January–February January 6 – The annual Park Lane Group Young Artists festival of contemporary music opens with two concerts in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, London. The first concert, given by the Gallimaufry Ensemble, includes the premiere of a new wind quintet by 23-year-old Benjamin Wallfisch; the second concert features solo bass clarinettist Sarah Watts, who premieres Marc Yeats Vox for solo bass clarinet and Michael Smetanin's Ladder of Escape for bass clarinet with prerecorded ensemble of six bass and two contrabass clarinets.Richard Morrison, "PLG Young Artists", The Times (Wednesday January 8, 2003): 15. January 7 – The Philip on Film Live festival (until January 11) opens at the Barbican Centre, London, featuring films with music by Philip Glass performed live by the Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted by Michael Riesman.John L Walters, "Philip on Film Live: Barbican, London", The Guardian (Thursday January 9, 2003); Geoff Brown,"Glass Shorts", The Times (January 9, 2003): 23. January 9 – The Vienna Philharmonic belatedly announce that violist Ursula Plaichinger has become the first official female member of the orchestra, 158 years after their founding and six years after they have been forced to allow women to audition, under threat of having their state subsidies stopped. At the same time, it is disclosed that orchestra boss Clemens Hellsberg has formally banned Plaichinger from giving interviews to the press.Irene Zoech, "Orchestra Falls Quiet over First Female", The Times (January 10, 2003): 15. January 10 Andrew Lack, former chief of NBC news, is named the new head of Sony's music division, to the surprise of the music industry, because he had no previous experience of the record industry.Anon., "Sony Names Music Chief", The Times (January 11, 2003): 52. He replaced Tommy Mottola, who resigned the previous day amidst reports of friction with higher Sony executives over huge financial losses in the music division.Laura M. Holson and Lynette Holloway, "Top Music Executive Is Leaving Sony: After Tumultuous Year, He Plans to Start His Own Label", The New York Times (January 10, 2003). Following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in the UK and the Netherlands recover 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested. The tapes have been used for bootleg releases for years. January 13 – The Who guitarist Pete Townshend is arrested by British police on suspicion of possessing and making indecent images of children and of incitement to distribute them. Townshend claims in a statement that he did not download any such images and accessed Web sites advertising child pornography because he was researching material for his autobiography, which will include passages about his abusive childhood. January 17–February 2 – The Big Day Out festival takes place in Australia and New Zealand, headlined by Foo Fighters, Jane's Addiction and Underworld. January 18 The Indian Air Force band, the Air Warriors, play a concert in the Homi Baba Auditorium in Colaba (Mumbai), which included Muthuswami Dikshitar's Vathapiganapathi in a version combining military band with traditional Carnatic instruments.Anon., "Air Warriors Hit High Note with Concert", The Times of India (Tuesday January 21, 2003): 2. A two-day festival of the music of Mark-Anthony Turnage is given at the Barbican Centre, London, with three world premieres and chamber concerts by the Nash Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.Ivan Hewett, "Momentum: The Music of Mark-Anthony Turnage: Barbican, London EC2, Jan 18–19", The Times (January 18, 2003): 10; Richard Morrison, "Blood on the Floor", The Times (January 20, 2003): 17. January 22 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt cancels a European tour after being ordered by his doctors to take a two-month rest.Andrew Pierce, "Conductor's Illness Robs London of the Voice of St Cecilia", The Times (January 22, 2003): 6. February 3 Police respond to a 911 phone call from one of Phil Spector's neighbors and discover the body of actress Lana Clarkson, with a gunshot wound, at Spector's his home in Alhambra, California. Spector is arrested on suspicion of murder. The Martin Bashir television film Living with Michael Jackson premieres on ITV in the UK. It airs on ABC in the US three days later. A total of 53 million viewers in the two countries watch the special. February 8 – Avril Lavigne scores her third #1 single "I'm with You", making her the second artist in history to have three consecutive #1 songs from a début album in the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. February 20 – The Station nightclub fire: Fire engulfs a Rhode Island nightclub during a fireworks display which was part of the performance by rock band Great White. The fire quickly spreads across the ceiling, filling the building with thick, black smoke, killing 100 people and injuring 160 others as audience members rush for the exits. Many people are missing for some time, including Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who is later confirmed to be dead. February 23 – New York City is the site of The 45th Annual Grammy Awards, featuring Nickelback, No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Beyoncé and other performers. Norah Jones wins a total of six awards, including all four in the General field. February 24 – Robert Trujillo joins Metallica.
