worldwide
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Norwegian National
Ballet
In 2006, under the directorship of Espen Giljane,
The Norwegian National Ballet premiered a lavish
new production of the iconic classical ballet, The
Sleeping Beauty. Critically acclaimed
at the Norwegian premiere in March it was staged
by the Company’s ballet master Janek Schergen)
and was specially praised for the richly detailed
designs and costumes based on the fairy tale volumes
of Edmund Dulac.
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The Australian Ballet
www.australianballet.com.au
After an absence of more than twelve years, The Australian
Ballet returned to the UK in July 2005 with the international
debut of Graeme Murphy’s critically acclaimed,
multiple award-winning new production of Swan Lake.
The company won the National Dance Award for Best Foreign
Company of 2005 as a result of its this UK season presented
at Wales Millennium Centre and the London Coliseum.
Murphy’s Swan Lake was the first ballet commissioned by
David McAllister after becoming The Australian Ballet’s artistic director
in 2001. Created to mark the company’s 40th anniversary in 2002 this
powerful interpretation of the iconic ballet sensationally sold out seasons across
Australia, won nine major awards in one year, and moved audiences to tears.
Murphy’s choreography dramatically communicates the passion and emotion
of betrayal and unrequited love: Odette is betrothed to Prince Siegfried,
yet deeply apprehensive of his relationship with the Baroness von Rothbart.
However, it is not until after the wedding that the true nature of Siegfried
and the Baroness’ relationship is revealed to Odette, causing
her such distress that, by royal command, she is committed to a sanatorium.
There she finds comfort and escape amongst serene white swans in a frozen
dream world. Australian critics have picked up on more than a hint of another
world famous royal menage à trois that finds several parallels in
this story of adultery, personality disorders and betrayal of innocence.
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Danish National Symphony
Orchestra
www.dr.dk/p2/ny_rso/rso/en/aboutdnrso/index.htm
As part of the Fairy
Tales theme of the 2005 BBC Proms season, the
Danish National Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of
chief conductor Thomas Dausgaard, performed the world
premiere of Bent Sørensen’s The
Little Mermaid , a specially commissioned work by
DNSO and BBC Proms, which also celebrated the bicentenary
of the world’s most famous storyteller, Hans
Christian Andersen. The Danish National Girls Choir,
Danish soprano Inger Dam-Jensen and tenor Gert Henning
Jensen joined DNSO for a truly Danish event. Also
on the programme were Grieg’s Piano Concerto played
by celebrated German pianist Lars Vogt and Nielsen’s
Symphony No 5.
Two other giants of Danish music – Per Nørgård and
Carl Nielsen – were celebrated in the 2002 Proms by the DNSO . Dausgaard
conducted the orchestra in the UK premiere of Per Nørgård ‘s
sixth and most recent symphony, and celebrated young Danish violinist Nikolaj Znaider
made his Proms debut with Nielsen’s Violin Concerto, in only its second
ever Proms performance. Brahms’ First Symphony completed the bill.
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From-Sweden
In 1654 England’s Oliver Cromwell and Sweden’s
culture-loving Queen Christina signed a historic treaty
of peace and trade which has not to this day been revoked.
In the spirit of this collaborative agreement, Swedish
cellist Mats Lidström, developed
an idea for an ambitious music project in London together
with financier and music enthusiast Roger Gifford and
project managers Van
Walsum Management. Entitled From-Sweden,
the project’s primary aim is to showcase Swedish
music (particularly from the first half of the twentieth
century), with the added dimensions of exploring deep-rooted
links between English and Swedish composers and showcasing
collaborative music-making among artists from both countries. From-Sweden is
deliberately different from most music festivals: rather
than a concentrated flash of music over a festival weekend
or themed week, From Sweden is
concentrating on building a momentum and awareness over
an extended period with a consistent programme of over
30 events built into the concert seasons October-December
2004 and January-June 2005.
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T'ang Quartet
www.tangquartet.com
Hailed as one of the hottest properties on Singapore’s
classical music scene, the T’ang Quartet made
its British debut at Wigmore
Hall on 26 March 2005 as part of the Singapore Season in London, organised by
the National Arts Council, Singapore to showcase its top arts ensembles. Praised
for its daring programming and insightful interpretations,
the quartet performs to great acclaim in the United States
and throughout Asia.
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Royal New Zealand Ballet
www.nzballet.org.nz
New Zealand’s flagship arts company, the Royal New
Zealand Ballet, visited British shores in Spring 2004 with
a six-week tour and a programme celebrating strong links
with dance creators in the UK. The tour repertory featured
works all specially commissioned for Royal New Zealand
Ballet from choreographers Christopher Hampson, Mark Baldwin
and Javier De Frutos. Hampson’s full-length Romeo
and Juliet was world premiered in June 2003 to mark
the 50th anniversary of the company, while the triple bill
programme featured works seen in Britain for the first
time: Milagros by Javier De Frutos (nominated
for an Oliver Award), Saltarello by Christopher Hampson
and FrENZy by Mark Baldwin.
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Nina Ananiashvili with stars of Russian ballet and Moscow Dance Theatre
One of the world’s most charismatic and accomplished
prima ballerinas, Nina Ananiashvili (of the Bolshoi Ballet
and American Ballet Theatre) brought Moscow Dance Theatre
with Bolshoi principals to the UK for the first time in
March 2004 with two programmes of specially commissioned
works from three young choreographers currently scaling
the heights of international renown and from the far flung
corners of the world: Australia’s Stanton Welch,
America’s Trey McIntyre and Russia’s Alexei
Ratmansky. Moscow Dance Theatre was founded in 2000
by Nina Ananiashvili and Alexei Fadeyechev, a former director
of the Bolshoi Ballet (1998-2000). Numbering approximately
35 dancers in total, it has toured in Russia, Georgia,
Japan and the US.
