1994
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1 January 1994 Intense factional fighting resumes around Kabul, Afghanistan.
The North American Free Trade Agreement goes into effect.
The Zapatista National Liberation Army captures four towns in Chiapas State, Mexico including San Cristóbal de las Casas. They object to the dispossession of Indians from communal farm lands, NAFTA, and poverty in general.
4 January 1994 Mexican troops retake the four towns in Chiapas lost on 1 January.
5 January 1994 Bosnian Serbs begin a two-day bombardment of Sarajevo.
With the appointment of a new governing council, the Bank of France becomes independent of the government.
Three Songs from the Norse for voice and piano by Arnold Bax (†40) is performed for the first time, privately, at the home of Susan and Aidan Woodcock, Stoke d’Abernon, Surrey. See 18 January 1994.
7 January 1994 The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention withdraws a radio announcement narrated by popular music entertainer Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers when it learns that Kiedis has been convicted of sexual battery and indecent exposure.
Quoth the Raven, three pieces for clarinet and piano by Betsy Jolas (67), is performed for the first time, in Chambéry.
10 January 1994 Ukraine agrees to destroy all its nuclear warheads and long range missiles.
11 January 1994 Concerto grosso no.6 for violin, piano, and string orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
14 January 1994 US President Bill Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and President Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine sign an agreement in Moscow to dismantle the nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Fantasy for orchestra by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (54) is performed for the first time, in Long Beach, California.
15 January 1994 The Dream of Valentino, an opera by Dominick Argento (66) to words of Nolte, is performed for the first time, at the Kennedy Center, Washington.
16 January 1994 The militant Pan-Africanist Congress announces it is suspending its armed struggle against whites and that it plans to contest the April South African elections as a political party.
The Mexican government declares a unilateral cease-fire in Chiapas. The death toll in two weeks of fighting is put at 107.
Communion Words for chorus by John Harbison (55) is performed for the first time, in Emmanuel Church, Boston.
17 January 1994 An earthquake strikes the Los Angeles area killing 51 people and injuring 5,500. Buildings are destroyed along with highway overpasses.
18 January 1994 A final report is issued by Lawrence Walsh, special prosecutor in the Iran-Contra scandal. 14 men were charged with crimes, eleven were convicted. Six were pardoned by President Bush. Walsh finds complicity in the affair and its cover-up by President Ronald Reagan, Secretary of State George Schulz, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Attorney General Edmund Meese, and CIA Director William Casey.
Three Songs from the Norse for voice and piano by Arnold Bax (†40) is performed publicly for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London. See 5 January 1994.
19 January 1994 Witold Lutoslawski (80) receives a telephone call from the office of President Lech Walesa informing him that he has been awarded the Order of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest award of any kind.
Representatives of Serbia and Croatia agree in Geneva to low level diplomatic relations and the resumption of communication and transportation links.
Violin Concerto by John Adams (46) is performed for the first time, in the Ordway Music Theatre, St. Paul.
20 January 1994 US Attorney General Janet Reno appoints Robert Fiske to be special prosecutor investigating the Arkansas real estate activities of President Clinton and his wife.
String Quartet no.4 with tape by Sofia Gubaidulina (62) is performed for the first time, in New York.
22 January 1994 Song for Athene for chorus by John Tavener (49) to words of Shakespeare and the Orthodox liturgy is performed for the first time, in St. Giles Cripplegate, London.
24 January 1994 A new dinar is introduced in Yugoslavia, ending two years of hyperinflation.
Into the Radiant Boundaries of Light for viola and guitar by Samuel Adler (65) is performed for the first time, in Rochester, New York.
25 January 1994 President Thomas Klestil of Austria announces that he has separated from his wife because of an ongoing affair he is having with one of his advisors, Margot Loeffler.
Popular music entertainer Michael Jackson makes an out-of-court settlement with a 14-year-old boy who claimed Jackson sexually molested him.
26 January 1994 Lejaren Arthur Hiller dies of Alzheimer’s Disease in Niagara Lutheran Nursing Home in Buffalo, aged 69 years, eleven months, and three days.
27 January 1994 Quartet for percussion by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
Tolerance for orchestra by Jonathan Lloyd (45) is performed for the first time, in Royal Festival Hall, London.
