newly named music director of the Monteux School and Music Festival Tiffany Lu has been appointed music director of the Monteux School and Music Festival in Hancock Lu is the fourth music director in the organization’s history and previously served as an associate conductor at the Monteux School for five seasons She recently completed her first year as director of orchestral activities at the University of Florida she made guest appearances with Symphony New Hampshire and the Elgin (IL) Symphony Orchestra and was director of the Sewanee Symphony Orchestra at Sewanee University from 2020 to 2022 Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Cumberland Symphony Orchestra at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival as well as guest clinician with the 2023 New York All-State Orchestra Previous roles include assistant conductor with the Prince Georges’ Philharmonic music director of the Wilmington Community Orchestra Her doctoral research focused on new models in the orchestral education of undergraduate string players , the award-winning publication of the League of American Orchestras discusses issues critical to the orchestra community and communicates to the American public the value and importance of orchestras and the music they perform Natural Resources Council of Maine Posted on July 17, 2023 by NRCM member and photographer Gerard Monteux of Hancock shares more stunning photos with us this week should we rename this week’s feature Have you seen a moose during a recent visit or trip in Maine? Share those photos with us at nrcm@nrcm.org enjoying a snack just before being called back to her mother’s side — northern Maine (just east of the Allagash) This cow hung around just long enough to capture this image Northern Maine (just east of the Allagash) Filed Under: My Maine This Week, My Maine This Week 2023 The Natural Resources Council of Maine is a nonprofit membership organization protecting, restoring, and conserving Maine's environment, now and for future generations. Join NRCM today! Privacy Policy NRCM Careers & Internships Sign up for our email list © 2025 Copyright · Natural Resources Council of Maine · All Rights Reserved · Website Design by Seaside Web Design, LLC · Sign up for our daily Newsletter and stay up to date with all the latest news You are receiving this pop-up because this is the first time you are visiting our site You are using software which is blocking our advertisements (adblocker) we are relying on revenues from our banners So please disable your adblocker and reload the page to continue using this site.Thanks 500 tons of apricots are expected from the 8 Mas Saint-Paul producers this shortfall is due to the unfavorable weather during flowering "Some varieties were more affected than others The flowers were not fertilized and did not produce fruit we will reach 50% of our harvest potential this year for 60 hectares of apricot trees." While the first apricots were harvested on the 13th of May the tasty varieties such as the Samouraï are now entering the market "We are now starting to get something very good in terms of taste distributors are sticking to the Spanish origin But Spanish apricots are sold at a higher price this year distributors will be more inclined to switch to the French origin We can already see apricot lines opening up and we suspect that the peach and nectarine lines will open up earlier than usual." Pierre Monteux is confident about the 2024 stone fruit campaign we are selling well and we do not have any stocks For more information:Pierre MonteuxMas Saint Paul[email protected] FreshPublishers © 2005-2025 FreshPlaza.com Link IconCopy linkFacebook LogoShare on FacebookXShare on XEmailShare via EmailLink copied to clipboardMaurice Kaplow who conducted Pennsylvania Ballet and New York City Ballet orchestras dies“He was a true musician and true ballet conductor of which there are very few and far between,” said a former Pennsylvania Ballet principal dancer of kidney failure at Pennsylvania Hospital He went on to establish a two-decade-long association with New York City Ballet retiring in 2010 from a professional strong suit for which he was widely admired The job of ballet conductor requires some alchemy a keen eye and ear that can take two potentially competing art forms and turn them into a single complementary interpretation “It has to be musically viable as well as choreographically viable and that all has to happen at the same time,” said Martha Koeneman who was brought on as Pennsylvania Ballet’s pianist by Mr but he had a particular gift for making it all touch the viewer’s heart and the listener’s heart He really captured that in his performances “He was a true musician and true ballet conductor of which there are very few and far between,” said former Pennsylvania Ballet principal dancer Melissa Podcasy Kaplow was born in Cleveland and earned an undergraduate degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a master’s from the Eastman School of Music He played viola with the Louisville Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic and was a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra from 1956 to 1957 He studied conducting with Pierre Monteux at the Monteux School in Hancock his ‘coming out’ party,” said Lawrence Kaplow and instead my dad formed his own orchestra and [Pennsylvania Ballet founder] Barbara Weisberger heard about him and they eventually joined forces.” The Pennsylvania Orchestra became the orchestra of the new Pennsylvania Ballet Among the highlights of his years with the company was Signatures a series of vignettes with a score written by him to highlight specific dancers and groups of dancers; and Winter Dreams an arrangement of lesser-known Tchaikovsky material woven into a score for Robert Weiss’ choreography Kaplow conducted the ensemble in a 20th-birthday celebration for Pennsylvania Ballet that featured Rudolf Nureyev “I loved working with Maury,” said longtime Pennsylvania Ballet violinist Karen Banos he didn’t concentrate on technically tricky passages since he figured it was the job of players to work out those passages alone in the practice room he would focus on the sound of the orchestra “You have to be able to make music,” said Weiss a former Pennsylvania Ballet artistic director “You can’t just be a metronome because the tempos need to be a certain tempo The music still has to come to life and be emotionally rich and all the things ballet music can be Maury was really able to do that just about better than anybody.” In addition to his work with Pennsylvania Ballet he conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in Prokofiev and Rachmaninoff at the Mann in 1979 with dancers Galina Panova and Valery Panov He also guest-conducted the London Philharmonic “He left me in awe quite a number of times because he seemed to be unflappable,” said Koeneman “I don’t know if I ever saw him get upset.” At least part of his success in Philadelphia came from the atmosphere of camaraderie he created and mingle with us in the pit,” said Banos Koeneman remembers one time in the early 1980s when Pennsylvania Ballet’s financial struggles led to late paychecks Kaplow showed up with wine to celebrate with the musicians “He was a real gentleman and a real leader,” said Koeneman Metrics details A Correction to this article was published on 25 April 2019 This article has been updated The decomposition of large stocks of soil organic carbon in thawing permafrost might depend on more than climate change-induced temperature increases: indirect effects of thawing via altered bacterial community structure (BCS) or rooting patterns are largely unexplored We used a 10-year in situ permafrost thaw experiment and aerobic incubations to investigate alterations in BCS and potential respiration at different depths and the extent to which they are related with each other and with root density Active layer and permafrost BCS strongly differed and the BCS in formerly frozen soils (below the natural thawfront) converged under induced deep thaw to strongly resemble the active layer BCS possibly as a result of colonization by overlying microorganisms respiration rates decreased with depth and soils showed lower potential respiration when subjected to deeper thaw which we attributed to gradual labile carbon pool depletion Despite deeper rooting under induced deep thaw root density measurements did not improve soil chemistry-based models of potential respiration BCS explained an additional unique portion of variation in respiration particularly when accounting for differences in organic matter content Our results suggest that by measuring bacterial community composition we can improve both our understanding and the modeling of the permafrost carbon feedback it remains uncertain how permafrost thaw will affect soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition in the long term and how this relates to changes in other potential drivers of SOM decomposition such as bacterial communities and plant root distribution SOM decomposition is therefore likely altered by permafrost thaw due to changes in temperature the extent and underlying ecological interactions remain unclear Bacterial community structure (BCS; sensu taxonomic composition) could therefore be an important determinant of decomposition in thawing permafrost soils Climate change and permafrost thaw are thus likely to modify bacterial communities through alterations in soil abiotic factors and plant root distribution with the strongest effects in the newly thawed soil layers allows for the detection of these longer-term indirect effects of thawing Such an experimental setup also allows for more precision in sampling soil from a given depth as subsidence can be monitored by careful selection of plots and randomization of treatments initially identical microbial communities are ensured precluding the potential confounding effects inherent to spatial gradients We investigated how the combined direct and indirect effects of long-term in situ permafrost thaw through experimental winter-warming modifies the BCS and potential soil respiration across the active layer and upper permafrost soil and studied whether and how these responses were linked (a) Decadal in situ winter-warming and associated permafrost thaw will modify BCS across active layer and permanently frozen soil most strongly at the depth of the newly thawed and recently root-colonized soil (b) Potential respiration will decrease with decadal winter-warming in the active layer and increase in the newly thawed permafrost soil This is because of long-term depletion of labile carbon substrates after a decade of higher temperatures in the active layer the intermediate layer has only thawed for a short duration at the end of each growing season so we expect increased respiration as a result of changes in BCS (e.g. by shifts toward communities with higher functional diversity) phylogeny-informed taxonomic composition—and plant root density will improve soil chemistry-based predictions of potential respiration across active layer and thawing permafrost soil We compared subsoil carbon and microbial dynamics around the thawfront at three depths: active layer (above the thawfront but below the water table in both deep-thaw and control plots 55 cm); intermediate layer (frozen in control plots 70 cm); and permafrost layer (perennially frozen in both deep-thaw and control plots using a peat-corer for thawed soil (11 × 11.4 cm and a custom-made gas-powered fluid-less concrete drill for permafrost soil (10.2 cm diameter) As the ALT varies with distance to the fences within deep-thaw plots we selected spots with ALT > 80 cm for coring but we did not use ALT criteria for the cores in control plots (mean ± SE for control and deep-thaw cores were 60.1 ± 2.4 and 90.2 ± 6.4 cm Frozen soil cores were rinsed with sterile deionized water to limit drilling contamination between soil layers wrapped in plastic foil and stored in a cooler box for up to 3 h One set of cores was thawed at 2 °C after which 2 g soil was sampled for DNA extraction with ethanol-cleaned forceps at least 3 cm from the core surface to minimize contamination Three 30-cm segments were taken encompassing these sampling depths (i.e. and about 1 L (estimated by water displacement) of each core segment was used for manually collecting coarse roots (>0.5 mm) which were dried at 60 °C and weighed to calculate density of roots in the soil (g dry weight roots/L soil) one replicate of the intermediate layer in deep-thaw plots was absent from this set of cores and therefore excluded from analyses including BCS and root density Carbon content (g C/g dry soil) was analyzed using a NCS 2500 elemental analyzer (CE Instruments Another 3 g (fresh weight) were shaken in 40 mL of sterile deionized water for 2 h and filtered pH of the filtrate was measured on a MP220 pH meter (Mettler-Toledo Switzerland) and NH4+ and (NO3− + NO2−) were quantified on a FIAstar 5000 Autoanalyzer (FOSS Analytics Nitrate and nitrite concentrations were below detection limit (ca 12.2 µg NO3−-N/g dry soil) in most samples and are therefore not discussed further For each of the six replicates at three sampling depths in the two treatments two aliquots of 20 g (fresh weight) homogenized soil were put into 250 mL glass jars closed with rubber septa and incubated in dark culture chambers at either 11 or 21 °C Headspace air (10 mL) was sampled with an airtight glass syringe and CO2 concentrations were measured with an infrared gas analyzer (EGM-4 using the instrument’s internal calibration and static sampling mode all jars were flushed with 400 ppm CO2 synthetic air long enough to lower the headspace CO2 concentration to 400 ppm respiration rates stabilized and four more measurements were taken each time starting at 400 ppm (achieved by flushing as described above) and continuing for 1–2 days These four measurements were used to calculate CO2 production rates (τ) as follows: \(\tau _{\left( {1 - 2} \right)} = \dfrac{{n_2 - n_1}}{{\left( {\Delta _t} \right)_{1 - 2}}}\) with \(n_i = \left[ {{\mathrm{CO}}_2} \right]_i \times \left( {P_iV/RT} \right)\) where (Δt)1–2 is the time interval between flushing (1) and measurement (2) Pi is atmospheric pressure at flushing or measurement time (data from Abisko Naturvetenskapliga Station) The four rates were then averaged to estimate the potential aerobic respiration rates (hereafter respiration) Potential respiration rates were expressed either per soil dry weight (bulk respiration) or per organic matter dry weight (intrinsic respiration) DNA was extracted using a PowerSoil DNA Extraction Kit (Qiagen, Venlo, The Netherlands), following the manufacturer’s instructions. DNA was quantified using QuantIT dsDNA assay (Thermo Scientific, Waltham, Massachusetts, SI Fig S1) The DNA extracts were diluted to 5 ng/µL with nuclease-free water Samples with concentrations <10 ng/µL were diluted 1:1 and quality of amplification was visually checked by gel electrophoresis Amplicons were cleaned and normalized using SequalPrep Normalization Plate Kit (Thermo Scientific) and further purified using a QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen The resulting pooled library was sequenced on an Illumina MiSeq with V2 chemistry and 2 × 150 bp paired-end reads (BioSample accession numbers SAMN07445364–SAMN07445398 and SAMN07445422) NH4+ and both bulk and intrinsic potential respiration were log-transformed and OMC was square-root-transformed to improve normality of residuals Most of the root biomass belonged to sedges and shrubs while the percentages show what portion of those is in (c) Potential aerobic respiration of soils from different depths in control and decadal in situ deep-thaw plots during laboratory incubation at 11 °C measured for 1 week after 1 month pre-incubation expressed per gram soil dry weight (a) and per gram soil organic matter (b); samples to the right of the dotted line are from permanently frozen soil layers; means ± SE (n = 6) Asterisks denote significant effects (*P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001; n.s letters denote significant differences between depths Intercepts and slopes (95% CI) of the best-fitting multiple linear regressions of respiration against soil chemistry (soil PC1) and bacterial community structure (bacterial PCo1) Asterisks denote significant differences between treatments (P < 0.05) Our results therefore provide the first in situ experimental evidence of the BCS response to permafrost thaw Long-term freezing constraints can be a more important determinant of BCS than soil depth per se in permafrost soils and once those constraints are relieved the overlying microorganisms seem to migrate The high relative abundances we observed suggest that intact permafrost could be used to investigate Caldiserica ecology integrated soil respiration measurements over a long-term experiment coupled with organic matter profiling would be necessary to confirm this interpretation although the treatment-affected OTUs may reflect a temperature effect on BCS in the permafrost layer their relatively low number could also indicate spatial sampling effects exacerbated by the low population sizes in permafrost soils While the underlying mechanisms in terms of community functionality are unclear our results suggest that measuring BCS may improve predictions of the permafrost carbon feedback and further suggests that colonization by active layer bacteria might determine the fate of BCS in thawing permafrost While root density appeared uninformative in predicting respiration the strong linkages between BCS and potential respiration challenge the view that in soils BCS is unimportant for C-cycling particularly after accounting for variations in SOM content should be investigated in other permafrost-affected environments as it could imply that current predictions for SOM decomposition in thawing permafrost omit an important component our results show that permafrost thaw indirectly affects SOM decomposition through large effects on its drivers which might prove important in understanding and predicting the permafrost carbon feedback Since the publication of the original article the authors noticed some errors in reference citation had been introduced throughout the paper The following text contains excerpts from the original article and how they should appear with correct referencing The publisher apologises for any inconvenience this has caused readers Estimated stocks of circumpolar permafrost carbon with quantified uncertainty ranges and identified data gaps Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback Loss of testate amoeba functional diversity with increasing frost intensity across a continental gradient reduces microbial activity in peatlands Diversity and ecology of psychrophilic microorganisms Predicting long-term carbon mineralization and trace gas production from thawing permafrost of Northeast Siberia On the variability of respiration in terrestrial ecosystems: moving beyond Q10 Carbon respiration from subsurface peat accelerated by climate warming in the subarctic Decadal warming causes a consistent and persistent shift from heterotrophic to autotrophic respiration in contrasting permafrost ecosystems Long-term experimentally deepened snow decreases growing-season respiration in a low- and high-arctic tundra ecosystem A frozen feast: thawing permafrost increases plant-available nitrogen in subarctic peatlands Temperature sensitivity of peatland C and N cycling: does substrate supply play a role Blume-Werry G. The hidden life of plants: fine root dynamics in northern ecosystems. Doctoral thesis, Umeå University; 2016. http://umu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2:954761 Stability of organic carbon in deep soil layers controlled by fresh carbon supply Input of easily available organic C and N stimulates microbial decomposition of soil organic matter in arctic permafrost soil Plant-derived compounds stimulate the decomposition of organic matter in arctic permafrost soils Oxygen diffusion from the roots of some British bog plants An enzymic ‘latch’ on a global carbon store The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities Stability and succession of the rhizosphere microbiota depends upon plant type and soil composition How extreme is an extreme climatic event to a subarctic peatland springtail community Microbial community composition shapes enzyme patterns in topsoil and subsoil horizons along a latitudinal transect in Western Siberia Linking microbial community structure and microbial processes: an empirical and conceptual overview Soil carbon mineralisation responses to alterations of microbial diversity and soil structure active layer and thermokarst bog soil microbiomes Metagenomic analysis of a permafrost microbial community reveals a rapid response to thaw The functional potential of high Arctic permafrost revealed by metagenomic sequencing Microbial activity across a boreal peatland nutrient gradient: the role of fungi and bacteria Linking soil microbial communities to vascular plant abundance along a climate gradient The unseen iceberg: plant roots in arctic tundra Climate sensitivity of shrub growth across the tundra biome Rhizodeposition of organic C by plants: mechanisms and controls Bacterial and archaeal diversity in permafrost Digging deeper to find unique microbial communities: the strong effect of depth on the structure of bacterial and archaeal communities in soil Impacts