BBC Radio 3 recently named the seven artists and ensembles who have been accepted onto its New Generation scheme for the next three years. They are as follows: Julius Asal, piano (Germany) Hana Chang, violin (US) Sterling Elliott, cello (US) Elizaveta Ivanova, flute (Russia) Kleio Quartet (UK) Emma Rawicz, jazz saxophone (UK) Santiago Sanchez, tenor (Uruguay) The New Generation scheme, which has been running since 1999, provides performance opportunities across the UK for young musicians who are in the early stages of establishing their careers. The artists will receive recital opport ..read more

  The UK's Castalian String Quartet recently announced that they have appointed violist Natalie Loughran to the group. She replaces outgoing violist Ruth Gibson and will make her first appearance with the quartet on May 13 at Wigmore Hall. Hailing originally from Philadelphia, Loughran was awarded the First Prize at the 2021 Primrose International Viola Competition, along with the Audience Award — as well as the BIPOC Composer Prize for her arrangement and performance of William Grant Still’s Mother and Child. As a chamber musician, she has appeared at Marlboro, Yellow Barn, The ..read more

  As reported by the U.S. Justice Department, Mark Meng of Irvine, California, has been charged in a federal criminal complaint for reportedly stealing valuable violins and then reselling them for his personal gain.  Meng, 57, is also charged with bank robbery in Orange County and wire fraud in a complaint filed on May 7, 2024.  According to the affidavit alongside the complaint, Meng contacted violin shops across the country between August 2020 and April 2023 and presented himself as a collector to gain the trust of the store owners, reported The Orange County Register. He then ..read more

  High-profile artists have signed an open letter to government officials calling for emergency cross-border funding for the Welsh National Opera (WNO), which is facing the possibility of being made part-time following funding cuts, which supporters said “would be devastating” for the nation. Among the 175 signatures from the arts and entertainment sectors included Luke Evans, Katherine Jenkins, Michael Sheen, Sir Simon Rattle, Ruth Jones, Julian Lloyd Webber, and Catrin Finch. The artists are collectively criticizing what they describe as the “potential dismantling of one of Wales’ fines ..read more

  Violinist Ohad Cohen has recently been confirmed as a full member of the Munich Philharmonic's first violin section, having recently passed his trial with the orchestra. Originally from Haifa, Israel, Cohen studied at the Tel Aviv Conservatory in the class of Nava Milo and continued to learn from her during his undergraduate studies at the Buchman-Mehta School of Music, Tel Aviv. Cohen then received his Master’s degree from the Hochschule für Musik Leipzig, in the class of Prof. Tatjana Masurenko. Cohen was a member of the Berliner Philharmoniker's Karajan Academy since 2017, where his ..read more

  British conductor Vasily Petrenko was first announced as the new music director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) in 2018. Now, with his role extended through to 2030, Petrenko will continue to strengthen RPO’s national and international standing. Petrenko’s contract extension at the RPO “recognises the profound artistic leadership that [he] has brought to the Orchestra since he started his tenure in August 2021,” reads the press release. Under Petrenko’s leadership, the RPO has celebrated a landmark 75th anniversary year, and embraced an ambassadorial role for UK arts worldwide ..read more

  Founded in 2004, the UK’s Worshipful Company of Musicians’ (Musicians’ Company) Prince’s Prize was established to mark the installation of the former Prince of Wales as an Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 2003.  Awarded annually, the prize recognizes a promising young instrumentalist or singer amongst the Company’s Award winners.  The Northumbrian bass-baritone Michael Ronan has received an award of £5,000, with a silver medal after being judged the most promising artist from the Company’s award winners this year by a panel of adjudicators.  Addi ..read more

  To be held annually in Shanghai, China, the Z+ International Chamber Music Festival presented 8 concerts at the Shanghai Symphony Hall in April, 2024. The event was founded by Chinese-American pianist Zee Zee (Zhang Zuo), who also serves as its artistic director. Several of the concerts were streamed here on The Violin Channel. Audiences are invited to watch the festival finale concert on May 11 at 1 PM (ET). We sat down with Zee Zee to get an inside look at her newest initiative.   Tell us about the Z+ Music Festival. When was it created and what is its main mission ..read more

  The School of Music at Carnegie Mellon University has welcomed Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) concertmaster David McCarroll to its faculty. He will serve as an Artist Lecturer in Violin and will begin teaching in the Fall 2024. McCarroll already has a strong teaching pedigree, having lectured at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, and given masterclasses at the San Francisco Conservatory, the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, and the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. McCarroll’s education included studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School, New England Conservatory of Music, and ..read more

  Germany's International Anton Rubinstein Competition for Junior Violin was held on May 5, 2024, in Düsseldorf. The competition is open to violinists of any nationality between the ages of 8 and 15. The finalists had the opportunity to borrow an Italian violin and a French bow from the Blatov Foundation. These include a 3/4 violin by Carlo Bergonzi II from 1780 in Cremona, a violin by Bernardo Calcagno from 1743 in Genoa, a violin bow by Eugène Sartory, and a 3/4 violin bow by Louis Morizot. First Prize of €1,000 was won by Jayda Lu (Australia) and Valerie Bai (USA). Second Prize of ..read more