Young Caroline Goulding Joins Top String Acts Nominated for Grammy Awards
Strings magazine’s December cover girl, violinist Caroline Goulding, is among those stellar string players picked for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards nominations. The 17-year-old Goulding, who recently won first prize at the 2009 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, is contending for the Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra) with her self-titled debut album featuring Christopher O’Riley and Janine Randall. Goulding writes about the Korngold Violin Concerto here.

Nominees for the Grammy Awards, which takes place January 31, 2010, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, also include more established players such as Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Hope, Monica Huggett, and the Guarneri and Emerson string quartets, among many, many others. For the full list of Grammy Awards nominees, visit grammy.com.

White House Taps Harlem Quartet for Holiday Performances 
The White House has extended an invitation for the Harlem Quartet—violinists Ilmar Gavilan and Melissa White, violist Juan-Miguel Hernandez, and cellist Desmond Neysmith—to perform works by Wynton Marsalis, Billy Strayhorn, and others on December 3–4. The quartet, which has recently returned from a debut in London, will also play the Today Show on Christmas morning. All quartet members are laureates of the Sphinx Competition. sphinxmusic.org/artists/harlem_quartet/list_quartet.html

Monica Huggett’s Baroque Ensemble Debuts Tuesday
The Juilliard415, a period-instrument group that’s made up of students in violinist and lecturer Monica Huggett’s new Historical Performance Program at the Juilliard School, will debut December 8 at Juilliard’s Paul Hall. Works by Georg Philipp Telemann, Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer, Antonio Vivaldi, and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach will be performed. The group’s name comes from the A=415 pitch commonly used in Baroque music. events.juilliard.edu:8080/cal/event/showEventMore.rdo

Slatkin Recovering from Heart Attack
Detroit Symphony Orchestra music director Leonard Slatkin has canceled all of his December engagements as he continues to recover from a heart attack that he suffered in the beginning of November. Slatkin’s management told the Detroit Free Press that he’s settling into a new dietary and exercise program. leonardslatkin.com/performances.shtml

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Announces December Dates in US
Violinist Pinchas Zukerman will lead the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and cellist and wife Amanda Forsyth through works by Haydn, Bruch, and Tchaikovsky at Alice Tully Hall in New York on December 14; the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, Florida, on December 16; and at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida, on December 17. ipo.co.il/eng/HomePage/.aspx

New York Philharmonic Season for Sale
iTunes and the New York Philharmonic have teamed up for “Alan Gilbert: The Inaugural Season iTunes Pass,” which makes some of the Phil’s 2009–10 season available for users to download for $150. Each concert will become available weeks after it runs, and the package includes concerts from other seasons, as well as bonus material for more than 30 hours of music. nyphil.org/buy/estore/itunesPass.cfm