It's this week in classical music, an update on what's happening in the classical music world; I'm Randy Kinkel.

The 2008 Pulitzer prize for Music has gone to David Lang, for his composition "The Little Match Girl Passion", a 35-minute vocal work scored for four individual singwers who also play hand percussion. The award, for distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year, comes with a $10,000 cash prize. Paul Hillier's Theatre of Voices premiered it on October 25, 2007, in Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York City. There is a stream of the world premiere performance at the Carnegie Hall website, and Harmonia Mundi will record the work with Theatre of Voices and Paul Hillier in October 2008.

The Beaux arts trio plans to disband after over 50 years of performances all over the world. The group's last concerts will be in August at the Tanglewood Festival. Daniel Hope, 34, who replaced Violinist young Uck Kim in 2002, is leaving to pursue other creative interests, and at that point the other two members of the group, 84-year-old pianist Menahem Pressler and 50-year old cellist Antonio Meneses made the decision that breaking in a new violinist would be too hard and take too much time, so they decided to retire the group. " We decided that it would be wonderful to finish when we are at our best," Mr. Meneses said. The final concerts at Tanglewood close a circle of sorts; it was at Tanglewood in 1955 that the Beaux Arts trio had it's official debut, substituting for another trio.

A veteran Violinist with the Toronto Symphony will be getting his prized violin back, thanks to a homeless lady and a sharp-eyed commuter. Violinist Jim Wallenburg accidentally left his instrument at a streetcar stop,where it was apparently picked up by a homeless woman who put it in her shopping cart. Wallenberg put up signs near the stop offering a reward for the return of the violin, which Wayne Wulff saw after he noticed a violin case in a homeless woman's shopping cart. Wulf Called Wallenberg, who asked him to try and buy the violin from the woman if wulff saw her again. The violin with case cost Wulff $35 and a ring he was wearing, but he did return the instrument to Wallenberg, who rewarded him with a $1000 check..

For more on these and other items and events, go to the website at kbaq.org, be listening each week at this time for another update, and join me at noon every weekday for the Mozart Buffet, an hour of music by Mozart and his contemporaries, on 89-five KBAQ Phoenix, a service of rio salado college and Arizona State University.

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April 13, 2008 by Randy Kinkel courtesy of KBAQ.

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Title: April 13, 2008
Author: Randy Kinkel
Publisher: KBAQ 89.5 FM
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