Blog

On 7 February 2023 under the direction of Paolo Bortolameolli, the LA Phil New Music Group will perform the world premiere of Katherine Balch’s new composition for sixteen instruments, all around the sea blazed gold, at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles.

In keeping with the Lunar calendar, Lunar New Year, commonly referred to as Chinese New Year, is an annual 15-day celebration which typically begins on the first new moon of the year and lasts until the following full moon. This year celebrations began on January 22nd 2023.

Each year in the Lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 Chinese zodiac. The Lunar New Year marks the transition from one animal to the next with 2023 being the Year of the Rabbit.

Whilst Lunar New Year is now celebrated around the world, it remains one of the most important festivals in China as well as other East Asian countries including Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Mongolia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines. Traditionally the festival began as a time to honour deities and ancestors, but more recently it has become a time to feast and visit family members. To observe this year’s festival, we’re celebrating our Chinese composers and the works that they’ve published with Schott Music.

Audiences can expect a true revelation at the upcoming world premiere of Sebastian Hilli's orchestral work, Miracle. Hilli’s new work bursts with surprising and unconventional ideas and will be boldly taken under the direction of Ryan Bancroft and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra as they embark on the composition’s first live performance on February 1st, 2023 at the Konserthuset Stockholm.

After the saxophone was invented a good 180 years ago, it enjoyed great success in certain musical styles. It has never found a regular place in the symphony orchestra, however. It is still seen as fairly new, and it has not been showered with solo works either - at least until recently. Marcus Weiss has now selected four very characteristic concert pieces from the last two decades that demonstrate a wide range of possibilities for the instrument.

Schott Music wishes composer Gavin Bryars a very happy 80^th birthday! We are immensely proud of our many years working with Gavin and look forward to celebrating this milestone anniversary with a number of events including a new harpsichord concerto for Mahan Esfahani in March with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and a portrait concert at King's Place in November which will coincide with the release of a new book by David Wordsworth, published by Kahn & Averill.

This month marks the 120th anniversary of the death of composer Augusta Holmès. In celebration of her memory, the Chelsea Symphony, conducted by Miguel Campos Neto, will perform her symphony Roland Furieux at the Menna Center for Classical Music in New York City on January 20th, 2023.

The New Robert Schumann Edition (RSA) is intended as a historical-critical edition of Robert Schumann's music. The collected works have been carefully studied and prepared according to present-day musicological and editorial techniques, presented here in their entirety. 

To start off the new year, the music world will celebrate the 100th birthday of the composer György Ligeti. Even though the actual anniversary will not take place until May, this January will mark the start of celebrations involving numerous performances of Ligeti’s works. The Zurich Ballet takes a special look at the orchestral composition Lontano with choreography by Christian Spuck. The collaboration of this piece will celebrate its premiere at the Zurich Opera House on 14 January 2023.

Predominantly recognised in musical history as Stravinsky’s piano teacher, Leokadiya Kashperova (1872–1940), is undergoing rediscovery. A double graduate of the St Petersburg Conservatoire, she emerged as a virtuoso pianist and composer in the romantic tradition. She performed in both Germany and the UK in the 1900s, but her career petered out after 1920.

Suitable for advanced choirs, Wild Swans is a setting of a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay.