MARKO'CONNOR. Photo by Kristoffersen

The Ultimate Duet

Mark O'Connor finds himself in the awkward, if enviable, position of being in two places at once—figuratively speaking. The Grammy-winning composer, violinist, and fiddler has two world premiere concerts taking place on February 4 in New York City—at almost the same time. First, O'Connor and his Hot Swing Trio—O'Connor, guitarist Frank Vignola, and bassist Jon Burr—will be joined at Lincoln Center by jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and jazz vocalist Jane Monheit, performing selections from O'Connor's upcoming Sony jazz album (yup, scheduled for release that same week). Meanwhile, at the St. Thomas Cathedral, the 40-member choir Gloriae Dei Cantores will premiere O'Connor's Folk Mass, an hour-long a cappella piece based on Biblical texts and commemorating victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The choir first teamed up with O'Connor two years ago on his Appalachian Sketches album. Neither performance could be rescheduled, so O'Connor has decided to miss the Folk Mass debut. "In the spirit of following through with the idea of why I composed the Folk Mass, and in an effort to follow my own philosophy that this piece was for everybody else, 'the folk,' now that I have written it and turned it over to the public so to speak, I have come to terms that I don't need to see the premiere myself," he says. "I just really wanted it to be a compositional instrument for this healing message of hope from the outset and that is how it remains."

PAUL KATZ. Photo by Salter

New England Conservatory cello faculty Paul Katz was the recipient of the Chevalier du Violoncelle from the Eva Janzer Memorial Cello Center of Indiana University at an October 20 awards dinner. Katz was honored as an outstanding member of the cello community for contributions to the world of cello playing and teaching. Previous recipients include Katz's teachers Bernard Greenhouse, Gabor Rejto, and Janos Starker. . . . Two Buffalo-area musicians are recipients of the 2002–2003 Henrietta and Albert J. Ziegle, Jr. Scholarships to The Juilliard School of Music. Both born in Buffalo, they are violinist Amy Schroeder, 17, a graduate of Amherst High School, and violist Sarah Lane, 21, a graduate of Williamsville High School East. Lane is a student of Toby Appel. Money bequeathed in 1970 to Juilliard by the late Norma Krull (heir to Albert J. Ziegle, founder of Ziegle Brewery) established the Ziegle Scholarship Fund. The scholarships are awarded to qualified Buffalo-area musicians. . . . Cellist Paul Watkins, 32, won the Leeds Conductors Competition on September 21, leading the Orchestra of Opera North in Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 at Leeds Town Hall. The event is the longest-running conducting competition in Britain.

Strings Campaign

The American String Teachers Association (ASTA), with the National School Orchestra Association (NSOA), has launched a promotional campaign designed to increase the visibility of string music in the United States and introduce children to the joy of learning to play a stringed instrument. The Strings Encourage Dreams campaign will feature a public service announcement by Mark O'Connor and offer promotional kits with bumper stickers, brochures, and recruitment posters that teachers, school administrators, and parents can use to publicize strings programs. For more details, call ASTA/NSOA at (707) 279-2113, ext. 12 or visit www.astaweb.com.

Helping Hands

The National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts has started a new program to support music education in 15 urban areas across the nation with the help of a three-year, $360,000 grant from the MetLife Foundation. The MetLife Youth Music Project will help provide year-round, free music instruction (in both private and group lessons) and encourage National Guild schools to strengthen instructional programs serving middle-school students living in underserved communities. The project will disburse annual $10,000 grants to each site to create opportunities for youths to participate in ensembles, sponsor a National Performance Week during Arts Advocacy Month (March of 2004 and 2005), and bring participating educators together each year to discuss strategies. To learn more, contact Suzanne C. Souza at (212) 268-3337, ext. 14 or email suzanne.souza@natguild.org . . . Gary Graffman, president and director of the Curtis Institute of Music, announced recently that the Helen F. Whitaker Fund has made a two-year $208,000 grant to Curtis to support the conducting program, which is headed by Otto-Werner Mueller. Robert Spano, Paavo Järvi, Alan Gilbert, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn are among the recent graduates of the program. The Whitaker Fund, which made its first grant to Curtis in 1985, has given a total of $1,127,971 to the school.

Passings

Zara Nelsova, one of the most illustrious cellists of the 20th century, died on October 10 after a long fight with cancer. Born in 1918 to a Russian family in Winnepeg, Canada, and christened Sara Nelson, Nelsova studied with her father and in London with Herbert Walenn. She made her London debut at age 12. Following her 1942 New York debut, Nelsova's performing career spanned the globe. Among her many recordings are Bloch's "Schelomo" for Cello and Orchestra and Barber's concerto, conducted by their respective composers.

—Jeffrey Solow

Violinist and conductor Rafael Druian, 80, died September 6 in Philadelphia. Druian, born in Vologda, Russia, served from 1971 to 1974 as concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez. He also served as concertmaster of the Dallas and Minneapolis symphonies. In 1960, George Szell selected Druian to replace Josef Gingold as concertmaster of the Cleveland Symphony. Druian recorded several albums with Szell. At age eight, Druian began studying with Amadeo Roldan, the conductor of the Havana Philharmonic, and later attended the Curtis Institute at the recommendation of Leopold Stowkowski, where he studied under Lea Luboshutz and Efrem Zimbalist. Druian was remembered at a September 26 memorial concert held at the Curtis Institute.