Concerto for english horn and orchestra by Ned Rorem (70) is performed for the first time, in Avery Fisher Hall, New York. It was commissioned for the 150th anniversary season of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
K’vakarat for cantor and string quartet by Osvaldo Golijov (33) is performed for the first time, in Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio. Also premiered is Golijov’s Av Horachamin for cantor and electric string quartet.
28 January 1994 Myechyslav Ivanavich Gryb replaces Stanislav Stanislavavich Shushkyevich as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (head of state) of Belarus.
The first complete performance of the Universe Symphony by Charles Ives (†39), in a realization by Larry Austin (63), takes place in Cincinnati. See 29 October 1993 and 6 June 1996.
29 January 1994 The first secretary of Jordan’s embassy in Beirut is murdered by a Palestinian terrorist.
31 January 1994 Believing they are under attack, US troops open fire in a crowded street in Mogadishu. Eight Somalis are killed.
The Teatro Liceo in Barcelona is destroyed by fire. No one is injured.
Notturno (Quartetto III) for string quartet by Luciano Berio (68) is performed for the first time, in Vienna.
1 February 1994 UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appoints José Ayala Lasso of Ecuador as the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
And: The Feast is in Full Progress for cello and orchestra by Sofia Gubaidulina (62) is performed for the first time, in Las Palmas, Grand Canary.
3 February 1994 Space shuttle Discovery blasts off from Cape Canaveral carrying Sergey Krikalev, the first Russian cosmonaut to fly aboard an American spacecraft.
The UN Security Council orders Croatia to remove its troops from Bosnia or face sanctions.
President Clinton announces that the United States is ending its trade embargo on Vietnam.
5 February 1994 A Serb mortar shell lands in a Sarajevo market killing 68 people and injuring over 200. Following this, NATO institutes an exclusion zone for heavy weapons around Sarajevo.
7 February 1994 22:00 Witold Lutoslawski dies of skin cancer in the Ministry of the Interior Hospital in Warsaw, aged 81 years and 13 days.
9 February 1994 NATO gives an ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs. They must withdraw their heavy weapons 20km from the center of Sarajevo, or place them under UN control. If they do not comply within ten days, any offending weapon will be destroyed by air strikes.
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Yassir Arafat initial an agreement in Cairo about areas of Arab self-rule.
The United States recognizes The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
10 February 1994 Symphony no.7 by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in New York. The composer makes his last trip to North America to be present.
12 February 1994 The 17th Winter Olympics open in Lillehammer, Norway. It is the first time that the winter games are held in a year other than the summer games.
The Scream by Edvard Munch is stolen from the National Art Museum in Oslo.
In Erwartung for saxophone quartet and six percussionists by Sofia Gubaidulina (62) is performed for the first time, in Stockholm.
15 February 1994 Viacom, Inc. announces it has 75% control of Paramount, Inc. The bid is put at $10,000,000,000. Paramount, Inc. includes its movie studio, publisher Simon and Schuster, Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers, and the New York Knicks.
16 February 1994 After a funeral in the Church of St. Karol Boromeusz, the cremated remains of Witold Lutoslawski are buried in Powazki cemetery, Warsaw.
17 February 1994 After eight days of non-compliance with the NATO ultimatum, the Bosnian Serbs are told by President Boris Yeltsin of Russia to comply. Yeltsin promises that Russian troops will occupy areas evacuated by Serbs. The Bosnian Serb leadership agrees and 400 Russian troops are sent from Slavonia.
Partita for orchestra by Elliott Carter (85) is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Chicago. See 25 April 1998.
18 February 1994 C-A-G-E for piano, in memory of John Cage (†1) by Tan Dun (36), is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
23 February 1994 The Russian Duma grants amnesty to the leaders of the 1991 and 1993 coup attempts.
In response to NATO threats, Bosnian Serb gun positions around Sarajevo are abandoned or brought under UN control by this date.
Bosnian Croats and Moslems sign a cease-fire in Zagreb. The Croats agree to lift the siege of the Moslem-held city of Mostar.
24 February 1994 Dancer on a Tightrope for violin and piano by Sofia Gubaidulina (62) is performed for the first time, at the Library of Congress, Washington. Since 20 January, the composer has been present at four premieres of her work, in New York, the Canary Islands, Stockholm, and Washington.
