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More than 300,000 tickets have been sold to The World of Hans Zimmer Tour – A New Dimension, the German film-score composer’s forthcoming outing.
The international concert series comprises 30 arena dates across Europe this spring, followed by an additional 25 dates in autumn.
Seventeen dates, including Zimmer’s hometown of Frankfurt, have already sold out according to the tour’s producer, CTS Eventim-backed Semmel Concerts.
The World of Hans Zimmer Tour – A New Dimension marks a new chapter in the concert series The World of Hans Zimmer, in which the composer does not perform live on stage himself but participates as the show’s curator and musical director.
His acclaimed European tour in 2022 thrilled almost 400,000 fans in spring 2023 and was completely sold out
Soundtrack conductor Gavin Greenaway, a long-time trusted friend of the Hollywood composer, will take the helm, leading renowned soloists from Zimmer’s talent pool and a symphony orchestra. Visual projections of film sequences accompany the music.
Zimmer has completed highly successful stops around the globe with his Hans Zimmer Live tour. His acclaimed European tour in 2022 thrilled almost 400,000 fans in spring 2023 and was completely sold out.
Read the IQ’s feature on the tour here.
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The disruption of an Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) virtual concert and fundraising gala last weekend was caused by a cyberattack, the orchestra has confirmed.
The attack – the first outage of a major livestreamed show since the format took off amid the coronavirus pandemic – crashed the websites of the IPO and its broadcast partner, Medici.tv, during the stream on Sunday 28 June.
More than 13,000 people had registered to view the hour-long event, hosted by Dame Helen Mirren, which aimed to help the orchestra overcome financial losses as a result of Covid-19.
No group has claimed responsibility for hacking the stream.
“Hackers were determined to silence our message and stamp out our voice, but they will not succeed”
“We were thrilled that so many had registered to join us for this event, giving us the opportunity to bring the healing power of music to people who need it at this difficult time,” comments Tali Gottlieb, executive director of the IPO Foundation.
“Our organisation had high hopes that this event would help us raise emergency funds to support the members of the Israel Philharmonic in the face of an unprecedented financial crisis.”
Danielle Ames Spivak, executive director of American Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, which helped organise the event, adds: “Hackers were determined to silence our message and stamp out our voice, but they will not succeed. More than ever, we are determined to spread the Israel Philharmonic’s message of hope, peace, and beauty around the world.”
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The International Federation of Musicians (FIM), an umbrella body comprising around 70 musicians’ unions worldwide, has issued a series of recommendations to enable artists to return to work in the safest possible way amid the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
The guidelines – targeted at classical musicians but relevant for all touring artists – say while “there is a common desire of musicians, employers and audiences” to reopen music venues “as soon as possible”, this must be accompanied by the “adoption, implementation and enforcement of adequate safety measures in order to protect musicians against the risks arising from possible exposure to the Sars-Cov‑2 [coronavirus] as they return to work.”
Among the FIM’s recommendations are that musicians with one or more symptoms of Covid-19 infected should be “exempted” from performing or rehearsing; that distance is kept between musicians on stage, as well as between artists and performers; widespread access to hand-washing facilities or sanitiser; and one-way paths inside venues, and separate entrances and exits to enclosed spaces such as dressing or green rooms, to avoid unnecessary social contact.
The guidance also expresses a preference for open-air events; where that is not possible, everyone attending an indoor concert should wear face coverings, it adds.
The FIM document follows the updated WHO mass-gathering guidelines, put out earlier this month, as well as other previously released guides to safe venue reopening, available from IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre.
Download the federations’s recommendations in full in PDF format here.
This article forms part of IQ’s Covid-19 resource centre – a knowledge hub of essential guidance and updating resources for uncertain times.
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A classical musician who suffered permanent hearing damage as a result of being exposed to noise levels of more than 130bB has won a legal victory over the Royal Opera House (ROH), in a judgment that could have wide-ranging implications for the British music industry.
Chris Goldscheider, a ROH viola player, suffered ‘acoustic shock’ – a condition with symptoms including pain, tinnitus and nausea, caused by hearing an unexpected loud sound – during a rehearsal for a performance of Wagner’s The Valkyrie in September 2012. Goldscheider was seated in the opera house’s orchestra pit (pictured), where peak noise levels reached 130.8dB – louder than a modern jet engine – according to the High Court judgment.
Goldscheider’s claim centred on the orchestra’s alleged violation of the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, which compel employers to reduce the risk to employees’ health by controlling the noise they are exposed to while at work.
