May 1, 2002 | Issue 2

Maestro! Travel & Touring is pleased to announce a three-year commitment to the New York String Orchestra Seminar to cover the costs for one student to attend the Seminar each year.

The ten-day annual Seminar is sponsored jointly by Carnegie Hall, the New School University and the Schneider Fund for Young Musicians, and brings more than fifty young musicians, aged 15–22, from around the country to take part. In the words of CEO Ken Grundy, "young musicians like these are the future quality of our musical life. It’s a great cause and I truly encourage others to help if they can."

All participants are selected through national auditions, solely on the basis of ability, and attend the Seminar on a scholarship worth $3,500. Scholarships cover audition and rehearsal costs, coaching and instruction, hotel accommodation, meals and local transportation.

This year’s Maestro! scholar is Laura Wenningen, a freshman at the Juilliard School. "My teacher was a member of the Seminar back in 1977," Wenningen wrote, "and now because of your support, I am able to participate as well. I can’t express how much I appreciate it."

Now in its thirty-second year, the Seminar was founded in 1969 by the late Alexander Schneider, conductor and violinist of the famed Budapest Quartet, along with his good friend and manager Frank Salomon. Their goal? To prepare the country’s finest young musicians to take their place as the next generation of leaders in the world of music.

Donations are fully tax deductible and can be made to The Schneider Fund for Young Musicians, New School Concerts, 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011.

Maestro! recently joined the International Artist Manager's Association (IAMA) and the American Symphony Orchestra League (ASOL). Ken Grundy will represent Maestro! at this week's IAMA conference in Vienna, May 2-5, titled The Value of Tradition? Sean Bickerton, Maestro!'s Executive Director, will be at the ASOL conference in Philadelphia June 11-15, titled An Extraordinary Conference for Extraordinary Times.

If you are attending either the IAMA or ASOL conference and would like to arrange a meeting with Ken Grundy or Sean Bickerton, please give us a call:

In North America: 212-987-8668, Ext 250
In Europe: +44 8700 727 747

Or click here to send e-mail.

How do you mount a full opera production every night in 71 different cities?

To help manage those challenges, London City Opera and its U.S. agency, Columbia Artists, turned to the production staff at Maestro! Travel & Touring. Maestro! was responsible for arranging overseas air travel, buses and trucks, hotels in sixty-five cities and shipping the cargo by sea. Maestro! was also involved in pre-production meetings, travel routing for the tour and helping identify ways to reduce wear and tear on the company.

On the road for over three months, from January 6 to April 4, London City Opera's new production of The Merry Widow played in 71 cities across more than thirty different states, covering 17,500 miles by land and 12,500 by air.

Performers traveled during the day in two brand-new Van Hool coaches. The technical crew traveled at night in a fully equipped sleeper coach. "We've also used these particular sleeper coaches for star soloists," said Ken Grundy, CEO of Maestro! "They can be completely customized depending on the number traveling, they're luxurious, beautifully designed and completely self-contained."

Previous U.S. tours of London City Opera featured Die Fledermaus in 1999, Magic Flute in 2000, and Carmen in 2001. Plans are already underway for a 2003 tour featuring Madame Butterfly.

Click here for more about Maestro!'s Group Travel services.