25 February 1994 An Israeli enters a mosque in Hebron and opens fire with an automatic rifle. 29 people are killed, while three are trampled to death in the rush to escape. The Israeli is beaten to death by Arabs. Riots break out in Arab areas, killing many others.
27 February 1994 The 17th Winter Olympic Games close in Lillehammer, Norway. 1,737 athletes from 67 countries took part.
Moldova holds its first national elections since independence.
28 February 1994 After six Bosnian Serb planes attack Novi Travnik, hitting a hospital, four of them are shot down by NATO planes. This is the first time that NATO forces have ever engaged in combat. Nevertheless the Serbs fire artillery shells into the UN safe area of Tuzla.
The Hungarian government begins the privatization of four large state-owned firms.
1 March 1994 Martti Oiva Ahtisaari replaces Mauno Koivisto as President of Finland.
In Washington, representatives of the Bosnian Moslems and Croats agree to federate the areas under their control.
South Africa returns Walvis Bay to Namibia.
A Lebanese national opens fire on a van carrying 15 Jewish students across the Brooklyn Bridge. One student will die, three others are injured. The assailant will be arrested tomorrow.
An Old Times Tune for Merce Cunningham’s 75th Birthday for string quartet and piano by Lou Harrison (76) is performed for the first time, at Lincoln Center, New York.
Night Fields for string quartet by Joan Tower (55) is performed for the first time, at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
2 March 1994 The Zapatista National Liberation Army and the Mexican government reach a tentative agreement at San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Set cançons valencianes for viola and piano by Joaquín Rodrigo (92) are performed for the first time, in Madrid.
3 March 1994 Jordan establishes diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
4 March 1994 Four people are convicted on 38 charges in the bombing of the World Trade Center, in a Manhattan court room.
5 March 1994 Armed clashes between north and south Yeminis escalate into civil war. President Ali Abdullah Saleh declares a 30-day state of emergency.
6 March 1994 Voters in Moldova reject union with Romania.
7 March 1994 Kazakhstan holds its first national elections since independence. Western observers call the exercise unfair.
Sixty women report to the USS Eisenhower for duty. They are the first women assigned to combat duty in the history of the US Navy.
10 March 1994 Thousands of conservative whites enter Bophuthatswana in an attempt to prevent the nominally independent country from participating in the South African elections next month.
11 March 1994 South African police escort conservative whites out of Bophuthatswana.
The Slovakian government of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar falls after a no-confidence vote.
Eduardo Frei Ruiz Tagle replaces Patricio Aylwin Azócar as President of Chile.
German President Richard von Weiszäcker is present in Leipzig for a concert honoring the 250th anniversary of the founding of the Gewandhaus Orchestra.
12 March 1994 The Church of England ordains its first women priests at Bristol Cathedral.
13 March 1994 Lucas Mangope, president of the nominally independent Bophuthatswana, is deposed by South Africa because of widespread violence by citizens angry with his opposition to participation in the South African election next month.
15 March 1994 A new constitution is adopted in Belarus.
A Hoy Calendar for chorus by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, at St. Edward’s College, Liverpool.
16 March 1994 Jozef Moravcik replaces Vladimir Meciar as Prime Minister of Slovakia.
Chat Moss for school orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, at St. Edward’s College, Liverpool.
Symphony no.1 by John Melby (52) is performed for the first time, at the University of Illinois.
17 March 1994 The UN Security Council votes to send 500 Ghanaian troops to secure the airport at Kigali. A further 150 observers will assess the humanitarian situation. A plan for 5,500 troops was scaled down by 90% when the US objected.
18 March 1994 Leaders of Bosnia’s Moslems and Croats sign a charter for their federation.
William Lawrence Bergsma dies in Swedish Hospital, Seattle where he is being treated for a broken hip, aged 72 years, eleven months, and 17 days.
19 March 1994 Bosnian Serb forces lift their five-month siege of the Moslem-held town of Maglaj.
22 March 1994 The first humanitarian relief flights reach Tuzla, currently surrounded by Serbs.
23 March 1994 Luis Donaldo Colosio Murrieta, candidate of the PRI for President of Mexico, is shot twice after a campaign speech in Tijuana by Mario Aburto Martínez. The gunman and another suspect are arrested. Colosio undergoes surgery for a stomach wound but dies.
