Wednesday (2/10) on Bloomberg.com, Catherine Hickley reports, “Peter Alward, the former head of EMI Group Ltd.’s classical music division, will take over the scandal-ridden Salzburg Easter Festival as soon as next week, the Austrian weekly magazine News reported. Alward, who is British, will replace Michael Dewitte, the festival’s managing director until December, who is now under investigation for fraud and embezzlement, News reported in a preview of tomorrow’s edition. The province of Salzburg says the losses to the festival over as many as eight years may have been as much 2 million euros ($2.76 million). … Eliette von Karajan, the widow of the festival’s founder Herbert von Karajan, told News she has known Alward more than 30 years and valued his work with her husband. The Easter Festival is an annual 10-day event that cooperates with the Berlin Philharmonic. Its artistic director is conductor Simon Rattle. Alward’s contract will initially be for three years, News reported.”
Posted February 10, 2010
