New signings for Intermusica, Columbia and Askonas Holt

Columbia Artists Management Inc has signed clarinetist David Krakauer for management in North America, South America and Asia. Krakauer’s repertoire covers Jewish Klezmer music, classical, and avant-garde improvisation. Previous collaborators include composers Danny Elfman and John Zorn, the Kronos Quartet, and Orchestre de Lyon. In June, he will embark on a tour with the Detroit Symphony at venues in Michigan.

Willard White has signed to Intermusica for worldwide management. The Jamaican-born bass-baritone is a veteran of the opera scene, having enjoyed an illustrious career since his New York City Opera debut in 1974. Upcoming engagements include Il Commendatore in La Monnaie’s Don Giovanni, and Méphistophélès in La Damnation de Faust at the Verbier Festival.

Victor Aviat © Petar Naydenov
Victor Aviat © Petar Naydenov

French conductor Victor Aviat has signed to HarrisonParrott for worldwide general management. Aviat enjoyed a successful career as a principal oboist before taking up conducting. After training as a conductor at Zürcher Hochschule der Kunst, he founded Orchestra Zurich, and was appointed assistant conductor of the Budapest Festival Orchestra a year later.

Askonas Holt has made three new additions to its roster: soprano Dinara Alieva, and pianists Yevgeny Sudbin and Maria João Pires. Azerbaijani-born Alieva has won several awards for her work, and this season will return to Deutsche Oper Berlin to sing Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and will tour to New York with the Bolshoi Theatre to perform in its production of Tsar’s Bride. Sudbin is a prominent recording artist as well as performer: this season’s highlights include tours to North America, Australia and Asia. Meanwhile, star pianist Maria João Pires will continue her busy recording and performance schedule this year, with upcoming engagements in Japan, Germany, Warsaw, Lucerne and London.