Idyll no.3: Frost at Midnight op.78 for orchestra by Robin Holloway (50) is performed for the first time.
24 March 1994 Let Evening Come, a cycle for soprano, viola, and piano by William Bolcom (55) to words of Angelou, Dickinson, and Kenyon, is performed for the first time, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
25 March 1994 Cambodian government troops capture the Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin.
The last United States forces leave Mogadishu. 14,000 UN peacekeepers remain.
Trio for clarinet, violin, and piano by William Bolcom (55) is performed for the first time, in Wigmore Hall, London.
28 March 1994 53 people are killed and 300 injured in fighting between Zulus, the African National Congress, and police in Johannesburg. It is also reported that 150 people have been killed over the last eleven days in fighting among Zulus in Natal.
Two days of voting in Italy result in a parliamentary plurality for the conservative coalition, the Alliance for Freedom.
Eugène Ionesco dies in Paris at the age of 81.
The World is Burning for chorus and tam-tam by John Tavener (50) to words of Mother Thekla is performed for the first time, in Guildhall, London.
29 March 1994 Bosnian Serb forces begin an offensive against Moslems in the UN safe area of Gorazde.
The European Union completes agreements to admit Austria, Finland, Norway, and Sweden, pending ratification votes in each country.
Versions/Stages I-V for electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (59) is performed for the first time, in La Jolla, California.
31 March 1994 South African President FW de Klerk declares a state of emergency in KwaZulu.
Five former federal policemen and a police informant are sentenced to life in prison by a court in Chile for the murder of three leftists in 1985, during the reign of the US-backed dictator Augusto Pinochet.
With Bells On for winds and percussion by Jacob Druckman (65) is performed for the first time, in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles.
4 April 1994 Equinox for guitar by Toru Takemitsu (63) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
5 April 1994 Bosnian Serb troops break through Moslem lines at Gorazde, a UN safe area.
Serb and Croatian forces reach a cease-fire in eastern Slavonia.
Zyia for soprano, male chorus, flute, and piano by Iannis Xenakis (71) is performed for the first time, in Evreux, 42 years after it was composed.
6 April 1994 A plane carrying President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda and President Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi is shot down as it is landing in Kigali, by members of the Rwandan army angered over plans to include Tutsis in the government. The two presidents just concluded a conference in Tanzania aimed at ending violence between Hutus and Tutsis. In Kigali, the prime minister and eleven UN observers are disarmed and shot to death by members of the presidential guard. This begins an orgy of bloodletting. Over the next week, 20,000 people will be killed.
An Arab terrorist drives a car bomb into a school bus in Afula, Israel. Seven people are killed, 44 injured.
Sonata for two pianos in one movement by William Bolcom (55) is performed for the first time, at Purdue University.
7 April 1994 An Arab opens fire at a bus stop in Ashdod, Israel. One person is killed, four wounded. Bystanders kill the gunman. In Gaza, he is praised as a hero. Israel seals off the West Bank and Gaza.
Concerto for cello by John Harbison (55) is performed for the first time, in Boston.
Antiphon for brass by John Corigliano (56) is performed for the first time, at Lehman College, New York City.
8 April 1994 Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa of Japan resigns amidst allegations of financial impropriety. He remains as a caretaker.
Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana of Rwanda is confirmed dead in the ethnic slaughter, along with several other high ranking government members. The Society of Jesus reports that 19 of their clergy and lay workers have been killed.
The restoration of Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement is unveiled by Pope John Paul II.
Popular music entertainer Kurt Cobain, leader of the group Nirvana, is found dead in Seattle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
9 April 1994 In the midst of mass ethnic murders, western governments begin evacuating their nationals from Rwanda.
10 April 1994 NATO planes attack Serb forces advancing on Gorazde. Serb shelling of civilian areas stops two hours after the attack.
800 Belgian paratroopers arrive in Kigali to protect the evacuation of 1,500 Belgian nationals from Rwanda.
11 April 1994 Serb forces resume their advance on Gorazde and are attacked once again by NATO planes. Three APCs and a truck are destroyed. The Serbs halt their attack, but they detain 150 UN personnel as hostages and bombard Tuzla with artillery and mortars in reprisal.
The United States imposes trade sanctions on Taiwan to halt the sale of tiger bones and rhinoceros horns.
