Miami New Times – Miami,FL,USA

Fascinating story of the “self-taught classical pianist” Kristopher Hull, who’s now taking his Chopin-heavy act to the streets of Miami as a “Pianist Errant”

This past February 27 would come to be known as Kristopher Hull’s Worst Day Ever. Armed with a full-size upright piano, a repertoire of Chopin’s etudes and nocturnes, and his nerves, the 33-year-old pianist planned to storm Lincoln Road, guerrilla-style. He was going to bring classical music out of the concert hall and into the streets.

Inspired by his fictional role model, Don Quixote, Hull was in the early days of his quest, which he called “pianist errantry.” He was accompanied by a pal, Swedish-born photographer Victor Staaffe, who was documenting the whole thing. Together that sunny afternoon, they unloaded Hull’s piano from the back of his aquamarine pickup truck….

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Concert will feature ‘jazz on a classical guitar’
Post-Bulletin – Rochester,MN,USA

Jazz guitarist Gene Bertoncini is poised to showcase his classical chops with the Rochestra Symphony Orchestra...

He’ll play three arrangements with the orchestra, two of them melding classical pieces with jazz tunes. The first combines Chopin’s Prelude in E flat with Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “How Insensitive.” The second starts with Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez and becomes Chick Corea’s “Spain.”

The works fit the Latin theme of the concert. “You can’t get more Latin than the title of ‘Spain,’” Bertoncini said.

Jobim borrowed from Chopin’s Prelude and added a bossanova beat for “How Insensitive.”

“I heard a pianist do it the same way when I was on the ‘Tonight Show,’” Bertoncini said. “I always remembered that.” He simply transferred it to guitar.

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World-acclaimed Vietnamese pianist to release new CD
Viet Nam News – Hanoi,Vietnam

More about the Chopin-heavy CD-and-book releases in Vietnam by native son (and 1980 Chopin Competition winner) Dang Thai Son…

A CD compilation of Vietnamese high profile pianist Dang Thai Son’s favourite classical pieces hits the streets next Friday.

Distributed by the Phuong Nam Film Company, the collection includes 13 CDs, previously released by Japan’s Victor Entertainment Inc. (JVC). The CDs include Tchaikovsky, Men-delssohn, Liszt, Ravel and Debussy scores, and nine devoted entirely to Chopin.

According to director of Phuong Nam Film Phan Mong Thuy, the company has spent four months securing distribution rights from JVC.

“In presenting the CDs of famous pianist Dang Thai Son, our company is doing its utmost to bring Vietnamese audiences valued musical products,” Thuy said.

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SFIFF: Ashes to ashes
San Francisco Bay Guardian – San Francisco,CA,USA

Another mention of the acclaimed indie documentary film Forever:

SFIFF One of the greatest pleasures of the 50th SF International Film Festival was Forever, Heddy Honigmann’s 2006 study of the living among the dead at Paris’ Père-Lachese cemetery. Between footage of the sun-dappled necropolis in all its hushed, springtime glory, Honigmann (who received last year’s Persistence of Vision award) profiles several regular visitors, who in the course of discussing an attachment to a particular resident — whether that dweller be Frédéric Chopin or a deceased husband — reveal a great deal about how we commune with memory in our daily lives.

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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Dancing about music
By Thomasina

A “distinterested plug” by a Down Under blogger for a quadruple-bill Jerome Robbins Celebration, by the Australian Ballet…

1. The Concert
This is one of the sweetest, funniest, most entertaining ballets I’ve ever seen. The pianist on stage performs a recital of Chopin. The dancers are the audience – behaving in all the ways that audiences do, including sitting in the wrong seats – and they dance out their fantasies in the most delightful ways. Did I mention I adore this ballet?

Thomasina’s last waltz – http://frindley.typepad.com/colophon/

Chopin and Callas worshippers
By Gillibrand(Gillibrand)

Can be found at the Church of St Julien le Pauvre in Paris. Since 1889, the home of the Melkites in Paris.

Catholic Church Conservation – http://cathcon.blogspot.com/

Finale at the Wichita Symphony
The Wichita Eagle – Wichita,KS,USA3

Three-paragraph preview of Ingrid Fliter’s appearance in Kansas:

1) Fliter won the Gilmore Artist Award in 2006, with its top prize of $300,000. The cachet that came with the award elevated her career. Her calendar filled with concert dates and she signed on with the EMI record label to produce an all-Chopin CD. It was released this month.

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Review: Orchestra of Opera North with Evgenia Rubinova *****
Yorkshire Post – Leeds,England,UK

More praise for Evgenia Rubinova in Yorkshire…

A young musician who understands a composer’s intentions and successfully conveys that to an audience is a delight indeed.

So it is with Evgenia Rubinova, a pianist fully in command of any technical difficulties. Her performance of Chopin’s 1st Piano Concerto was enthralling, from her first entry, through the slow movement with which she held our breath with astonishing gentleness, to the light exhilaration of the finale. She is an artist with penetrating musical insight and a self-effacing calm that holds her listeners – not so much in the palms of her own hands, but more so within the composer’s spirit.

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Famed pianist visits site of his debut at age 10
Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Pittsburgh,PA,USA

Acclaimed Chopin interpreter Byron Janis returns to his Pittsburgh hometown, filmmaker in tow…

He is in town as the subject of a documentary on his life by filmmaker Peter Rosen. With Janis’ wife, Maria Cooper Janis (the daughter of actor Gary Cooper), they also are visiting the pianist’s childhood home in Squirrel Hill and his elementary school, Colfax. Janis went on to a celebrated career as a interpreter of Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and more.…
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Read Byron Janis’ essay on Chopin here

A cultural plenary: Heritage label, jobs in culture, subtitles
EurofundingMag – Paris,France

A Chopin 2010 bill is afoot in the European Parliament…

Another proposal is for 2010 to be made the European year to celebrate the life of Chopin and 2011 the European year of Greek and Latin classics. …
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Chopin in the Blogosphere:

Musical Interlude
By Mirek(Mirek)

A montage from a Chopin film…

… lonely day outside or that the actor reminded me somewhat of my son. Whatever the reason, this clip melted me. It is a montage of photos from a Polish Chopin film (CHOPIN PRAGNIENIE MILOSCI, 2002) scored with Chopin’s Waltz no. …

mirek blog – http://mireklipinski.blogspot.com/