of a warming Arctic: Arctic Climate Impacts Assessment Permafrost degradation stimulates carbon loss from experimentally warmed tundra Rapid responses of permafrost and vegetation to experimentally increased snow cover in sub-arctic Sweden Simple standard procedure for the routine determination of organic matter in marine sediment The temperature dependence of soil organic matter decomposition and the effect of global warming on soil organic C storage Generation of multimillion-sequence 16S rRNA gene libraries from complex microbial communities by assembling paired-end Illumina reads VSEARCH: a versatile open source tool for metagenomics UCHIME improves sensitivity and speed of chimera detection Chimeric 16S rRNA sequence formation and detection in Sanger and 454-pyrosequenced PCR amplicons Microbial survival strategies in ancient permafrost: insights from metagenomics QIIME allows analysis of high-throughput community sequencing data An improved Greengenes taxonomy with explicit ranks for ecological and evolutionary analyses of bacteria and archaea FastTree 2—approximately maximum-likelihood trees for large alignments Naive Bayesian classifier for rapid assignment of rRNA sequences into the new bacterial taxonomy Rhea: a transparent and modular R pipeline for microbial profiling based on 16S rRNA gene amplicons UniFrac: an effective distance metric for microbial community comparison Moderated estimation of fold change and dispersion for RNA-seq data with DESeq2 want not: why rarefying microbiome data is inadmissible Comparative genomics of freshwater Fe-oxidizing bacteria: implications for physiology The phylogeny of autotrophic ammonia-oxidizing bacteria as determined by analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences a solvent-producing clostridium isolated from an agricultural settling lagoon and reclassification of the acetogen Clostridium scatologenes strain SL1 as Clostridium drakei sp Three isolates of novel polyphosphate-accumulating gram-positive cocci Rainey FA. Ruminococcaceae fam. nov. In: Bergey’s manual of systematics of archaea and bacteria. Wiley; 2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118960608.fbm00136 Rainey FA, Hollen BJ, Small AM. Clostridium. In: W. B. Whitman, F. Rainey, P. Kämpfer, M. Trujillo, J. Chun, P. DeVos, B. Hedlund and S. Dedysh. Bergey’s manual of systematics of archaea and bacteria. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2015. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118960608.gbm00619 Characterization of novel psychrophilic clostridia from an Antarctic microbial mat: description of Clostridium frigoris sp and reclassification of Clostridium laramiense as Clostridium estertheticum subsp an acetogenic species in clostridial rRNA homology group I Three genomes from the phylum Acidobacteria provide insight into the lifestyles of these microorganisms in soils and emended description of the genus Phycicoccus Do root exudates enhance peat decomposition Least-Squares Means: the R package lsmeans mvabund—an R package for model-based analysis of multivariate abundance data Distance-based multivariate analyses confound location and dispersion effects Impact of fire on active layer and permafrost microbial communities and metagenomes in an upland Alaskan boreal forest Species-specific effects of vascular plants on carbon turnover and methane emissions from wetlands filamentous bacterium of a novel bacterial phylum originally called the candidate phylum OP5 Handling temperature bursts reaching 464°C: different microbial strategies in the sisters peak hydrothermal chimney Poorly known microbial taxa dominate the microbiome of permafrost thaw ponds The transcriptional response of microbial communities in thawing Alaskan permafrost soils Short period of oxygenation releases latch on peat decomposition Sensitivity of organic matter decomposition to warming varies with its quality High arctic heath soil respiration and biogeochemical dynamics during summer and autumn freeze-in—effects of long-term enhanced water and nutrient supply Past and present permafrost temperatures in the Abisko area: redrilling of boreholes Climate change effects on peatland decomposition and porewater dissolved organic carbon biogeochemistry Ancient low–molecular-weight organic acids in permafrost fuel rapid carbon dioxide production upon thaw New insights into the role of microbial community composition in driving soil respiration rates Linking soil bacterial biodiversity and soil carbon stability Effects of habitat constraints on soil microbial community function Microbial control over carbon cycling in soil Testing the functional significance of microbial community composition Download references and the Arctic Ecosystems students (2015) for help during field work; and the Abisko Scientific Research Station for practical support This study was funded by a Wallenberg Academy Fellowship (KAW 2012.0152) Swedish Research Council (Dnr 621-2011-5444) and Formas (Dnr 214-2011-788) grants all attributed to ED JTW was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Flemish Science Foundation (FWO) Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences Functional Ecology and Environment Laboratory (ECOLAB) UMR 6245 Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-018-0176-z Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article The dates displayed for an article provide information on when various publication milestones were reached at the journal that has published the article activities on preceding journals at which the article was previously under consideration are not shown (for instance submission Bioresource Technology ReportsCitation Excerpt :A suitable lipid extraction technique must be applied in order to recover lipids that can be converted to biodiesel Pre-treatment of dried-harvested cells may be required for optimal lipid extraction which may include mechanical disruption of cells using mortar and pestle bases and enzymes may also be used for breaking the cell structure (Zuorro et al. 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EmailSince there’s never any guarantee about live performances I can never be sure that performances that I include in my previews turn out to be as good as they seem on paper This year some of the musical events I encouraged people to attend turned out to be as at least good as I predicted Several of them turned out to be among the year’s most memorable events Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic (Courtesy)But thanks to the Celebrity Series of Boston anyone who missed the BSO performance had another chance to hear Dudamel conduct this very score This was also a memorable performance — leaner and perhaps louder than the BSO performance if not as beautiful (few orchestras can match the sheer beauty of the BSO sound) it would surely be regarded as a great performance Those of us lucky enough to hear both performances are most grateful how the other items on Dudamel’s programs — Schumann’s "Spring Symphony" with the BSO the Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones Concertantes and the new John Adams piano concerto with Yuja Wang with the LA Phil — simply fade from memory The Adams performance should have been one of the major events of the year it offered Yuja Wang a chance to display her most delicate touch but it was easier to appreciate it in her two encores: her own arrangement of Mexican composer Arturo Márquez’s Danzón No 2 (a piece Dudamel has often led in its orchestral form) and the Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin’s Toccatina Op No one I know guessed correctly who composed these pieces But practically everyone recognized the composer of the orchestra’s encore John Philip Sousa’s “Liberty Bell.” Sousa in Boston Dudamel conducted not only the orchestra but also the audience which he had clapping along — even at different dynamic levels (Courtesy BSO)But the big event was more surprising Debussy’s “La Mer” is familiar BSO territory The BSO played its American premiere in 1907 only two years after its world premiere in Paris and it has since become a staple of almost every BSO music director and countless guest conductors The BSO archives lists 327 individual performances of it But this one was not the familiar run-through with gorgeous playing and little more than merely pictorial content (the waves and the wind) I can’t remember ever hearing a live performance so involving Benjamin Zander’s final concert of the year showed his Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in outstanding form playing passionate and thoughtful versions of Verdi’s Overture to “La Forza del Destino,” Mendelssohn’s famous violin concerto (with Stefan Jackiw proving that a familiar work doesn’t have to be a cliché) showing that in the right hands even a group of talented kids can give us the best Mahler of the year But the year’s most enthralling and illuminating concerto performance was Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes at the BSO playing the greatest Norwegian piano concerto Grieg’s Piano Concerto is such a chestnut it’s almost always on auto-pilot and conductor Andris Nelsons didn’t get in the way Nelsons proved himself to be more convincing with opera than with orchestral music he led a sweeping concert performance of Wagner’s “Die Walküre” with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra and what Nelsons must have learned himself he enthusiastically translated to his young players Handmaids gather round a pregnant handmaid, at a rehearsal of "The Handmaid's Tale." (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)The year’s most touching opera production was Susan Davenny-Wyner conducting Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” (“Cinderella”) for Boston Midsummer Opera, staged with a perfect balance of humor and poignance by Antonio Ocampo-Guzman. And enchanting Allegra De Vita was the pitch-perfect Cinderella. My vote for the Best New Musical Work goes to the same piece I loved last year, Ethan Iverson’s wildly original score based on Beatles’ tunes composed for Mark Morris’ delightfully enthralling dance-work “Pepperland.” Last year I heard it at Dartmouth’s Hopkins Center, and this year it arrived in Boston thanks to the Celebrity Series. I couldn’t get enough of it and thought it just got better and better with each performance. Lloyd Schwartz Arts CriticLloyd Schwartz is the classical music critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and Somerville's Poet Laureate Here are three stories that capture the diversity of research reported at the meeting Pour bubble bath under running water and it forms a mountainous white froth this fragile foam starts to disappear as gravity drains the liquid trapped between the bubbles The short lifetime of foams doesn’t just put an abrupt end to a relaxing bath it also limits the use of foams for a promising application: cleaning up chemical leaks or nuclear waste-water Cécile Monteux from ESPCI Paris-Tech has created long-lived stable foams that could be used to mop up such spills Monteux makes the foams from a polymer liquid that she rapidly stirs with a kitchen mixer to incorporate air bubbles The polymer liquid has a higher viscosity than water allowing it to stay foamed for a few hours a chemical that bonds the polymer chains to one another Monteux increases the foam’s lifetime to over ten thousand hours—long enough to transport the foam to wherever it’s needed she finds that adding borax improves the foam’s retention of fluids Foams are natural absorbers of liquid because the channels between the bubbles act as capillaries that create a suction effect Incoming fluid tends to break down these channels as it dilutes the polymer holding the foam together keeping an “invading” fluid trapped for hours The contaminated foam can then be moved elsewhere and its liquid safely disposed Read more in this paper from Soft Matter The researchers worked with a gear shaped like a star with slanted arms The gear heats up when it’s illuminated by the LED transferring some of its heat to the surrounding liquid This causes a localized decrease in the liquid’s surface tension the surface tension is greater on one side of each tooth than the other And by changing the intensity of the incident light they could vary the gear’s rotational speed Read more in this paper from Nature Communications Natural materials have complex structures that are perfectly honed for a specific function and roots; internally each layer of enamel and dentin consists of aligned particles but the particular alignment varies from layer to layer This combination of order and heterogeneity helps teeth cut and resist cracking André Studart and his team from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) have now developed a way to recreate teeth and other functional materials that mimic nature’s similarly intricate designs which require multiple tools and processing steps Studart’s approach produces elaborately shaped composites with one continuous process Studart’s method utilizes a liquid consisting of a suspension of magnetically responsive He first pours the suspension into a dry porous mold whose pores allow liquid the particles accumulate layer-by-layer at the mold’s surface; Studart then controls the particles’ orientations with a magnetic field the ordered particles can be infiltrated with other materials—polymers and ceramics—to create bulk composites with periodic microstructures and tunable properties successfully replicating their shape and structure Read more in this paper from Nature Materials An innovative way to image atoms in cold gases could provide deeper insights into the atoms’ quantum correlations. Read More » A machine-learning algorithm rapidly generates designs that can be simpler than those developed by humans. Read More » Student enrollment and guaranteed financial support are expected to fall amid anticipation of federal budget cuts, a new report finds. Read More » Researchers have shown that they can distribute quantum keys under realistic conditions using commercial lasers Student enrollment and guaranteed financial support are expected to fall amid anticipation of federal budget cuts Two independent teams have searched for axions using x-ray observations of entire galaxies setting some of the strictest constraints to date on the properties of these dark matter candidates More Recent Articles » Sign up to receive weekly email alerts from Physics Magazine Use of the American Physical Society websites and journals implies that the user has read and agrees to our Terms and Conditions and any applicable Subscription Agreement Posted on June 27, 2022 by My Maine This Week frequent photographer and NRCM member Gerard Monteux of Hancock shares his gorgeous photos of a Common Loon family on Moulton Pond in Dedham and writes and is quickly learning the ropes from its parents These lessons include precisely how to pose for the grateful wildlife photographer We are grateful to the wildlife AND the wildlife photographer for capturing these stunning photos. Do you have Maine loon photos to share? If so, please send them to us at nrcm@nrcm.org Filed Under: My Maine This Week, My Maine This Week 2022 Tagged With: , Q2 Music is a passionate community of listeners who crave to discover inspiring Metrics details The interaction of objects suspended in a liquid melt with an advancing solidification front is of special interest in nature and engineering sciences The front can either engulf the object into the growing crystal or repel it the object-front confrontation can have a strong influence on the microstructure and mechanical or functional properties of the solidified material The past theoretical models and experimental studies have mostly investigated the interaction of isolated the outcome of object-front interactions in complex (more realistic) systems where multiple objects and solutes are present Here we show the interaction of multiple oil droplets with an ice-water front in the absence and presence of solute effects using in situ cryo-confocal microscopy and bulk solute concentration influence the the object-front interaction and the front morphology as well as the subsequent object spatial distribution We suggest that the volume fraction of objects suspended in a liquid melt in conjunction with the amount of bulk solute concentration are two important parameters to be incorporated in the development of object-front interaction models Their study highlighted the major differences in force equilibrium when considering a multi-particle approach Their experimental results revealed that the presence of multiple particles can lead to an accumulated particle layer ahead of the solidification front at small growth rates (\(V_{sl}<V_c\)) This particle layer further acts as a porous medium and offers resistance to the fluid flow resulting in an additional frictional force (\(F_{\mu }\)) the modified force equilibrium for multiple-particles can be given as \(F_{\eta }+F_{\mu }=F_{\sigma }\) these studies help us to bridge the gap between the single particle models and real-life multi-particle systems we now need to understand how the presence of multiple particles at the front can locally affect the solidification microstructure and subsequently progress towards realistic poly-disperse systems We demonstrate several important aspects of multiple particle interactions and its consequences on particle redistribution in the solidified microstructure We increase the complexity by adding solute to the liquid phase and examine the effects of increasing poly-dispersity in conjunction with the overriding solute effects we illustrate how the systematic approach facilitates to decouple the process parameters impacting the behaviour of an object while it interacts with a solid–liquid front Difluoro2-[1-(3,5-dimethyl-2H-pyrrol-2-ylidene-N)ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrrolato-Nboron (BODIPY) and Sulforhodamine B (SRhB) from Sigma-Aldrich We utilised 0.45 μm Nylon membrane filters (VWR International) for filtering traces of impurities in the deionized water used for the aqueous phase We chose propyl benzoate for the oil phase as it has a low melting temperature (\(T_m= -51.6\) °C) low solubility in water (\(0.035\,{\rm g}/100\,{\rm g}\)) and similar density to water (\(\rho _{oil}=1.023\,{\text{g}}\cdot {\rm cm}^{-3}\)) acted as a model solute as it depresses the freezing point of solutions alike (colligative property) The bimodal emulsions were synthesized by independently mixing the monodisperse emulsions (\(R_1 + R_2\)) The polydisperse emulsion was obtained through hand-shaking the aqueous suspension in a \(1.5 \,{\rm ml}\) eppendorf vial with \(2\,{\text{vol}}.\%\) oil phase The prepared emulsions were filled through capillarity and solidified in a rectangular Hele-Shaw cell (h=100 μm and V=\(100\,\upmu {\rm l}\)) The cell was fabricated using two glass slides (Menzel and sealed with nail-polish at one end to prevent evaporation We used Leica TCS SP8 confocal laser scanning microscope (Leica Microsystemes SAS equipped with \({488\,{\rm nm}}\) (blue) and \({552\,{\rm nm}}\) (green) lasers we utilised the microscope at a scanning speed of \(600\,{\rm Hz}\) with \(1024\times 1024\,pixels\) for imaging \(775\times 775\) μm we used a fast resonant mode with \(512\times 512\,pixels\) for a scanning rate of \(0.047\,{\rm s}\) per frame We used two photodetectors (PMT) to simultaneously image three phases : BODIPY (\({\lambda _{ex}}\) \({493\,{\rm nm}}\) ; \({\lambda _{em}}\) \({504\,{\rm nm}}\)) fluorophore incorporated into the oil droplets SRhB (\({\lambda _{ex}}\) \({565\,{\rm nm}}\) ; \({\lambda _{em}}\) \({586\,{\rm nm}}\)) to image the aqueous phase and the cells boundaries in ice Ice, does not fluoresce, as it has very low solubility for solutes41 and hence In directional solidification, the advancing solid–liquid front can have predominantly three morphologies; planar, cellular, and dendritic (Fig. 3) The stability and morphology of a front are essentially controlled by the growth rate The major advantage of our system is that we can independently regulate and accurately maintain a constant solidification velocity (\(V_{sl}\)) as well as temperature gradient (G) over the experimental time-scales This ensures a steady-state solidification front under a constant cooling rate with the absence of thermal destabilisation which considers the balance between repulsive van der Waals forces and attractive viscous forces to estimate the critical particle size (\(R_c\)) at a given solidification velocity \(V_{sl}\) below which particles are rejected by the front and above which particles are captured by an advancing front where \(\sigma _{sl}\) is the ice-water interfacial tension, \(A_{ow}\) is the oil-water Hamaker constant, and \(\eta\) is the dynamical viscosity. We obtain a \(R_c\) of \(9\,\upmu {\rm m}\) with the typical parameter values (see Table 2) for an object in the ice-water system using the RW model we can account for the initial repulsion of the \(8\,\upmu {\rm m}\) droplets (\(R_1<R_c\)) and an instantaneous engulfment of the \(28\,\upmu {\rm m}\) (\(R_2>R_c\)) droplets and suggested that an additional frictional force generated by the friction of the fluid flowing through the compact particle layer favors engulfment above a critical thickness of the packed particle layer The existence of this critical layer thickness induces periodic repulsion-engulfment transitions as we observe in our study we suggest that this additional frictional force which grows with the height of the compact layer results in the periodic engulfment of droplets for a critical layer thickness of \(\approx 80\,\upmu {\rm m}\) We thus observe a distinct variation in the droplet spatial distribution only in the presence of small \(R_1\) droplets In the presence of \(0.01\,\)wt.