Finding in Goldscheider’s favour, judge Nicole Davies said there is a “clear factual and causal link between identified breaches of the regulations and the high level of noise which ensued at the rehearsal. It commenced with an inadequate risk assessment, [and] continued with a failure to undertake any monitoring of noise levels in the cramped orchestra pit with a new orchestral configuration which had been chosen for artistic reasons.”
While the musician wore earplugs during “those parts of the rehearsal when he felt he needed them”, according to court documents, the noise from the brass section behind him was still “overwhelming”.
“Sound is not a byproduct of an industrial process but is an essential part of the product itself”
Goldscheider “now lives a relatively quiet life”, and “has learnt to avoid the noises which trigger the symptoms – for example, the vibrations from a large supermarket fridge or the noise in a restaurant”. His injuries, he says, have “decimated his professional life and made his partner’s professional life very difficult, as she is a member of the ROH orchestra”.
In a statement to the BBC, the ROH says it had received medical advice that long-term hearing damage could not be caused by an isolated incident of exposure to live music. “We have been at the forefront of industry wide attempts to protect musicians from the dangers of exposure to significant levels of performance sound, in collaboration with our staff, the Musicians’ Union, acoustic engineers and the Health and Safety Executive,” says a spokesperson.
“Although this judgment is restricted to our obligations as an employer under the Noise Regulations, it has potentially far-reaching implications for the Royal Opera House and the wider music industry.
“We do not believe that the Noise Regulations can be applied in an artistic institution in the same manner as in a factory – not least because in the case of the Royal Opera House, sound is not a byproduct of an industrial process but is an essential part of the product itself.”
“This has been a complex case and we will consider carefully whether to appeal the judgment,” the venue concludes.
Damages payable to Goldscheider will be assessed at a later date.
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Japanese videogame developer Bandai Namco – the company behind the Pac-Man, Tekken, Soulcalibur, Ridge Racer and Ace Combat franchises – is branching out into live events with the launch of a new European concert series, Orchestral Memories.
Promoted by Wild Faery, which is also producing similar tours featuring the music of the Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy series, the concerts will feature an 80-piece orchestra and choir playing music from “Dark Souls, Tales of…, Tekken, God Eater, Soulcalibur, Pac-Man, Ace Combat and more” backed by HD footage from the games in question.
Only one show has been announced so far – on 4 February 2017 at the 1,913-capacity Salle Pleyel in Paris – although Bandai Namco promises “more activities, dates and surprises” in the near future.
Hervé Hoerdt, vice-president of marketing and digital at Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, says: “In our quest to provide entertainment everywhere, it’s with extreme pleasure we’re taking our first steps into this business [live music] in Europe.”
“It’s with extreme pleasure we’re taking our first steps into the live music business in Europe”
“With numerous outstanding, high-quality and truly amazing soundtracks, it was more than time to celebrate the beloved music that millions of fans have vibrated with while playing with passion Bandai Namco’s hit games,” adds Wild Faery (La Fée Sauvage) director Julien Mombert (presumably via Babel Fish circa 1999). “It is an honour and great excitement for us to start this concert series in Europe.”
Here’s the launch video:
Japanese promoter Promax announced on Friday it would stage a three-concert tour to celebrate 30 years since the release of The Legend of Zelda.
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Long-running Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) franchise Kingdom Hearts will embark on its first live concert tour in 2017, the series’ developer, Square Enix, has announced.
Kingdom Hearts games feature a mixture of Disney and Square Enix (primarily Final Fantasy) characters and follow protagonists Sora, Goofy and Donald (yes, that Goofy and Donald) as they adventure across Disney-themed worlds and battle enemies including Snow White’s Maleficent, Scrooge McDuck and The Lion King’s Scar. Its music, mostly composed by Yoko Shimomura, has been praised by both video game and music critics.
The Kingdom Hearts Concert world tour will see various local orchestras, including the Tokyo Philharmonic in Japan and the Royal Philharmonic in London, perform music from the series while HD game footage, supervised by Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy game art designer Testuya Nomura, plays behind them. It will premiere at the 5,012-seat Tokyo International Forum Hall A on 10 March 2017 with a concert featuring over 70 musicians.
The show will be produced by Paris-based Wild Faery (La Fée Sauvage), which specialises in concerts of video game, anime and film music, in association with Disney Concerts/The Walt Disney Company (Japan) Ltd. It will also visit venues in Paris, London, Singapore, Shanghai, Los Angeles and New York.
Listen to Shimomura’s ‘Dearly Beloved’, from Kingdom Hearts II, below: