An important milestone takes place this year and I want to draw some attention to it.  WFMT General Manager Steve Robinson is celebrating his 10th anniversary as GM of Chicago’s only classical music station and the WFMT Radio Network.  For those of us lucky enough to know and work with Steve, we can attest to his generosity and visionary leadership in the classical music arena.  His energetic and effective work on behalf of all of the classical music organizations, performers, and music schools in Chicago is enormous.

It would take a lot more space then we have to share all of the highlights of the last ten years of Steve’s stewardship, but here are a few that I would like to share.

I had the pleasure of attending the Grant Park Music Festival’s Wednesday evening concert featuring kora virtuoso Toumani Diabate. If you aren’t familiar with the kora, it is a 21-string West African instrument that resembles a harp. Carlos Kalmar and the Grant Park Orchestra opened the concert with Fela Sowande’s African Suite. Toumani Diabate and three accompanying musicians then joined the orchestra for six pieces composed by Diabate and arranged for kora and orchestra including Manchester

This is a pretty momentous week for the Chicago Sinfonietta.  For the first time since its founding by Paul Freeman in 1987, this orchestra has conducted a search for, and selection of a new Music Director.  We couldn’t be more excited about welcoming Maestra Mei-Ann Chen to our organization and introducing her to Chicago.

The search began over two years ago when Maestro Freeman let us know that he would step down after the 2010-2011 Season.  The board appointed a Transition Committee to oversee the process.  We soon had created a Music Director profile and began identifying candidates who we felt best reflected the attributes outlined in that document.  The committee, with great assistance from our search consultant identified over 25 candidates from all over the world.

From the Houston Symphony's Wesbite:

The Houston Symphony will host its first ever “Tweetcert” on Thursday, June 17 at Miller Outdoor Theatre. During the orchestra’s performance, a series of ‘tweets’ will be posted on the Symphony’s Twitter feed that will offer the audience an up-to-the-minute version of program notes about the music. Audience members can follow along on their smartphones while hearing the music live! Follow @HouSymphony today!

Now, I know you are all going to think I'm just a cranky older person who doesn't get technology (and you would be right about the older person who doesn't get tech - not too cranky, hopefully), but this seems like technology for technology's sake with very little, if any added value.

One can hardly blame Dr. Allan Dennis and the Midwest Young Artists for featuring prominent alumni in soloist roles in their concert programs. Given the willingness of these artists (stemming from fond memories, no doubt) and the number of top-flight musicians to finish their program, it can’t require much cajoling to convince first-rate virtuosos to grace the stage with MYA’s Symphony Orchestra as expert accompanists.
Their concert Saturday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston featured one of their more acclaimed graduates, violinist Jeremy Black, in the Tchaikovsky Concerto in D Major. After a formative period with MYA in the group’s early years, the Evanston native continued his studies at Case Western Reserve, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Michigan. He is now a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and is renowned locally as the concertmaster of the Grant Park Symphony.