% solute (Fig. 6) we notice two peculiar behaviours of the inter-droplet interaction with the solid–liquid front as follows: we look at the behaviour of polydisperse oil-in-water emulsions The low interfacial tension of the oil (propyl benzoate) with water enables us to obtain relatively small polydisperse droplets varying in size from \(5< R < 30\,\upmu {\rm m}\) We utilize in situ cryo-confocal microscopy to acquire 2D and 3D evolution of the microstructure at \(V_{sl}=1\,\upmu {\rm m}\cdot {\rm s}^{-1}\) and \(G=10^4\,{\rm K}\cdot {\rm m}^{-1}\) we have reported on the monodisperse and bimodal size particle interactions between the growing solid and the droplets which is considerably different from the nature of interactions between the front and an isolated object To attain a better understanding of complex (more realistic) systems we will now investigate the confrontation of polydisperse droplets with an advancing solidification front The emulsions are prepared with \(0.01\,\)wt.% and \(1\,\)wt.% solute in solution in the absence of long-range solute effects The droplet clusters form at the front with the primary layer occupied by the small droplets (\(R_x<R_c\)) which further creates a barrier and facilitate the repulsion of relatively larger droplets (\(R_y>R_c\)) we require more experiments to conclude effectively the origin of such close-packed clusters computed both in the absence and presence of solute effects We have successfully demonstrated in our experiments the distinct behaviour when the size of droplets adheres to the criterion of \(R_1<R_c<R_2\) we have observed no change in critical radius (\(R_c\)) in the presence of solute effects contrary to the predictions of the theoretical models The critical radius (\(R_c\)) or critical velocity (\(V_c\)) is modified by the presence of inter-droplet interactions We depict that the presence of multiple objects can lead to the formation of a segregated microstructure while the initial suspension is homogeneous We illustrate for the first time a pushing-engulfment or repulsion-trapping transition in the presence of overriding solute effects We report no change in the morphology of the solidification front owing to the presence of objects in the melt We suggest that the volume fraction of objects in the melt is an important criterion to be considered for predicting the object distribution in the solidified microstructure The solidification of controlled oil-in-water emulsions can help us visualize and model a variety of microstructures by utilizing different colonies of droplets in the presence or absence of solute effects The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request Frost heave dynamics at a single crystal interface Rejection and capture of cells by ice crystals on freezing aqueous solutions Phenomena at the advancing ice-liquid interface: Solutes and entrapment of inclusions during steel casting Bubbles defects distribution in sapphire bulk crystals grown by czochralski technique Freeze-casting of porous ceramics: A review of current achievements and issues An analytical model for the interaction between an insoluble particle and an advancing solid/liquid interface Interaction of porosity with a planar solid/liquid interface Vertical migration of particles in front of a moving freezing plane Theory of the capture of solid inclusions during the growth of crystals from the melt Interaction between particles and a solid–liquid interface The engulfment of foreign particles by a freezing interface Particle trapping at an advancing solidification front with interfacial-curvature effects The encapsulation of particles and bubbles by an advancing solidification front Interaction between a particle and an advancing solidification front The influence of the thermal conductivity of a macroparticle on its capture by a crystal growing from a melt The effect of the diffusion of solute between the particle and the interface on the particle pushing phenomena Reaction of foreign particles with a crystallization front Solidification microstructure evolution in the presence of inert particles Dynamics of solidification in 2% corn starch-water mixtures: Effect of variations in freezing rate on product homogeneity On the transition from pushing to engulfment during directional solidification of the particle-reinforced aluminum-based metal-matrix composite 2014 + 10 Vol Pct Al2O3 and Use: Applications in Materials Science Steady-state and dynamic models for particle engulfment during solidification Particle-scale structure in frozen colloidal suspensions from small-angle x-ray scattering A temperature-controlled stage for laser scanning confocal microscopy and case studies in materials science Structural properties of materials created through freeze casting Self-assembly of faceted particles triggered by a moving ice front Interaction of multiple particles with a solidification front: From compacted particle layer to particle trapping On the behaviour of foreign particles at an advancing solid–liquid interface Distortion of the temperature and solute concentration fields due to the presence of particles at the solidification front-effects on particle pushing Sharp interface numerical simulation of directional solidification of binary alloy in the presence of a ceramic particle The redistribution of solute atoms during the solidification of metals Five-dimensional imaging of freezing emulsions with solute effects Flourescence self-quenching of the molecular forms of rhodamine b in aqueous and ethanolic solutions Protein purification applications: a practical approach in situ imaging of ice crystal growth using confocal microscopy Fiji: An open-source platform for biological-image analysis the scikit-image contributors scikit-image: image processing in Python Stability of a planar interface during solidification of a dilute binary alloy Directional dendritic solidification of a composite slurry: Part I Periodic ice banding in freezing colloidal dispersions Objects interacting with solidification fronts: Thermal and solute effects Modeling the interaction of biological cells with a solidifying interface Directional dendritic solidification of a composite slurry: Part II Morphological instability induced by the interaction of a particle with a solid-liquid interface Download references The research leading to these results has received funding from the ANRT and Saint-Gobain through a CIFRE fellowship (\(N\ Laboratoire de Synthèse et Fonctionnalisation des Céramiques Sciences et Ingénierie de la Matiére Molle Global Institution for Collaborative Research and Education All authors discussed the results and implications The authors declare no competing interests Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Reprints and permissions Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-82713-3 Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science bananas became the most popular fruit consumed in France The bananas of Guadeloupe and Martinique were also voted France's favorite brand last August the French banana sector is going through a major crisis At the Paris International Agricultural Show 2025 producers and their representatives took stock of the situation It was also an opportunity for a more festive moment with the general public as the French banana celebrated its 10th anniversary Producers at the International Agricultural Show 6,000 tons of bananas discarded each year in DunkirkThe Union of Banana Producers of Guadeloupe and Martinique (UGPBAN) drew up a rather gloomy balance sheet at its press conference on the 25th of February the French banana sector is struggling to stay afloat While the disease is present in every production zone in the world "the tools to combat it have become virtually non-existent We have gone from 9 authorized curative treatments in 2019 to 3 while producers in the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific zone and Latin America (Ecuador The repercussions on yields and quality are considerable." UGPBAN estimates losses in the field at 20,000 tons every year "To try and limit the spread of the disease we cut off the leaves (which constitute the leaf capital) we end up with a banana plant with just 3 or 4 leaves compared with 8 or 9 under normal circumstances we needed 800 to 900 clusters to make a container whereas today we need between 1,400 and 1,500." Losses are just as great after the journey by boat "6,000 tons are discarded upon arrival at the port which represents annual losses of €10 million [10.8 million USD] on arrival at Dunkirk the French banana sector is a far cry from the 250,000 tons it produced 10 years ago 50 farms disappearing between 2024 and 2025In 2015 Guadeloupe and Martinique had almost 650 growers while production costs are soaring," explains Pierre Monteux it is hard to remain competitive with countries that have more active solutions and very low labor costs "We have gone from €1,000 to €1,500 [1,083 to 1,625 USD] per ton it is no longer sufficient," according to Pierre Monteux farms are facing mounting financial difficulties around fifty farms will have disappeared in Guadeloupe and Martinique." UGPBAN therefore took advantage of the Agricultural Show in Paris to reiterate its request to the French government for aid "If public authorities do not wake up to the situation the consequences for the sector will be very serious," warned the director of UGPBAN The situation is also critical for the economy of the two islands as the banana sector currently represents 8,500 direct and indirect jobs we are simply asking for the means to be able to produce Winning back our food sovereignty is on everyone's lips these days for biocontrol onlyUGPBAN is convinced that the future of the French banana sector lies with NGTs (new genomic techniques) for the creation of in vitro plants tolerant of black spots especially as banana producers of Guadeloupe and Martinique have "already reduced the use of phytosanitary products (grassing agroforestry...) on their farms by 83% in 16 years." However these NGTs are not expected to be used before 2028-2030 growers are banking on another solution for the short term: drone spraying (expected since the ban on aerial spraying in 2014) a bill tabled by Senator Laurent Duplomb and MP Jean-Luc Fugit has been submitted to Parliament it is currently being examined by the