Soundbites
Atlanta signing
Nathalie Stutzmann has been named as the next music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The French conductor will begin her new role next autumn, taking over from Robert Spano, who has led the ensemble with distinction since 2001. She will become only the third woman to hold a principal conductor post at a major US orchestra, following Joann Falletta and Marin Alsop at the Buffalo Philharmonic and Baltimore Symphony respectively.
Chopin star
Congratulations to Bruce Liu, who has won First Prize at this year’s Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw. The 24-year-old Canadian took victory in the 12-player final with a performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor for which he received a standing ovation. Alexander Gadjiev and Kyohei Sorita took equal second place.
Flute en route
Slightly less gloriously, one of Liu’s fellow Canadians has received a ticket for playing his flute while at the wheel of his car.
When the unnamed man, who was driving erratically, was pulled over by police in Toronto, he was found to be tootling along to a tune on his ipod. Sadly, the officers were unable to name the piece in question.
Beautiful lessons
Composer Eric Whitacre has launched a new online Virtual School, aimed at bringing his expertise and guidance to composition students of all ages and abilities. The school’s first course, called The Beautiful Mess: Masterclass in Composition & Creativity, consists of 12 masterclasses and draws on examples from Whitacre’s own work.
See virtualschool.ericwhitacre.com.