Soundbites
Operatic Alpesh
Conductor Alpesh Chauhan has been named as the new music director of Birmingham Opera. Hailing from the Midlands city himself, Chauhan was assistant conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 2014-16, after which he was appointed principal conductor of the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma.
Home inspirations
This year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Awards for live performance are to include a prize for musical achievements during lockdown. Voted for by the public, the Inspiration Award will be presented to an individual or group who, says the RPS, ‘found a way to perform something truly special online, who shared their creativity in a fresh format or setting, or who roused others to be more musical themselves in confinement’.
Distant success
Congratulations to Diana Adamyan, who has won this year’s Khachaturian International Competition for violinists. For the first time ever, the competition took place entirely online, with each of the six finalists playing Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in their own houses, accompanied by a live-streamed Armenian State Symphony orchestra. We would normally say that Adamyan took home a $10,000 prize, but she was, of course, already at home.
Artfully composed
ORA Singers have launched a new scheme to help composers whose work may have dried up during the coronavirus crisis. The Emergency Composers’ Fund will see eight composers receive commissions of £1,500 each to write a piece based on works of art on show at London’s Tate Modern gallery. The works featured range from Matisse’s The Snail (1953) to Lorna Simpson’s Then & Now (2016). See orasingers.co.uk/composers-fund.