Senate's Economic Affairs Committee "But this is a typical case of over-transposition The text goes well beyond Community regulations since it only authorizes biocontrol products." This is complete nonsense "Some of the products excluded from drone spraying are still authorized by land and it takes an average of 2 weeks to go all the way around a banana plantation growers will be forced to continue using ground treatments in addition to aerial spraying." "We will not fight the battle for the lowest price" The event in Paris was also an opportunity to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the French banana Poorly identified by consumers (according to a 2014 study by the CSA institute only 56% considered bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique to be French) UGPBAN decided in 2015 to sell bananas in clusters of 3 The wrapped segment was presented at the Paris International Agricultural Show 2015 and the first sales started two months later "It is a concept that saved the sector," confides Pierre Monteux French bananas account for 5% of the market "Our sales increased by 18% between 2023 and 2024 and we passed the 40,000-ton mark this year" the sector still hopes to grow further by reaching 50,000 tons in 2026 There is no reason for us to go into the battle for the top price as it would destroy value and it would be impossible for us given our production costs Another avenue for French bananas is the catering sector "The Egalim law requires bananas to be labeled the banana of Guadeloupe and Martinique has been adorned with a collector's ribbon designed by French artist Jérôme Masi which has been on display on the shelves since mid-February 2025 A point-of-sale advertising kit will promote the product to the general public A competition for consumers will also run from March 10th to April 10th in several stores with the main prize being a one-week trip for two to Guadeloupe or Martinique The communication extends to digital platforms If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information. 2013Save this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyMany modern composers say that it was when hearing Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” that they decided to become composers it was Smetana’s elegantly heart-on-sleeve “From My Life” Quartet that spoiled me for life.) So when it came time to evaluate Decca’s monumental boxed set of thirty-five recordings of the score (not to mention three renditions of the composer’s arrangement for piano duet) released to mark the anniversary of the work’s first performance with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes I approached it not as a skeptic—obviously the most influential orchestral work of the twentieth century—but as an agnostic eager to believe in its transcendent power including the superb versions conducted by Pierre Monteux I listened to most of it; here are some of the highs and lows which makes an oddly fitting entrée into Ritesville the acoustic is evocative yet distant—as if you were sitting in the back of the balcony Admirably executed by the playing standards of the time and rhythmically measured account of the piece; the “savagery” of Stravinsky’s pagan Russia is acknowledged but viewed at an imperial reserve It certainly comes off better than another very non-Russian interpretation that of Ferenc Fricsay with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra of Berlin from 1954 the early recordings let us sample the insights of two conductors who knew Stravinsky personally—Pierre Monteux who conducted the near-riot world première at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Ansermet’s Orchestre de la Suisse Romande wasn’t the Berlin Philharmonic and each of the two Decca recordings here (mono And yet Ansermet is impossible to dismiss; his orchestra doesn’t always have Stravinsky’s pitches this scrupulously analytical maestro displays his uncanny ability to convincingly shape a piece through a firm command of articulation talents that made him a cult figure among Golden Age record buyers The Geneva orchestra has in common with Monteux’s superior Paris Conservatoire group an authentically French wind section and the opening bassoon solos sound like delicious moments of saxophone sass and he offers the work in a spirit of unruffled calm: the rhythms are neatly sprung he brings out an unexpected but natural lyricism that connects Stravinsky to the tradition of Tchaikovsky’s ballets The hidden gem among the French recordings is that of the now-forgotten Orchestre des Cento Soli conducted by the equally obscure Rudolf Albert laid down courtesy of “Classics Jazz France,” in 1956; it’s an insistent but with a composer’s mind—occupies a place of his own in this collection never more convincingly than in his first account with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra (today’s beleaguered Minnesota Orchestra) emphasizing the players’ individual talents in which Dorati’s enthusiasm seems to harden into impatience as if he were anxious to finish up and catch a train when he had a different perspective and a long history with Decca’s engineers (They’d recorded all the Haydn symphonies together in the nineteen-seventies.) It’s a Stereo Spectacular in every sense with the different sections of the brawny Motor City band played off in brilliant competition; the first digital recording of the piece it won the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque for all involved the number of conductors with direct access to Stravinsky’s aesthetic universe begin to thin out While the general standard of orchestral playing rose to dizzying heights it became more difficult for conductors to achieve an atmosphere of authenticity in performance and a few end up swamping Stravinsky’s conception in their own whose 1963 account with his Berlin Philharmonic infamously earned the condemnation of the composer (“tempo di hoochie-coochie”); its velvet languor of pace and texture and virtual absence of incisive accents doesn’t merely challenge the work’s essential spirit but attempts to obliterate it The smoothed-out phrases of Charles Dutoit’s admired account with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal but the essentially Francophone quality of this reading has a lightness and agility that keep it safe from Karajan-style grandeur The late Colin Davis—now it can be told—is out of his depth in a 1963 recording with a very reluctant London Philharmonic Orchestra; a 1976 rendition with the Concertgebouw Orchestra has more glamour The Concertgebouw’s longtime principal conductor crossed the Channel to record “The Rite” with the London Philharmonic in 1973 and the result is one of the great sleepers of the set The sober Dutch tradition of van Beinum is continued and intensified with Haitink’s touch evident in his masterful control of the interaction between the strings and winds Stravinsky’s strange and meditative Introduction to Part II had a reminder that this primal piece is as much about death as life Those of us of a certain age will remember Zubin Mehta’s splashy account with the Los Angeles Philharmonic which established him as an international star and his control over the proceedings is always assured but the surfeit of moment-to-moment excitement is never supported by an underlying vision of the score Photograph of Stravinsky: Library of Congress. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker During the UGPBAN press conference on the 17th of March presented his report and the prospects for 2022 for the banana sector of Guadeloupe and Martinique as well as the carbon balance and the actions organized with the partner group CMA-CGM It was also an opportunity for journalists to visit the ripening station in Rungis.  Click here for the photo report. vice-president of CMA-CGM’s Latin American and Oceania lines institutional advisor of the CMA-CGM group during the press conference.  With the participation of Sébastien Zanoletti expert consultant in sustainable development A positive carbon balance for UGPBAN and its partner CMA-CGMFor several years the banana sector of Guadeloupe and Martinique has been committed to a sustainable approach especially with the Sustainable Banana Plan launched in 2008 -38% for fertilizers and no more aerial spraying -75% for pesticides and -14% for greenhouse gas emissions (800g of CO2 per kilo of bananas vs the banana sector of Guadeloupe and Martinique wants to lower its footprint even more by further reducing its use of inputs Through its partnership with the CMA-CGM group UGPBAN now sees its carbon footprint on maritime transport reduced by 50% This is especially due to the modernization of the equipment and ships as well as an investment in new energies such as liquefied natural gas and bio-oil A growing production since 2020With 180,000 tons in 2020 and 198,000 tons in 2021 UGPBAN is hoping to reach 210,000 tons on the French market for 2022 and to continue to grow “The potential is there in terms of planted areas in Guadeloupe and Martinique,” explains Pierre Monteux the number of banana farmers is only declining very slightly due to their age.  2021 was a complicated year but 2022 is starting wellIn 2021 the banana of Guadeloupe and Martinique suffered from deflationary trade negotiations that took place at the end of 2020 in an “extremely competitive” environment (Dollar banana from Latin America) the average European price for bananas reached very low levels: 11.70€ [12.90 USD] for a crate of 18.5kg Same observation for the French market with 640€/ton [705USD/ton] in 2021 compared to 671€/ton [740USD/ton] in 2020 (all categories and destinations combined) The end of 2021 was marked by an increase in production costs “The cost of inputs has increased considerably.” Cardboard energy… and an extreme rise in production costs.  with a rather high demand despite the freight problems and the lack of containers our volumes were moderate and the market was rather well oriented the situation has changed,” explains Pierre Monteux The soaring price of raw materials and fertilizers is already being felt.  