Dr Steven Baxter

Founding Director of Singapore's Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM), Dr Steven Baxter, passed away on 5 July 2010.

According to a tribute on the National University of Singapore's website:

'News of his passing was received with great sadness by those who knew Dr Baxter and who had worked with him at NUS. Building a conservatory from scratch in a country with no extensive history of classical music was a mammoth task and Dr Baxter came highly recommended as the man who could do the job. Under his leadership, the Conservatory grew dramatically from its first intake of over 70 students to a full school with 185 students in just a span of a few years. Operating initially from a two-storey interim building with no performance facilities of its own, the Singapore Conservatory of Music, which was renamed as the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in 2003, came to have its own iconic building on the NUS campus, complete with state-of-the-art facilities for teaching and performing music.'

Dr Baxter was YSTCM’s Director from 2002 to 2005, having previously been Dean of the Peabody Conservatory of Music, John Hopkins University. He was also one of the Board of Directors of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (2003 to 2004), member of the NUS Council (2002 to 2005) and member of Arts Education Council (2002-2005).

Gudni A. Emilsson

Conductor Gudni A. Emilsson from Iceland returned to Vietnam to conduct classical concerts at the Hanoi Opera House on 18 and 19 June 2010.

According to Thanh Nien News, award-winning German pianist Wolfgang Glemser, also an international music lecturer, played with Emilsson as he conducted the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra.

Wolfgang Glemser

Co-organised by the Vietnam Goethe Institute and the German Foreign Ministry to mark 'German Year in Vietnam', the programme featured Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor Op. 37 by Ludvig van Beethoven and Symphony No. 4 in E minor Op. 98 by Johannes Brahms.

New Bilibid Prison. Photo: Courtesy of Wikipedia

Prisoners at the Philippines' maximum security penitentiary in Muntinlupa City gave their first public concert on Tuesday 8 June 2010.

According to Teresa Cerojano of Associated Press, the 100-member Bureau of Corrections Grand Orchestra and Chorale at the New Bilibid Prison played Broadway pieces and love songs in the local Tagalog language to prison officials,  relatives and members of the media. A soloist sang New York, New York as women inmates in top hats and coat-tails danced.

Prison officials and organisers said the project was part of efforts to showcase the musical talents of inmates and help prepare them for release.

Bureau of Corrections Director Oscar Calderon said he hopes to reform inmates through music and 'remove their criminal minds, soften up their feelings'.

Warren Zingapan, an inmate who organised the performance, said that, because music transcends barriers, the symphony and chorale members feel that even while they are physically detained, their music can go beyond the walls of the facility. 'Just by that alone... it is as if they are free.'

Photo of Orfeo ed Euridice: Courtesy of Korea Opera Festival

The First Korea Opera Festival has kicked off in Seoul with the Korea National Opera's rendition of Orfeo ed Euridice.

The inaugural festival aims to introduce the country's top opera ensembles and bring the genre closer to the general public. It will run until 7 July 2010 at Seoul Arts Centre.

Organized by the Korea National Opera and the Opera Society of Korea, the festival features the KNO and four troupes chosen from the 85 that are part of the Opera Society:

• Gloria Opera Ensemble
• Sol'Opera
• Seoul Opera Ensemble
• Beseto Opera

The KNO opened the festivities with Orfeo ed Euridice which was staged in Seoul Art Centre's Towol Theatre. Counter tenors David Dong-qyu Lee and Stephen Wallace shared the lead role of Orfeo while soprano Park Mi-ja played Euridice.

Other productions include:

• Rigoletto by the Gloria Opera Company
• Aida by Sol'Opera 
• La Traviata by The Seoul Opera Ensemble 
• Carmen by Beseto Opera

Tickets cost from 30,000 to 250,000 won. For more information, call (02) 580-1300.

Performer Jason Mraz with Zomba Records' Ralph Simon

Over the course of the conference, speakers included:

• Daniel Ek, CEO and co-founder of Spotify
• Neil Warnock, CEO of the The Agency Group
• Bill Silva, CEO of Bill Silva Entertainment
• Omniphone Group Executive Chairman, Rob Lewis
• Sire Records founder and CEO, Seymour Stein
• Nettwerk Records CEO, Terry McBride
• Rani Cohen, CEO of TuneWiki
• Scarlett Li of Zebra Media

The conference was a productive one for Mongolian band Altan Urag. Invited to perform as the opening act of Music Matters, the six-piece was so impressive that they have signed to performing rights association BMI for their worldwide performing rights representation. Altan Urag consists of six graduates of the Music and Dance College of Mongolia. Formed in 2002 and with seven albums to date, the group is sponsored by coal mining company South Gobi Resources whose CEO Alexander Molyneux said: 'We are delighted to see Altan Urag sign its first international agreement with BMI thanks to the networking opportunities at Music Matters.'

Music Matters 2010 culminated in the inaugural Music Matters Live with H&M Festival featuring 37 bands from 12 countries playing five venues in Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong district.

Muhai Tang

The Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra has named Chinese musician Muhai Tang as its chief conductor for the 2010-11 season.

