Nicola Benedetti Opens up on Classical Music Education: Treat It Like Broccoli >>
Nicola Benedetti, Scottish violinist and 2004's BBC Young Musician of the year, has some sensible ideas when it comes to the current state of classical music education: treat it like broccoli! Benedetti speaks her heart on engaging young minds in the classical arts.
Violinist Nicola Benedetti Performs at SubCulture >>
World-renowned violinist, Nicola Benedetti, will be performing at the 2014/2015 season at SubCulture.
One Direction, Pharrell, Danielle de Niese, Nicola Benedetti and More Cover Beach Boys Classic 'God Only Knows' for BBC Music >>
For the love of music, indeed, BBC. A most resounding rendition of Brain Wilson's own "God Only Knows" has premiered at BBC Music, which features a studded cast of Beach Boys fans including pop stars like One Direction and Pharrell to classical and opera sensations like Danielle de Niese and Nicola Benedetti.
BBC Supersize on Classical Music >>
It was always likely that the BBC's still-quite-new Director General -- former Royal Opera House chief Tony Hall -- would prioritise music. And today the corporation announced a slew of initiatives designed to put music back at (or close to) the center of the Beeb's world. Most eye-catching of these is a nationwide educational initiative called "Ten Pieces"
UPDATE: BBC Young Musician 2014 Finalists Announced, Jazz Contest Added >>
In a world suffused with competitions for young musicians, the BBC's is one of the most useful. To start with, it offers a lot of broadcast time. It also offers high-level U.K. engagements. And the BBC Young Musician finalists for 2014 have been announced.
Violinist Nicola Benedetti Reveals Pressures from "Cut-Throat" Music Industry on BBC [AUDIO] >>
Joining various other prominent competition winners, Benedetti, who won the BBC Young Musician of the Year title in 2004 and has often been the U.K.'s highest-selling classical musician, has told BBC Radio Four that she was pushed too hard, too fast in the aftermath. Having won at 16, she told Desert Island Discs: "By the age of 17 or 18, I was going through a very tough time."
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies Warns Daily Telegraph that Music's Future is in Danger >>
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, one of today's leading composers and the U.K.'s Master of the Queen's Music, has attacked music education in Britain. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he said that the situation has "reached a serious tipping point," where youngsters of the future will be almost entirely ignorant of the works of the great composers.
Katherine Jenkins' Fantasy Dinner and Cognac Fave, Raymond Blanc, Does Not Reciprocate Very Special Night >>
Distance runner, cruise ship crooner and all-around diva Katharine Jenkins has joined the famous chef Raymond Blanc to launch Martell new cognac's series Very Special Nights. But while she ranks Blanc as part of her ideal all-time dinner party, she fares less well when it comes to his choices.
James MacMillan, Nicola Benedetti Launch Cumnock Tryst Festival in Scotland >>
Another artist-led music festival has been announced, this one run by a composer and located in his native Scotland. And the composer is Scotland's finest, James MacMillan. Not only that, but Scotland's best known violin export, Nicola Benedetti, has agreed to come aboard as patron.
Lang Lang, Hans Zimmer, Pavarotti Win Big at Classic Brit Awards 2013 [FULL LIST] >>
They might have been on strike at Carnegie Hall, but across the pond in Blightly, the Classic Brit Awards still steamrolled ahead. A massive production--filmed for mainstream, primetime TV (the ITV1 channel)--it was a cast of dozens and a healthy clutch of big stars.
Classic Brit Awards 2013 to Honor Luciano Pavarotti for Lifetime Achievement >>
While quite how excited an artist can get about an award after their demise is debatable (at best), perhaps depending on one's religious views, the U.K.'s Classic Brits have announced that they will bestow a posthumous award on Luciano Pavarotti.