Ukrainian conflict: “we fear a domino effect”Pierre Monteux also shared his concerns regarding the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on the sector Russia and its neighboring countries represent a “considerable consumption market.” “We fear a domino effect With the closure of the borders and the port of Odessa the 2 million crates that normally go to Russia every week will have to find other destinations and Europe is an ideal adjustment market.” These bananas should therefore arrive on the European market by mid-April The price has already gone down by 10% because of the conflict.” For more information:Marie-Christine DuvalAgence COMECLAMobile: 06 61 50 98 09 "The Union of Guadeloupe and Martinique Banana Producers (UGPBAN) took part in the 60th edition of the International Agricultural Show in Paris under the theme: 'French bananas on the front line again' The goal was to draw attention to the difficulties that the French banana sector has been experiencing for several years falling production (amplified by production costs that have risen by almost 40% since 2018) and unfair competition Producers have been sounding the alarm for nearly 18 months the demands from the sector and the French government's recent announcements." Drop in production and "catastrophic" cash flowSurface areas remain stable (8,130 hectares) but yields have been declining: 15,000 tons less in 2023 than in 2022 French banana production has fallen by 30% If we lose 15,000 tons at a selling price of 800€/ton [863 USD/ton] we end up with a cash flow deficit of nearly 8 million euros [8.6 million USD]." The reason for this drop in production is the notorious Black Cercosporiosis (caused by the Mycosphaerella fijiensis Morelet fungus) which impacts both yields and fruit quality "We are the only banana producers in the world to combat this fungus without aerial treatment," explains Pierre Monteux The growing sanitary pressure is accentuated by a restriction in the number of authorized molecules (only 3 today The increasingly recurrent weather events have also been impacting the already fragile sector Tropical storms (Fiona in September 2022 and Bret in June 2023) have caused heavy losses in banana plantations a long dry spell (2020-2021) has slowed down fruit swelling cool temperatures (winter 2022-2023) and abnormally heavy rainfall (autumn 2022) have favored the development of the fungus The French banana market totals 740,000 tons It is supplied by three major production zones: the ACP countries (Africa Banana production in Guadeloupe and Martinique totals 185,000 tons: 55,000 tons for Guadeloupe and 130,000 tons for Martinique 90% of which is destined for the French market Competition from Latin America: "2024 looks complicated""2024 promises to be a complicated year," according to Pierre Monteux "Although the beginning of the year was rather positive negotiations with supermarkets have been difficult The progress made in 2023 (7-8% increase) will certainly be reversed this year Producers therefore need the support from French public authorities." As the director of UGPBAN points out the European market is "flooded by dollar bananas." The problem also lies in social and environmental standards which differ from those imposed on producers in Guadeloupe and Martinique Latin American bananas benefit from a number of advantages: near absence of customs duties easier use of phytosanitary products (French producers use 10 times less phytosanitary products per hectare than producers in Costa Rica 9 times less than in Cameroon and 8 times less than in Panama) a solution that is currently banned in Europe although it is very effective in combating banana black rot "Agro-environmental measures that cost a lot of money"Crop rotation the French banana sector has been committed to virtuous production methods This agro-ecological transition was achieved thanks to the three successive Sustainable Banana Plans "We have reduced the use of phytosanitary products by 83% in 15 years and we are one of the few French banana growers to have met the objectives of the Ecophyto plan the implementation of these growing methods costs a lot of money replacing the use of herbicides with mechanical weed management in banana plantations has generated a cost 4 times higher per hectare from 1,000 to 4,000 euros [1,078 to 4,313 USD] per year without even being able to obtain an increase in value in terms of sales." What is the French government announcing?"Some announcements have been made." On the sidelines of the International Agricultural Show the French president and the ultramarine agricultural sectors met at the Elysée Palace after months of discussions our demands were met with a positive response," explains Pierre The announcements include 11 million euros [12 million USD] in emergency aid and a simplified crop insurance scheme Other government pledges included support for the use of drones in the fight against Black Cercosporiosis reliable solution that would improve labor conditions and reduce environmental impact," as well as support for NGT enabling the cultivation of varieties tolerant to Black Cercosporiosis and thus a return to volumes close to 250,000 tons this will generate "intense debate in the trilogue that will open in a few months' time at the European level." Join us at the Akustika Fair at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre from April 4-6 Meet The Strad team at stand F08 and pick up a free copy of the magazine The Strad Directory Jobs The Strad Issue: November 2015Description: Great Kogan performances even if they are misidentifiedMusicians: Leonid Kogan (violin) Boston Symphony Orchestra/Pierre Monteux; Paris Conservatoire Orchestra/Constantin SilvestriComposer: Brahms I know connoisseurs for whom this Tchaikovsky is the best The French orchestra plays beautifully for Silvestri and Kogan’s sense of structure in the first movement is flawless: the second subject is really tender He delivers a sublimely ‘inward’ Canzonetta and lets rip in the finale The Méditation from the Souvenir d’un lieu cher Tchaikovsky’s original slow movement sympathetically scored by Glazunov is played by Kogan with eloquence and elegance The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto presents a mixture of Eastern and Western influences to the German violinist – and only revealed its true secrets after a whole decade of resting An album to seduce and thrill in equal measure A crack ensemble proves its mettle in highly varied fare Site powered by Webvision Cloud The banana of Guadeloupe and Martinique is produced and sold all year round the 600 producers of the banana sector of Guadeloupe and Martinique are facing a very severe drought This drought has had a major impact on production since March 2020 leading to a decrease in volumes and significant damages to the plantations which will be felt even at the beginning of the next season,” explains Pierre Monteux “Bananas were seen as a ‘safe haven’ during lockdown” The sales of bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique boomed during lockdown “We noted a clear increase in the consumption of the ‘French Banana’ with its blue-white-red ribbon (launched on the market in 2016),” explains Pierre Monteux consumers felt an even stronger need to consume French products This was also facilitated by retailers’ choice to favor the supplies of fruit and vegetables from France We nevertheless had to reduce our segmentation in order to optimize the work of our ripening teams and meet the demand from retailers this represented a double challenge: satisfying the demand from consumers while protecting staff and employees the increase in French bananas continued to evolve with some peaks As part of its commitment to sustainable development the banana sector of Guadeloupe and Martinique has been limiting its use of plastic for years (with the segmentation of the French Banana Its goal is to expand its offer in bulk and to obtain the ecological blue-white-red (non-plastic) ribbon for the French Banana range Although consumers turned away from bulk products during lockdown for practical and logistical reasons bulk should now increase significantly again.” For more information:Marie-Christine DuvalAgence Comecla Mobile: +33 6 61 50 98 09 Chagrin Falls High School inducted 32 students from the class of 2021 into the Cum Laude Society.. Chagrin Falls High School inducted 32 students from the class of 2021 into the Cum Laude Society The society is among the oldest academic honor organizations in the country for high school students He envisioned a society modeled after the well-known Phi Beta Kappa that would encourage and recognize true scholarship Harris believed that a student’s scholastic achievement in secondary school was as important to recognize as other accomplishments made while in school The society is still based on three core values that come from ancient Greece which means moral goodness and living up to one’s potential; Dike which relates to being true to what is right and acting with honor The Cum Laude Society has 382 chapters throughout the United States Approximately 4,000 new student members are inducted each year and only 20 percent of the senior class may be inducted CFHS held the cum laude induction ceremony on April 8 It began with a welcome from CFHS Principal Monica Asher then gave a history and motto of the Cum Laude Society The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Arlyce Seibert president general of the national organization and following her talk was the introduction and induction of the new society members This year’s Cum Laude Society members are: The fourth-grade students at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School held debates based on their study of the American Revolution In their English language arts (ELA) class students have been learning about nonfiction research by studying the American Revolution The unit is part of the new ELA program at CFIS The curriculum was designed by teacher Lucy Calkins and a group of her colleagues at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project to prepare students for any reading or writing task they may face Through years of research and work in thousands of schools across the country and the world instructional methods and professional learning opportunities Students wrote their own nonfiction book on a chosen topic and based on their understanding of the American Revolution They then supported their arguments using evidence that was in favor of either the Patriots or the Loyalists during that period the students debated one another using their evidence Chagrin Falls Schools art teacher Kristy Boss had students make props in her class to use during their argument including American flags and Loyalist hats ELA teacher at Chagrin Falls Schools Heather Reeder said and the debate preparation spilled over into many dinner conversations at home They were very convincing and well prepared to argue.” Chagrin Falls Schools has had a tradition of musical excellence that spans decades the music department added a new program to the fold with the creation of a songwriting class director of choirs at Chagrin Falls high and middle schools started hearing about students who were writing their own songs or forming bands together It got him thinking about the students who are interested in music and songwriting