12 April 1994 UN aid workers report over 1,000 casualties in Gorazde due to Serb shelling.
About 20,000 rebel troops begin advancing south towards Kigali. 100,000 civilians flee the city.
Gunther Schuller (68) is awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Of Reminiscences and Reflections. See 2 December 1993.
13 April 1994 An Arab suicide bomber kills five people and injures 30 others at a bus station in Hadera, Israel.
Russian envoy Vitaly Churkin says the Bosnian Serbs have assured him they will stop their attack on Gorazde.
14 April 1994 Bosnian Serbs resume heavy shelling of the UN safe area of Gorazde.
US warplanes mistakenly shoot down two US Army helicopters over northern Iraq. The helicopters carried UN officials engaged in a humanitarian mission for the Kurds. All 26 people aboard the helicopters are killed.
Executives of seven tobacco companies testify under oath before a committee of the US House of Representatives. They say that they believe cigarettes are not addictive. They deny manipulating nicotine content and that they target young people in advertisements.
15 April 1994 Bosnian Serb forces begin their final assault on Gorazde.
Representatives of 125 countries sign an agreement in Marakesh to dissolve the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and to create the World Trade Organization, effective 1 January.
16 April 1994 King Hussein of Jordan outlaws the terrorist Hamas organization.
Serb forces capture the heights around Gorazde. NATO air strikes are called but one plane (UK) is shot down. The pilot ejects safely.
17 April 1994 Defying UN warnings, Bosnian Serb forces resume their assault on Gorazde firing on fleeing civilians. They enter and occupy the city on the right bank of the Drina.
Concerning Them Which Are Asleep for chorus by John Harbison (55) is performed for the first time, in Emmanuel Church, Boston.
19 April 1994 About 50 Serb fighters attack a UN weapons collection point at Lukavica barracks inside the Sarajevo exclusion zone. They take away 18 anti-aircraft guns.
Zulu leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi agrees to join the election process in South Africa.
The last Belgian troops depart Rwanda.
20 April 1994 Serb forces destroy most of the hospital in Gorazde and a nearby clinic, and they shell Red Cross refugee centers. 345 people are killed, 1,187 injured.
21 April 1994 The UN Security Council votes to reduce the peacekeeping force in Rwanda by 90%.
22 April 1994 NATO sends an ultimatum to the Bosnian Serbs: 1. cease-fire, 2. Pull back to three km from the center of Gorazde by April 24, and 3. withdraw heavy weapons 20 km from the center of Gorazde by 27 April.
Lullaby for soprano and flute by Ralph Shapey (73) is performed for the first time, in Mandel Hall of the University of Chicago.
23 April 1994 Serb forces begin to pull back from Gorazde but continue to shell the city.
The Sonata for viola by Györgi Ligeti (70) is performed completely for the first time, in Gütersloh. See 18 November 1991 and 28 March 1993.
24 April 1994 A car bomb, presumably set by white extremists in Johannesburg, kills nine people including a white candidate for the provincial parliament. 92 people are injured.
Bosnian Serbs agree to a ceasefire in Gorazde. 150 Ukrainian troops enter the city.
Plektó for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and cello by Iannis Xenakis (71) is performed for the first time, in Witten.
Several works for chorus by Györgi Ligeti (70) are performed for the first time, in Gütersloh: Kings in Bethlehem, From a High Mountain Rock and Easter, all composed in 1946, Like a Stream Gently Flowing composed in 1947 and Songs from Inaktelke composed in 1953.
Trio Concertante for violin, piano and percussion by Ralph Shapey (73) is performed for the first time, in San Francisco.
25 April 1994 Tsutomu Hata replaces Morihiro Hosukawa as Prime Minister of Japan.
Over a dozen bombs explode throughout South Africa. Several people are killed.
Canticle and Round in Honor of Gerhard Samuel’s Birthday for percussion by Lou Harrison (76) is performed for the first time, at the University of Cincinnati.
Cicada for two pianos by Kevin Volans (44) is performed for the first time, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
26 April 1994 The Social Democratic Party withdraws from the ruling seven-party coalition, leaving new Japanese Prime Minister Tsutomu Hata without a majority in Parliament.
Voting begins in the first open election in South Africa. Offices contested are President, a 90-member Senate, and a 400-seat National Assembly.
