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Recent News
04.09.08Vengerov flies in for Final
Virtuoso violinist and conductor Maximum Vengerov will replace Simone Young on the panel of judges for the Maestro Final on Tuesday 9 September.
Prof Young, who is music director of the Hamburg State Opera, is unable to take part in the Final as she will be receiving the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Prize - the last conductor to win it was the American conductor-composer, Leonard Bernstein.
Siberian-born Maxim Vengerov won First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old. In 1990, aged fifteen, he won the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition, confirming his reputation as a musician of the very highest order. His international career has brought him numerous performing and recording awards, and in 1997 Vengerov was the first classical musician to be appointed Envoy for Music by UNICEF. He used a 'sabbatical year' to take time out and learn jazz improvisation and electric violin; he also learned to dance Argentine tango, an enthusiasm which spilled over into a collaboration with the Israeli composer Benjamin Yusupov and the tango dancer Christiane Palha, in a new composition for Vengerov called the Viola Tango Rock Concerto. His 'year off' - which actually involved performing over 50 concerts - was the subject of a well-received TV documentary film for The South Bank Show. Vengerov is a committed teacher, working with young musicians in conservatoires and music schools around the world, and at his own school near his home in Israel.
Maxim Vengerov's career now displays a growing concentration on conducting - as a violinist and conductor he is ideally placed to bring his experience to Maestro; he will conduct a piece in the Final.
In the Final itself - broadcast at 8.30pm on 9 September, the Maestro students will exercise their skills in the exacting task of accompanying soloists Tasmin Little (violin), Natalie Clein (cello) and Nikolai Demidenko (piano) in concertos.
Recent News
08.12.08More Maestro for Christmas
A revealing new documentary, Maestro: The Inside Story, will be shown over Christmas.
13.09.08Sue takes Hyde Park by Storm
Maestro winner Sue Perkins tonight wowed the 35,000-strong Proms in the Park audience at the Last Night of the Proms.
10.09.08Sue's win - first verdicts from the press
Charlotte Higgins, the Guardian’s arts correspondent, was first up with a review of the Maestro Final posted on the Guardian Culture Blog at 9.53 this morning. A Spectator review has also been posted by Henrietta Bredin.
09.09.08Congratulations to Sue Perkins!
At tonight’s Grand Final, writer and comedienne Sue Perkins emerged from the audience vote to win the BBC’s first ever Maestro competition.
04.09.08Vengerov flies in for Final
Virtuoso violinist and conductor Maximum Vengerov will replace Simone Young on the panel of judges for the Maestro Final on Tuesday 9 September.
02.09.08Dramatic vote saves Jane and Goldie
The Maestro series reached new levels of tension as four students faced the orchestra vote.
01.09.08Opera stars join Maestro
Soprano Rebecca Evans and tenor Alfie Boe will join the Maestro show for Episode 4.
01.09.08Do Men Hog the Podium?
Will female conductors ever achieve equality? I think they will, says conductor Madeleine Lovell
01.09.08Press on 'posh talent show'
TV talent shows come in many demographically targeted guises - I commend a different event - Maestro.
26.08.08Bradley exits the competition
Bradley Walsh did not survive the BBC Concert Orchestra’s vote this week.
26.08.08Behind the scenes
Maestro viewers have asked about the various musicians who have helped the students in their preparation.
22.08.08What the papers said ...
I watched Maestro (BBC2) mostly because it was there … how wrong could I be because it was riveting.
22.08.08Sue's reality check
Maestro student Sue Perkins posted a thoughtful article in the Guardian newspaper. These are her thoughts on what she has learned
22.08.08How Goldie got into Classical
Ex-grilfriend Bjork had a hand in Goldie’s conversion to classical …
22.08.08The Thoughts of Alex and Brad
Alex: “The first thing you have to learn as a conductor is how to stand up straight.”
21.08.08Lessons learned, by David Soul
Rejected student David Soul bares his … about what he learned from the Maestro experience.
19.08.08Second student leaves Maestro
Following the BBC Concert Orchestra’s vote, Bradley Walsh was saved and David Soul exited the competition.
19.08.08Don't smile at the brass ...
In the run-up to Episode 2, Katie Derham has been finding out how to get an orchestra to do what she wants …
12.08.08First student exits Maestro
The BBC Concert Orchestra decides who remains in the competition.
05.08.08How hard can it be?
Journalist Christopher Middleton visitis the students as they try out their conducting skills on an orchestra of young musicians in a church in London.
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