Tang, who is the youngest son of celebrated Chinese film director Xiaodan Tang and brother of painter and poet Muli Tang, also serves as the artistic director of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and Zurich Chamber Orchestra as well as first guest conductor at Hamburg Symphony Orchestra.

Photo: Courtesy of www.itsanhonour.gov.au

The following people were recognised in the Queen’s Birthday 2010 Australian Honours List for their contributions to musical life in Australia.

AMADIO, Leonard Lyof
Officer of the Order of Australia
Rushcutters Bay NSW 2011
Citation: For distinguished service to the performing arts, particularly the Australian Youth Orchestra through executive, advisory and mentoring roles and through contributions to the establishment of the Alumni program.

BENDER, Lin
Member of the Order of Australia
Victoria
Citation: For service to arts administration through executive roles with a range of cultural organisations, and to the music community of Melbourne.

BLYTH, Peta Sheridan
Medal of the Order of Australia
Delungra NSW 2403
Citation: For service to the performing arts, particularly opera.

EMMANUEL, William Thomas
Member of the Order of Australia
Citation: For service to the music and entertainment industries as a guitarist, and to the community as a supporter of Kids Under Cover.

EVANS, Sandy
Medal of the Order of Australia
South Curl Curl NSW 2096
Citation: For service to Australian contemporary jazz music as a composer and musician.

FORREST, Jill Mary
Member of the Order of Australia
Wahroonga NSW 2076
Citation: For service to medicine as an academic, researcher and educator, and to music as a composer and carillon recitalist.

GRAY, Judith Claire
Medal of the Order of Australia
Kurrajong NSW 2758
Citation: For service to the community through music, sporting and emergency service organisations.   

HANNA, Joan
Medal of the Order of Australia
Kialla Vic 3631
Citation: For service to music, particularly through Sing Australia Shepparton.
            
HARMAN, Henry Ernest
Medal of the Order of Australia
Kanwal NSW 2259
Citation: For service to the performing arts as a jazz musician and as a mentor of emerging artists.

LOCKETT, David Robert
Member of the Order of Australia
Athelstone SA 5076
Citation: For service to music as a concert pianist, educator and researcher, and as an advocate and supporter of Australian music and composers.
       
PALMER, George Alfred
Member of the Order of Australia
Sydney NSW 2000
Citation: For service to the law as a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales and to music as a composer and through leadership roles with a range of cultural bodies.
                  
PEARSON, Phyllis Marjorie
Medal of the Order of Australia
Nambucca Heads NSW 2448
Citation: For service to music, and to the community of the Nambucca region

REES, Philip Ivan
Medal of the Order of Australia
Wyong NSW 2259
Citation: For service to music through the Central Coast Philharmonia Choir.

THREADGOLD, Cheryl Elizabeth
Medal of the Order of Australia
Black RockVic 3193
Citation: For service to the performing arts, particularly through the Mordialloc Light Opera Company, and to the community.

WATERS, Noel Robert
Medal of the Order of Australia
Carindale Qld 4152
Citation: For service to music as an administrator, and to the community.

WOOD, Cecily Mary
Medal of the Order of Australia
SA
Citation: For service to music, and to the Society of Recorder Players of South Australia.

Sydney Conservatorium of Music

The success of UK music teaching scheme Musical Futures has spread to Australia where Dr Michael Webb of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music has introduced the scheme into the Conservatorium's initial teacher training programme. 

Musical Futures is being developed in Australia with part-funding from NAMM in California and education departments in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.

Download Dr Webb's report outlining the trial implementation of the Musical Futures' programme here.

Chinese pianist Lang Lang has performed Flight of the Bumble Bee using just an iPad.

At a concert on 19 April 2010 at San Francisco Davies Symphony Hall, the concert pianist walked onstage with an iPad for the first of three encores.

To watch YouTube footage of the performance, click here.

Columbia University Middle East Research Centre

The ARChive of Contemporary Music (ARC) has announced the launch of Muslim World Music Day, an innovative new project to catalogue and celebrate the diversity of Muslim music.

In collaboration with Columbia University Libraries and the Arts Initiative at Columbia University and with the support of founding partners Gracenote, the Internet Archive and ARC will lead a live online effort to identify and catalogue 50,000 recordings from around the world in a single day: April 12, 2011. Columbia University's Middle East Research Centre in Amman, Jordan will act as the 'hub', providing the technical expertise and hosting the interactive website. There will also be a series of live concerts around the world to celebrate the diversity, beauty and cultural importance of Muslim music.

According to Bob George of the ARChive of Contemporary Music:

'The diverse musical forms inspired by Islam are sacred and secular, traditional and contemporary, locally rooted and globally mobile. Muslim World Music Day will embrace and share a broad understanding of 'Muslim music', acknowledging the debates about the issue within Muslim communities while exploring the musical connections between Islam and other cultural traditions. From the ecstatic Sufi traditions of qawwali and gnawa to the raucous sounds of taqwacore punk and the flourishing Muslim hip-hop scene, this heritage transcends borders and bias.'

The Muslim World Music Day team is inviting organisations and individuals interested in supporting and participating in the project to contact ARC.