Philharmonic Symphony Society of NY

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - If you want to hear one of the world's leading orchestras and taste a menu created by a renowned chef, the New York Philharmonic may have the answer. Beginning early next year the orchestra will host musical suppers -- post-concert meals with menus by chefs including Alain Ducasse, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Lidia Bastianich and Daniel Boulud. Food critic Mimi Sheraton, who will act as the host at the suppers which are aimed at bringing the audience closer to the music, said to her knowledge it is the first time such small, informal suppers will be held to marry symphony music ... Read Full Story

With help from Beethoven and Brahms, the United States and Vietnam will engage in musical diplomacy this weekend when the New York Philharmonic debuts in the communist nation after a historic visit to Stalinist North Korea last year. The orchestra, one of the world's oldest, is to hold its first concerts in Vietnam Friday and Saturday at the Hanoi Opera House as part of an Asian tour which has taken it to Tokyo and Seoul. "I cannot see a downside to cultural diplomacy, particularly musical diplomacy of which the New York Philharmonic is the premier representative," US ambassador Michael Michalak told reporters. But he ... Read Full Story

Name: Rodolfo Fernandez, founder and conductor of the Nevada Chamber Symphony Age: 78 Education: BachelorÕs and masterÕs degrees in music performance, University of Santiago (Chile). Career: Born in Valdivia, Chile, Fernandez grew up listening to classical music on the radio and Victrola. He started playing cello at age 10 and knew by high school it would be his career. In 1961 he received an international grant and left Chile with a suitcase and his cello. He never returned, preferring instead to live in the United States, where he performed with the Atlanta Symphony, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Symphony, Miami Opera Company, Louisiana Symphony, and Tampa ... Read Full Story

The list is on the White House website and according to ABC news there are 335 guests on the list. I study the list and try to find my Six Degrees of separation and try to make sense of the logic and connections in the list. People I have met IRL Ms. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw   Chairman of Biocon and She was termed India's Biotech Queen by The Economist and Fortune , and India's mother of invention by New York Times   (Source wikipedia ) She is also a master brewer( The White House list has a typo in her name) My Connection: In my ... Read Full Story

As a youngster, Alan Gilbert had a unique view of the New York Philharmonic. His parents were violinists in the orchestra, and he and his sister would accompany them on international tours. He would stand backstage and watch, astonished at how drenched in sweat the conductor became. After studying at Harvard University, the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute, and spending eight years as music director with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Gilbert has come home. On Wednesday night, before a nationally televised PBS audience, he takes the baton as music director of the New York Philharmonic, stepping up to a podium once occupied by ... Read Full Story