January–February January 6 – The annual Park Lane Group Young Artists festival of contemporary music opens with two concerts in the Purcell Room at the Southbank Centre, London. The first concert, given by the Gallimaufry Ensemble, includes the premiere of a new wind quintet by 23-year-old Benjamin Wallfisch; the second concert features solo bass clarinettist Sarah Watts, who premieres Marc Yeats Vox for solo bass clarinet and Michael Smetanin's Ladder of Escape for bass clarinet with prerecorded ensemble of six bass and two contrabass clarinets.Richard Morrison, "PLG Young Artists", The Times (Wednesday January 8, 2003): 15. January 7 – The Philip on Film Live festival (until January 11) opens at the Barbican Centre, London, featuring films with music by Philip Glass performed live by the Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted by Michael Riesman.John L Walters, "Philip on Film Live: Barbican, London", The Guardian (Thursday January 9, 2003); Geoff Brown,"Glass Shorts", The Times (January 9, 2003): 23. January 9 – The Vienna Philharmonic belatedly announce that violist Ursula Plaichinger has become the first official female member of the orchestra, 158 years after their founding and six years after they have been forced to allow women to audition, under threat of having their state subsidies stopped. At the same time, it is disclosed that orchestra boss Clemens Hellsberg has formally banned Plaichinger from giving interviews to the press.Irene Zoech, "Orchestra Falls Quiet over First Female", The Times (January 10, 2003): 15. January 10 Andrew Lack, former chief of NBC news, is named the new head of Sony's music division, to the surprise of the music industry, because he had no previous experience of the record industry.Anon., "Sony Names Music Chief", The Times (January 11, 2003): 52. He replaced Tommy Mottola, who resigned the previous day amidst reports of friction with higher Sony executives over huge financial losses in the music division.Laura M. Holson and Lynette Holloway, "Top Music Executive Is Leaving Sony: After Tumultuous Year, He Plans to Start His Own Label", The New York Times (January 10, 2003). Following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in the UK and the Netherlands recover 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested. The tapes have been used for bootleg releases for years. January 13 – The Who guitarist Pete Townshend is arrested by British police on suspicion of possessing and making indecent images of children and of incitement to distribute them. Townshend claims in a statement that he did not download any such images and accessed Web sites advertising child pornography because he was researching material for his autobiography, which will include passages about his abusive childhood. January 17–February 2 – The Big Day Out festival takes place in Australia and New Zealand, headlined by Foo Fighters, Jane's Addiction and Underworld. January 18 The Indian Air Force band, the Air Warriors, play a concert in the Homi Baba Auditorium in Colaba (Mumbai), which included Muthuswami Dikshitar's Vathapiganapathi in a version combining military band with traditional Carnatic instruments.Anon., "Air Warriors Hit High Note with Concert", The Times of India (Tuesday January 21, 2003): 2. A two-day festival of the music of Mark-Anthony Turnage is given at the Barbican Centre, London, with three world premieres and chamber concerts by the Nash Ensemble and the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.Ivan Hewett, "Momentum: The Music of Mark-Anthony Turnage: Barbican, London EC2, Jan 18–19", The Times (January 18, 2003): 10; Richard Morrison, "Blood on the Floor", The Times (January 20, 2003): 17. January 22 – Nikolaus Harnoncourt cancels a European tour after being ordered by his doctors to take a two-month rest.Andrew Pierce, "Conductor's Illness Robs London of the Voice of St Cecilia", The Times (January 22, 2003): 6. February 3 Police respond to a 911 phone call from one of Phil Spector's neighbors and discover the body of actress Lana Clarkson, with a gunshot wound, at Spector's his home in Alhambra, California. Spector is arrested on suspicion of murder. The Martin Bashir television film Living with Michael Jackson premieres on ITV in the UK. It airs on ABC in the US three days later. A total of 53 million viewers in the two countries watch the special. February 8 – Avril Lavigne scores her third #1 single "I'm with You", making her the second artist in history to have three consecutive #1 songs from a début album in the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. February 20 – The Station nightclub fire: Fire engulfs a Rhode Island nightclub during a fireworks display which was part of t.he performance by rock band Great White. The fire quickly spreads across the ceiling, filling the building with thick, black smoke, killing 100 people and injuring 160 others as audience members rush for the exits. Many people are missing for some time, including Great White guitarist Ty Longley, who is later confirmed to be dead. February 23 – New York City is the site of The 45th Annual Grammy Awards, featuring Nickelback, No Doubt, Foo Fighters, Beyoncé and other performers. Norah Jones wins a total of six awards, including all four in the General field. February 24 – Robert Trujillo joins Metallica