but perhaps do not feel the draw to join ensembles like choir With student interest emerging and his own love of songwriting and arranging Bachofsky decided to pitch the idea to the administration and Board of Education who welcomed and supported the new program The class is open to all high school students in grades 9-12 and meets all year long The program also is structured in a way that students can take the course for multiple years if they so choose It is Bachofsky’s hope that this course builds a songwriting community within the school basic music theory including chords and chord functions music business and law and foster 21st century skills such as collaboration and problem solving Students also get experience with sound engineering recording and editing through a platform purchased by the district called Soundtrap Projects range from acoustic style singer-songwriter inspired themes to creating music for film One highlight of the class has been the real life experience of having the opportunity to create theme music for the district’s new podcast Another favorite part of the class is the quarterly “jam sessions” in which students bring in instruments and play through popular songs to gain more exposure to various musical styles and improve their own instrument technique The program also features special guest artists and field trips to places such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The goal of the program is to foster a lifelong love of songwriting and music making Each year will end with a sing/songwriting showcase to allow students the opportunity to share their work with family For more information, email Bachofsky at nathan.bachofsky@chagrinschools.org To access our complete online news coverage Copyright Geauga County Maple Leaf. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Website Designed & Developed by Company 119 in Music | December 4th, 2017 Leave a Comment Though more than a cen­tu­ry of musi­cal change has passed since its infa­mous­ly near-riotous debut at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, The Rite of Spring remains a for­mi­da­ble chal­lenge for any con­duc­tor. “I remem­ber the first time I con­duct­ed the ‘Rite’ more than half a cen­tu­ry ago,” the late Rafael Früh­beck de Bur­gos told The Los Ange­les Times in 2013 the year of the pagan bal­let and orches­tral work’s cen­te­nary no mat­ter how many times you have per­formed it is a mon­ster who can eat you in one moment There are so many places that are dan­ger­ous Sei­ji Oza­wa, who has record­ed The Rite of Spring with the Chica­go and Boston Sym­pho­ny Orches­tras, knows that full well. In Absolute­ly on Music his book of con­ver­sa­tions with nov­el­ist Haru­ki Muraka­mi he address­es the “fias­co” of that very first per­for­mance: “The piece itself is part­ly to blame but it could well be that the orches­tra was­n’t ful­ly pre­pared to per­form it The piece is full of musi­cal acro­bat­ics I wish I had asked Pierre Mon­teux about it direct­ly We were very close for a while.” He means the con­duc­tor of The Rite of Spring’s debut just as soon as elec­tron­ic micro­phones made it pos­si­ble to do so That 1929 record hard­ly marked the end of Mon­teux’s rela­tion­ship with the piece: “When Stravin­sky first played him the music for The Rite, Mon­teux had to go and sit down in anoth­er room, con­clud­ing that he would stick to con­duct­ing Brahms,” writes WQXR’s Phil Kline he worked with the com­pos­er on score touch-ups and became the lead­ing pro­po­nent of The Rite as a con­cert work,” ulti­mate­ly record­ing it not just once but four times have most­ly come to know The Rite of Spring through Leopold Stokowski’s ver­sion in Dis­ney’s Fan­ta­sia a ren­di­tion Stravin­sky called “exe­crable.” But if the sheer bru­tal-seem­ing uncon­ven­tion­al­i­ty of the piece shocked its Parisian audi­ence in 1913 lis­ten­ing to the many inter­pre­ta­tions that have come out in the past 89 years might well find our­selves star­tled at how many pos­si­bil­i­ties The Rite of Spring still con­tains Watch 82-Year-Old Igor Stravin­sky Con­duct The Fire­bird, the Bal­let Mas­ter­piece That First Made Him Famous (1965) Hear 46 Ver­sions of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in 3 Min­utes: A Clas­sic Mashup Stravinsky’s “Ille­gal” Arrange­ment of “The Star Span­gled Ban­ner” (1944) Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Visu­al­ized in a Com­put­er Ani­ma­tion for Its 100th Anniver­sary Hear Igor Stravinsky’s Sym­phonies & Bal­lets in a Com­plete, 32-Hour, Chrono­log­i­cal Playlist by | Permalink | Comments (0) | We’re hop­ing to rely on our loy­al read­ers rather than errat­ic ads. To sup­port Open Cul­ture’s edu­ca­tion­al mis­sion, please con­sid­er mak­ing a dona­tion. We accept Pay­Pal, Ven­mo (@openculture), Patre­on and Cryp­to! Please find all options here. We thank you! XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong> Open Culture scours the web for the best educational media We find the free courses and audio books you need the language lessons & educational videos you want At the invitation of the Southwest Symphony Orchestra Lucas Darger will serve as the guest conductor this fall the theme of the concert is “Opus Pocus: A Halloween Spooktacular,” and will feature the St George Dance Company under the direction of Summer Belnap Robertson as well as the Hurricane High School Orchestra conducted by Debbie Thornton Beginning his conducting career when he was 16 with the All-City Children’s Orchestra in Salt Lake City Darger has gone on to conduct orchestras across the nation the University of Iowa Philharmonic Orchestra Darger earned his master’s degree in orchestral conducting from the University of Iowa named by the Minneapolis Star Tribune as “one of the most active and versatile symphonic conductors in America today.” Darger obtained a bachelor’s degree in violin performance on scholarship from the University of Utah where he studied conducting with Robert Baldwin He received a fellowship from the prestigious Pierre Monteux School for Conductors in Hancock where he studied with the acclaimed Michael Jinbo he performed with orchestras throughout the country and also toured internationally He has served as concertmaster in a number of symphony orchestras and is an experienced orchestra clinician and adjudicator His enthusiasm for music education is notable and he stated: “I am passionate about the role of music education in helping prepare students for academic and personal success no matter what career path they choose.” Darger will lead the Southwest Symphony in an outreach program for all third graders of the Washington County School District District Arts Coordinator: “This program creates quite an impression on these young students as the orchestra introduces them to the sounds of a symphony and the various instruments that comprise an orchestra.” According to Schmidt who has returned to his home state of Utah enjoys a diverse variety of activities outside of music he may be found hiking with his family in the Southern Utah mountains or riding his motorcycle with his wife through the picturesque canyons—and even skiing once it gets too cold to ride Darger has been described as “excelling at expressive nuanced performances that captivate and energize audiences.” With testimonials like this the concert-going community of Southern Utah is in for a real treat please go to website dsutix.com or go tosouthwestsymphony.co executive director of the Southwest Symphony Orchestra at 435-879-9130 JJ Abernathy is an arts advocate and educator and may be contacted at musictimes05@gmail.com 2) is as good an opportunity as any to remember Frederic Fradkin (1892-1963) the protagonist of the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s first (and Fradkin showed such talent on the violin that he moved to Europe to study while still a teenager A steady parade of appearances and accomplishments culminated with his appointment Pierre Monteux became the BSO’s music director Fradkin had previously worked with Monteux in Serge Diaghilev’s famous Ballets Russes but their collaboration in Boston would be fractious younger BSO players had been joining the musicians’ union and steadily pressuring the nonunion BSO for more money but pay stagnated after Higginson’s departure and the trustees dragged their feet creating an endowment sufficient to raise salaries The catalyst was a snub: Monteux refused to let Fradkin share his dressing room at a BSO concert at Sanders Theatre when Monteux motioned for the orchestra to stand Fradkin (a proponent of unionization) remained firmly in his seat; the breach of etiquette elicited hisses from the audience Following an impromptu meeting of the trustees The strike proved quixotic — the BSO remained nonunion — but the trustees’ victory was Pyrrhic: 32 players refused management’s invitation to rejoin the orchestra and Monteux was forced to spend the rest of his brief tenure rebuilding (One of the few strikers who did return was Arthur Fiedler After years of being denied union soloists and guest conductors Fradkin was composing and conducting incidental music for the popular radio series “The Adventures of the Thin Man,” a freewheeling job that Matthew Guerrieri can be reached at matthewguerrieri@gmail.com. Home Delivery Gift Subscriptions Log In Manage My Account Customer Service Delivery Issues Feedback News Tips Help & FAQs Staff List Advertise Newsletters View the ePaper Order Back Issues News in Education Search the Archives Privacy Policy Terms of Service Terms of Purchase Work at Boston Globe Media Internship Program Co-op Program Do Not Sell My Personal Information You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Log in for full access to stabroeknews.com Only one active session is allowed per subscriber Corentyne Public Road on Monday afternoon has left four people hospitalized and nursing injuries about their bodies The 4.30 pm accident involved motor car PTT 963 driven by Urel Edwards both of Lot 58 Number 53 Village Corentyne and motor car PAB 6362 driven by Wesley Monteux Edwards decided to apply brakes and was stationary on the said northern lane as Monteux was about to pass he allegedly made a sudden swerve and collided with Edwards As a result of the collision both drivers and occupants of the respective vehicles suffered injuries about their bodies They were all taken out of the vehicles in a conscious condition by public-spirited citizens and taken to the Port Mourant Public Hospital where they were examined by a doctor The two drivers along with Julius King and Leslin King were transferred to the New Amsterdam Public Hospital where they were admitted A FREE roundup of top news from Guyana you might otherwise miss