18 Year Old Cellist Tops Brit Charts;

Alsop named Director in Vienna.

It’s “This Week in Classical Music”, An update on what’s happening in the classical music world; I’m Randy Kinkel.

The American conductor Marin Alsop has been appointed artistic director of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, becoming the first woman to fill that role.

Alsop said she was honoured to be assuming the post in Vienna, which she called “the seat of classical music”.

Alsop said she welcomed the chance to “push the envelope” for women in music. But she said she hoped the time would soon come when being “the first woman” would no longer be news.

“I’m very honoured to be the first,” she admitted, “but I’m also rather shocked that we can be in this year, in this century, and there can still be ‘firsts’ for women.”

She said she was determined to see her appointment as “an opportunity to try to push this issue forward … more about how we can create more opportunities for a wide range of women… and how we can change the landscape for future generations”.

It was only 20 years ago the Vienna Philharmonic bowed to public pressure and announced it would officially accept female musicians for the first time. 

Sheku Kanneh-Mason has become this year’s best-selling British debut artist – across all genres – to enter the Top 20 in the Official UK Albums Chart with his album, “Inspiration”.

The release includes repertoire ranging from Shostakovich to Bob Marley and has entered the main chart at No. 18, and is at No. 1 in the classical chart.

The 18-year-old is the first BBC Young Musician to break into the pop chart with his debut album, the youngest cellist ever to reach the Top 20 and the youngest classical artist to break into the Official UK Albums Chart in almost a decade.

‘As a classical cellist, I can’t quite believe I’ve made the Top 20 in the pop charts with my first ever album!’ Kanneh-Mason said. ‘It has been an amazing experience and I’m very grateful to everyone who’s supported me. I hope the pieces on this album inspire others the way they’ve inspired me.’

Shostakovich’s first cello concerto is the piece which made  Sheku famous as the first black winner of BBC Young Musician in the competition’s 38-year history.

Kanneh-Mason is the top streamed young classical artist, having received 2.5 million streams on Spotify alone.

For more on these and other items and events, go to the website, K-B-A-C-H dot org; Be listening each week at this time for another update. Follow us on Facebook and twitter, and also listen every weekday at Noon for the Most Wanted Hour with Linda Cassidy, playing your top 100 classical hits.  I’m Randy Kinkel for KBACH’s “This Week in Classical Music”; Member supported 89.5 KBAQ Phoenix and HD, a service of Rio Salado College and Arizona State University.