27 April 1994 Bosnian Serb forces remove their heavy weapons from Gorazde. The UN declares them in compliance with their ultimatum. On their way out, the Serbs destroy houses and Gorazde’s water-treatment plant. The UN Security Council approves 6,500 more peacekeepers for Bosnia.
A unilateral rebel cease-fire ends with heavy fighting at the Kigali airport. Rwandan rebels now surround the capital and control much of northern and eastern Rwanda.
A new constitution and bill of rights for South Africa goes into effect. It includes a new national flag, nine new provinces and the end of black homelands.
28 April 1994 Counterpoise for soprano and orchestra by Jacob Druckman (65) to words of Dickinson and Apollinaire is performed for the first time, in Philadelphia.
29 April 1994 On this day, 250,000 people cross the border from Rwanda into Tanzania amidst a general exodus to flee the genocide. Over 100,000 people are reported killed in the last three weeks in Rwanda. The UN reports lines of refugees eight km long at one Tanzania border crossing.
Danish UN troops battle Bosnian Serbs near Tuzla, killing nine of them.
In the first meeting between a sitting president and leaders of Indian tribes since 1822, President Clinton vows to honor tribal sovereignty, at the White House.
String Quartet by Bruno Maderna (†20) is performed for the first time, in Paris, 48 years after it was composed.
Twice Upon…, a theatre piece without words for six groups of children by Luciano Berio (68) is performed for the first time, in London.
30 April 1994 String Quartet no.3 by John Harbison (55) is performed for the first time, at Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts.
3 May 1994 National elections in the Netherlands lead to massive losses for the ruling Labor Party and Christian Democratic Appeal. Two Liberal parties, the Party for Freedom and Democracy, and Democrats 66 are the main beneficiaries.
Theophany for orchestra, bandir drum and tape by John Tavener (50) is performed for the first time, in Basingstoke Concert Hall.
4 May 1994 Yitzhak Rabin and Yassir Arafat sign an agreement in Cairo over terms for implementing self-rule in Gaza and Jericho.
A resolution of the United States Senate officially welcomes Mikis Theodorakis (68) to the country.
5 May 1994 Civil war begins between north and south Yemen.
6 May 1994 Paula Jones files suit in federal court charging that President Clinton, while Governor of Arkansas, made unwanted sexual advances to her in an Arkansas hotel room. It is the first suit of its kind against a sitting president.
Nelson Mandela is declared the winner of the presidential election in South Africa with 63% of the vote. His African National Congress wins 252 of 400 seats in the National Assembly.
The “Chunnel” connecting Great Britain and France under the English Channel is officially inaugurated by Queen Elizabeth II and President François Mitterand. The structure will not open to traffic until October.
The UN Security Council votes a wide-ranging trade embargo on Haiti.
7 May 1994 Edvard Munch’s The Scream is recovered in Aasgaardstrand, Norway, three months after it was stolen in Oslo.
A String Quartet in e flat minor by Bohuslav Martinu (†34) is performed for the first time, in Zürich, 77 years after it was composed.
8 May 1994 US President Clinton announces that refugees from Haiti will no longer be immediately turned back. They will be given interviews to determine their status.
Constellations for clarinet/bass clarinet/tenor saxophone, cello, electric guitar, double bass/bass guitar, piano/celesta, and percussion by Ralph Shapey (73) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York the composer conducting.
Trés Lent for cello and piano by Joan Tower (55) is performed for the first time, in Merkin Concert Hall, New York the composer at the piano.
9 May 1994 The newly elected South African National Assembly is sworn in in Cape Town. Their first act is to elect Nelson Mandela as President.
Wolfgang Rihm’s (42) Sphere for piano, winds, and percussion is performed for the first time, in Munich.
10 May 1994 Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela succeeds Frederick Willem de Klerk as President of South Africa. Representatives of 130 nations, including 45 heads of state, witness the ceremony in Pretoria.
11 May 1994 150 Arab police take over security duties in a town in the Gaza Strip.
Silvio Berlusconi replaces Carlo Azeglio Ciampi as Prime Minister of Italy.
The Haitian military installs Emil Jonassaint as President.
13 May 1994 Israeli forces complete their withdrawal from Jericho. Local control is taken over by the PLO.
A joint plan by the US, Russia, and five European nations for peace in Bosnia is unveiled. It includes a four-month cease-fire and a partition proposal.
