2010 NAMM Show Report
Innovation abounded among the more than 1,500 exhibitors at the annual winter gathering of the National Association of Music Merchants, held January 14–17, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. NAMM’s exhibitors at the bustling show included more than 350 devoted to various aspects of the string trade, ranging from violin and bow makers to manufacturers of instruments cases and electronics. The mood, overall, was upbeat and confident, after the uncertainty amid economic woes the previous year. In upcoming issues, Strings will be reporting on many of the new acoustic instrument and bow models as well as the latest instrument cases and other accessories.

But it’s worth reporting that the electronics segment of the trade showed a lot of activity. Read More

ACO Appoints George Manahan as Music Director
Conductor George Manahan, music director of the New York City Opera, will join the American Composers Orchestra as music director at the start of the 2010–11 season. He’ll lead all three of ACO’s concerts presented by Carnegie Hall.
americancomposers.org

LA Phil Performs Two Free Concerts
Catch two free neighborhood concerts on Feb. 3 at the Wilshire United Methodist Church and on Feb. 10 at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex with conductor Diego Matheus and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as part of the LA Phil’s 2009–10 Neighborhood Concert series. Both concerts will feature Mozart’s Overture to the Marriage of Figaro and two opera arias—Mozart’s “Dove sono” from Marriage of Figaro and “Or sai chi l’onore” from Don Giovanni. The performances will conclude with Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, “Italian.” laphil.com

Violinist Itzhak Perlman Conducts, Performs with BSO
World-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman will perform with and lead the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings on February 18 and 21 at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, and Feb. 20 at the Music Center at Strathmore. BSO principal oboist Katherine Needleman will join Perlman for J.S. Bach’s Concerto for violin and oboe. bsomusic.org

Chamber Concert Recognizes SF, Shanghai Conservatories’ Pact
A February 8 concert by the Bridge Chamber Virtuosi—a new string trio featuring San Francisco conservatory violin teacher Wei He and San Francisco Symphony violist Yun Jie Liu and cellist Amos Yang—will celebrate the first ever sister-school agreement between the San Francisco and Shanghai conservatories of music. The concert will also be part of the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s yearlong “Shanghai Celebration.” sfcm.edu

MENC Seeks New Executive Director
The National Association for Music Education, one of the largest advocacy organizations, with 75,000 music teachers and 60,000 honor students and supporters, is on the hunt for a new executive director and is accepting applications until February 15. menc.org