Soundbites
Minuet and tree-o
A stroll around London’s Regent’s Park is set to become a melodious experience thanks to a new app. Composers at the Royal Academy of Music have been commissioned to write pieces of music that will be automatically triggered on users’ phones when they walk past certain species of tree, including hornbeam, ash and walnut. When trees overlap, two tunes will sound together. The app will also give information about the trees and the young composers as well.
ENO arrival
From Regent’s Park, it is but a 30-minute walk to the Coliseum, home of English National Opera (ENO). There, you may bump into Annelise Miskimmon, who has just been announced as the new artistic director. Presently director of Norwegian National Opera, Miskimmon replaces Daniel Kramer, who quit the role in the summer after three tricky years in post.
Operatic warnings
Even the most casual observer of ENO over the past few years would probably reach the conclusion that opera itself is a fraught business. Nonetheless, it has also recently been proposed as a means for alleviating wider social problems. As sea levels rise, an Environment Agency report has suggested that community operas should be considered as a way to communicate the difficulties in store for those living in coastal areas that may soon be lost to the sea.
Amadeus award
Thirty-seven years after it was abandoned, the annual Mozart Memorial Prize, which aims to encourage performances of the Austrian’s works by young musicians, has been revived by the London Mozart Players. This year’s award has been presented to pianist Jinah Shim, who gets to appear in concert with the LMP as part of her prize.