15 May 1994 The final version of De temporum fine, a Bühnenspiel-comoedia by Carl Orff (†12) to his own words, is performed for the first time, in Ulm. See 20 August 1973.
Gending Moon for male voice and Javanese gamelan by Lou Harrison (77) to his own words is performed for the first time, at Cabrillo College, Aptos, California.
16 May 1994 A 17-man coalition transition government in installed in Liberia.
18 May 1994 Israeli forces complete their withdrawal from Gaza. Local control is taken over by the PLO.
The US Food and Drug Administration rules that the Flavr Savr tomato, the first genetically engineered food, is safe for human consumption.
21 May 1994 Bakili Muluzi is sworn in as the first freely elected president of Malawi, ending the 30-year rule of Hastings Kamuzu Banda.
22 May 1994 Rebel Rwandans seize the airport in Kigali. By this date, the bodies of 40,000 Rwandans have washed ashore on Lake Victoria in Uganda. The government of Uganda declares a state of emergency on its Lake Victoria shore.
A tougher United Nations trade embargo goes into effect against Haiti. Only food, medicine, and cooking oils are allowed in.
24 May 1994 Those found guilty on 4 March of bombing the World Trade Center receive prison sentences of 240 years each.
25 May 1994 Shepherds of Hoy for children’s chorus and piano by Peter Maxwell Davies (59), is performed for the first time, at Sotheby’s, London.
26 May 1994 The 40-nation International Whaling Commission, meeting in Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, creates a permanent sanctuary for whales around Antarctica.
US President Bill Clinton reneges on a campaign promise by authorizing most-favored-nation status for China despite their deplorable human rights record.
27 May 1994 Alyeksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn arrives in Magadan, Russia after a flight from Anchorage, Alaska. It is his first time in Russia in 20 years.
Trio for clarinet, viola and piano op.79 by Robin Holloway (50) is performed for the first time, in Festival Theatre, Malvern.
28 May 1994 The second of the OstWest-Miniaturen for oboe and cello by Isang Yun (76) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
“An Angel...” for mezzo-soprano and double bass by Sofia Gubaidulina (62) to words of Lasker-Schüler is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
Mutter for mezzo-soprano and piano by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
O meine Seele war ein Wald for mezzo-soprano, alto, harp, viola, cello, and double bass by Wolfgang Rihm (42) to words of Lasker-Schüler is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
Fanfare for Glyndebourne for brass and timpani by Harrison Birtwistle (59) is performed for the first time, at Glyndebourne.
29 May 1994 UN officials report that the Bosnian Serbs still have not complied with their pledge to remove their troops from Gorazde.
Voting in Hungarian parliamentary elections results in the capture of 209 of 286 seats by the Socialist Party, up from 33 in the previous parliament.
30 May 1994 Croatia introduces a new currency, the kuna.
31 May 1994 The United States State Department estimates that 500,000 people were killed in the Rwandan genocide.
1 June 1994 South Africa rejoins the Commonwealth 33 years after leaving it.
2 June 1994 In his home in Hamburg, Alfred Schnittke (59) feels the onset of a stroke and asks to be taken to the hospital.
3 June 1994 Fantasma/Cantos II for trombone and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (63) is performed for the first time, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
4 June 1994 ...early in the morning before waking... for seven kotos by Sofia Gubaidulina (62) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
5 June 1994 Alfred Schnittke (59) suffers a third stroke, while in hospital in Eppendorf, near Hamburg. It is very serious and rehabilitation will be slow.
6 June 1994 An earthquake and landslides in Cauca and Huila Provinces of Colombia kills 1,000 people and leaves thousands homeless.
9 June 1994 The Archbishop of Kigali, two other bishops, and ten priests are killed by members of the Rwanda Patriotic Front.
Dämmerschein for orchestra by Iannis Xenakis (72) is performed for the first time, in Lisbon.
10 June 1994 A cease-fire between Bosnian Serbs and the Moslem-Croat federation goes into effect.
US President Clinton freezes most financial transactions with Haiti. The US and Canada agree to end all commercial air flights to Haiti effective 25 June.
11 June 1994 90+ for piano by Elliott Carter (85) is performed for the first time, at the Pontino Festival in Castello Caetani, Sermonetta, Italy.
