Israel confers Presidential Medal on Conductor Zubin Mehta

Published on October 17, 2012

Israeli conductor Zubin Mehta was awarded a Presidential Medal of Distinction by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Slatkin's last stand at the Bowl?

By Rick Schultz
Published on June 13, 2012

Maybe it was his heart attack during a concert in Rotterdam in 2009, or perhaps it’s just a matter of aging, but conductor Leonard Slatkin, a venerable fixture with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl for many years, is now thinking about summer as vacation time.

Tamara Brooks, noted choral conductor and wife of Theodore Bikel, dies

Published on May 22, 2012

Tamara Brooks, a noted choral conductor, and the wife and musical partner of singer-actor Theodore Bikel, has died.

Conductor Barenboim awarded German peace prize

Published on November 1, 2010

Conductor Daniel Barenboim was awarded a German peace prize for his efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together.

The (almost) hardest-working man in classical music

By David Mermelstein
Published on September 20, 2007

"I have the great good fortune to have an ear to the ground and a great many wonderful colleagues," Kahane said of his network of music-world sources, mostly fellow musicians with whom the conductor has formed strong bonds.

Balancing music and yoga

By Danielle Berrin
Published on May 31, 2007

So what is a Julliard-educated conductor doing teaching yoga in Venice Beach?

L.A. Music Man Is Homeward Bound

By Ellen Jaffe-Gill
Published on November 27, 2003

Zubin Mehta, one of Southern California's favorite musicmakers, will return to his old stomping grounds Dec. 10 to conduct the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's (IPO) first Los Angeles concert in three years.

Leon Hirsh Guide

By Shirl Lee Pitesky
Published on December 12, 2002

Leon Hirsh Guide, conductor, music educator and musician, died in early October. He was 81.

Guide was born Feb. 3, 1921, in Turkey to Clara and Joseph Guide, who had left Russia during the civil war. The family moved to Chicago when Guide was 2.

Arnold, ‘Moses und Aron’

By Tom Tugend
Published on December 6, 2001

Los Angeles largely ignored Arnold Schoenberg, arguably the most influential and controversial composer of the 20th century, when he labored at USC and UCLA during the last 17 years of his life.

As if to make up for the slight, the city's musical and cultural institutions will commemorate the 50th anniversary of Schoenberg's death with an array of concerts, lectures and symposia through next March.

World Briefs

By Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Published on September 27, 2001

Isaac Stern, considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century, died Saturday in New York at 81.

Symphonic Globe Trotter

Published on November 25, 1999

It says something about Gisele Ben-Dor's dedication to her profession that when she made her conducting debut with the Israel Philharmonic in 1983, she was nine months pregnant.
Her concluding piece was Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," which, in view of her particular condition, was renamed by the orchestra as "The Rite of the Offspring."

Conversations at the Keyboard

By Naomi Pfefferman
Published on October 21, 1999

Not long before Leonard Bernstein died, in 1988, the ebullient conductor and composer approached pianist Jeffrey Siegel backstage at Lincoln Center. His business was urgent. He wanted to discuss Siegel's "keyboard conversations," concerts with commentary pioneered by Siegel and based on Bernstein's TV performances of the 1950s and 1960s.