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Ballet Stars of St. Petersburg
For more than two centuries St Petersburg has been
a major centre for the establishment and evolution
of classical ballet, producing such legendary dancers
as Pavlova, Nijinsky and Nureyev. As part of the
UK celebrations marking the 300th anniversary of
its most regal city, Russia sent a spectacular line-up
of contemporary ballet icons to perform at London's
Royal Albert Hall on 7 & 8 May 2003: Andrei
Batalov, Ilya Kuznetsov, Yulia Makhalina, Irma Nioradze,
Daria Pavlenko, Farukh Ruzimatov, Elvira Tarasova,
Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Igor Zelensky. Accompanied by
members of the Kirov corps de ballet and the Russian Chamber
Orchestra of London, they performed excerpts from
the great classical works by Petipa and Fokine as well
as a new one-act ballet by Kirill Simonov specially commissioned
for Irma Nioradze and Ilya Kuznetsov.
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Sir Georg Solti
www.georgsolti.com
The Hungarian-born maestro Sir Georg Solti, considered
one of the greatest orchestral conductors of the
modern era, died on 5 September 1997, the very
same week that the world mourned the deaths of Diana
Princess of Wales and Mother Theresa. In 2002, in
what would have been his 90th birthday year, Solti’s
legacy was marked with the launch of the
offical new website and a host of events
in the key cities around the globe associated with
landmarks in his life and career.
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Casa
www.sitesakamoto.com
2002: True to his own maxim that the only constant
in life is change, composer and musician Ryuichi
Sakamoto embarks on a new project with fellow musicians
Jaques and Paula Morelenbaum which sees him totally
immersed in the compositions of another musician – Brazilian
maestro Antonio Carlos (‘Tom’) Jobim.
Casa, their new CD on Sony Classical, is a collection
of hidden treasures and some previously unrecorded material
written by Jobim, recorded at his house in Rio last
year on the very piano at which the pioneer of bossa
nova composed so much of his material, and performed by
Ryuichi Sakamoto on piano, Jaques Morelenbaum on cello
and Paula as vocalist. For the trio it was a truly magical
experience. The group embarks on a major world tour in
September 2002 under the group name of Morelenbaum 2/Sakamoto (M2/S).
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The William Walton
Centenary 2002
www.waltontrust.org.uk
English composer William Walton’s centenary
was celebrated in 2002 with musical events the length
and breadth of the UK including two major festivals
at London’s South Bank and in the north of
England, as well as concerts, talks, educational
programmes, new CD releases and the publication of
three new books. Lady Walton travelled the globe
with her definitive performances of Facade - as far
afield as the Lebanon, Reykjavik, Schleswig-Holstein and
America as well as the UK.
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La Mortella
www.lamortella.it
The
amazing sub-tropical garden of la Mortella was nothing
but a stone quarry on the volcanic island of Ischia when
William Walton and his young bride first bought the land
back in the early 1950s. Now a lush paradise where hundreds
of rare and exotic species of trees, plants and flowers
grow, la Mortella opens its doors to the public eight months
of the year. Lady Walton also opens her home to guests
who visit with specialist tour operators to enjoy both
the garden and musical weekends which take place as part
of the William Walton Trust’s ongoing commitment to
young musicians. Autumn 2002 sees publication of the first
major photographic book on La Mortella with photography
by John Ferro Sims and text by Lady Walton (New Holland
Publishing).
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Handmade in Italy
www.simspix.co.uk
HANDMADE IN ITALY was published in 2002 by author
and photographer John Ferro Sims (New Holland).
Italy is unique in Europe in being at the forefront
of style, fashion and design and yet still steeped
enough in its traditional cultures to have preserved the
artisan way of life. This book celebrates the highly skilled
individuals who have chosen the ‘luxury of going
slowly’ in the face of e-commerce, mass manufacture and
globalisation and are still producing items of beauty and
utility in glass, metal, stone, fabric and ceramic.
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Pacific Northwest Ballet
Highly acclaimed Seattle-based Pacific Northwest
Ballet returned to London with a lavish full-length
work, SILVER LINING, choreographed by artistic director
Kent Stowell, evoking the spirit of the 1920s and
30s. In the same week, PNB showcased its dancers
in a mixed bill programme: DIVERTIMENTO #15 (Choroegrapher:
George Balanchine Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart),
JARDI TANCAT (Choreography: Nacho Duato Composer: Maria
del Mar Bonet), LE CORSAIRE PAS DE TROIS (Choreography:
After Marius Petipa Composer: Riccardo Drigo) and
FEARFUL SYMMETRIES (Choreography: Peter Martins Composer:
John Adams).
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Dame Beryl's Evening
A stunning line-up of international ballet and musical
theatre stars in a charity gala directed by Wayne
Sleep to celebrate the 75th birthday year of Dame
Beryl Grey, one of England’s most popular and
accomplished ballerinas, remembered for her magnificent
performing career and cherished for her ongoing commitment
to the world of dance. The gala took place on 10 March
2002 at Sadler’s Wells and was in aid of the Dance
Teachers’ Benevolent Fund and the Wayne Sleep
Dance Scholarship.
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