Site Seeing - Music Website News

Crescendo

LiveUpdate have been providing streaming MIDI software for several years. Crescendo MAX 4.0, the latest version of their software includes LiveSynth PLUS which gives instant music using any soundcard, providing a big increase in sound quality for FM synth users - 64 voices of software wavetable synthesis are provided, using a 5Mb sound bank. LiveSynth PLUS also provides a good environment when listening using laptop computer sound systems. LiveUpdate are at www.liveupdate.com .

Choose the tracks for your own CD

CustomDisc run a service which allows you to select up to 70 minutes of music, track by track, then provide your own title and choose the cover art. They'll send you the result the same day! They have 30 second samples of all the tracks available, so you can listen before selecting each track. The typical cost is about $20 US. CustomDisc are at www.customdisc.com .

Festival websites

FORFEST 99 is an 'International Festival of Contemporary Arts with Spiritual Orientation', to be held 19 - 27 June in Kromeriz, Czech Republic. Details from the website at www.kromeriz.cz/forfest/index_en.htm .

The 1999 Presteigne Festival of Music and the Arts takes place in mid-Wales, United Kingdom at the end of August. Details (and some photos from last year) at www.cadenza.org/presteigne .

www.olimpico.vicenza.it is the address of an annual chamber music festival held at Teatro Olimpico (the oldest covered theatre in the world, designed by architect Andrea Palladio) in Vicenza, Italy.

www.nayhehol.com is the Nayhehol International Music Festival and Competition, taking place for the very first time in Korea's historic city of Ansong, August 3 - 22, 1999.

Tuned into Hudson Valley Music

Webmasters Steve Wehr and Steve Stiert have created an attractive site devoted to musicians and musical services of all types, based in NY State's Hudson River Valley in the USA. Tuned into Hudson Valley Music is at www.hvmusic.com .

Recorded music from Sweden

Toccata has been designed to sell recordings from Sterling, one of Sweden's great record labels. New at Toccata in June include recordings of magnificats sung by Bach Collegium Japan, Freddy Kemp playing Schumann, Dettifoss - Jon Leifs and CPE Bach Keyboard concertos vol. 8 (all on the BIS label). Also Jussi Bjorling's last and final recording on a disc complete with a CD ROM section.

Win CDs!

Tjako van Schie has another music quiz this month on his website. The prize is van Schie's CD recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. To enter, just visit the van Schie website and click on his logo. Over at Music on the Web (UK), Len Mullenger has extended the May competition to win a CD of your choice for a few days into June.

Walden Hughes

American music teacher Walden Hughes' website is worth a look, although you'll have to wait a while for all the pictures and animations to load. Hughes provides some interesting piano and research links.

Six Golden Rules for Conquering Performance Anxiety

Classical guitarist David Leisner' article Six Golden Rules for Conquering Performance Anxiety was first published in the American String Teacher in 1995. The article is now available in the 'articles' section of David's website at www.davidleisner.com .

Supervielle Improvisations

Belgian pianist Roger Delneuville supposedly plays (from an old tape) improvisations on poetry by surrealist Supervielle at www.belgaudio.com - the Belgian audiophile School. I've been unable to find this recording there so far, but the site's worth a visit anyhow.

Bluffer's Guide to Classical Music

A new website called The Classical Source has aquired the rights to publish the Bluffer's Guide to Classical Music. Coming shortly at the same location will be the Bluffer's Guide to Opera.

Just for Fun

A selection of humourous musical articles, including the true history of Covent Garden, Escher and Bach, how to cut orchestra costs, a glossary of musical terms (where, for example, accent means to sing in dialect), every pianist's nightmare fantasy (a humid recital stirs Bangkok) and a chorister's confession. Read all about it!

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