12 June 1994 Voting for the European Parliament today and 9 June results in a plurality of seats for leftist parties.
13 June 1994 Rwandan rebels take the temporary capital of Gitarama.
A federal court in Anchorage finds that Exxon was reckless in allowing Joseph Hazelwood to captain the Exxon Valdez. It finds Hazelwood negligent and reckless. This allows 10,000 plaintiffs (fishermen, Native Alaskans, property owners) to seek compensation.
New works are premiered at the 50th anniversary concert of WNYC in Alice Tully Hall, New York: Now, so long after that time for piano by Philip Glass (57), How Like Pellucid Statues, Daddy for bassoon quartet by John Corigliano (56), and “Or Like a…an Engine” from No Longer Very Clear: a Suite for Piano by Joan Tower (55).
In This House of Blues for voice, clarinet and piano by Anthony Davis (43) to words of Ashbery is performed for the first time, in New York, the composer at the keyboard.
16 June 1994 Vitalii Andriyovych Masol replaces Yukhim Leonidovych Zvyahilsky as Prime Minister of Ukraine.
17 June 1994 Mikis Theodorakis (68) resigns as music director of the choir and two orchestras of Hellenic State Radio, attacking the media empire of Christos Lambrakis.
Two works for violin and cello by Jacob Druckman (65) are performed for the first time, in Charonne, France: Dark Wind and Duo.
Los Angeles Police charge former football player OJ Simpson with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman on the night of 12-13 June. Later in the day, Simpson takes police on a 100 km low-speed car chase before a national audience. He is finally captured.
18 June 1994 Cross Lane Fair for Northumbrian pipes, bodhran, and orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, in St. Magnus’ Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney the composer conducting.
Jack and Jill for voice and piano by John Corigliano (56) to words of Hoffman is performed for the first time, in New York.
19 June 1994 After a four-day visit to North Korea, former US President Jimmy Carter announces concessions agreed to by the North Korean regime in regard to its nuclear program.
Improvisation for cello by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Paris.
21 June 1994 Dr. David Kessler, head of the US Food and Drug Administration, announces that Brown and Williamson secretly developed genetically altered tobacco to increase potency.
La Belle et la Bête, an opera by Philip Glass (57) to his own words after Cocteau, is performed for the first time, in Gibellina, Italy.
22 June 1994 Russia joins NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, allowing them limited participation in NATO exercises.
23 June 1994 Under UN auspices, French troops cross from Zaire into Rwanda with the intention of protecting civilians. They find thousands buried in mass graves, victims of Hutu militants.
Mahshood Abiola, who apparently won the Nigerian presidential election a year ago, is arrested. He will be charged with treason.
24 June 1994 People Your Dreams for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, harp, and string quartet by Jonathan Lloyd (45) to words of Julius Caesar and the composer is performed for the first time, in St. Michael’s Church, Beccles.
Litany: Prayers of St. John Chrysostom for Each Hour of the Day and Night for soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Arvo Pärt (58) is performed for the first time, in Eugene, Oregon.
25 June 1994 The Amazing Flight, a “mechanical ballet” by Bohuslav Martinu (†34), is staged for the first time, in Policka, 67 years after it was composed. See 8 January 1980.
26 June 1994 Forces of Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani drive those loyal to Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar out of Kabul.
29 June 1994 Tomiichi Murayama of the Social Democratic Party replaces Tsutomu Hata as Prime Minister of Japan.
30 June 1994 The US Interior Department removes the bald eagle from the endangered species list and places it on the threatened list.
1 July 1994 Yassir Arafat crosses from Egypt into Gaza.
The UN Security Council authorizes an investigation into genocide in Rwanda.
Roman Herzog replaces Richard von Weizsäcker as President of Germany.
The Brazilian government introduces a new currency, the Real, in an attempt to stabilize the economy.
2 July 1994 Ramiz Alia, the last communist president of Albania, is convicted in Tirana of abuse of power and denial of rights. He is sentenced to nine years in prison.
4 July 1994 Rwandan rebels take over key government positions in Kigali and capture Butare, the country’s second largest city. French troops in the country declare a “humanitarian security zone.”
5 July 1994 Yassir Arafat takes an oath as head of the Palestinian Authority in Jericho.
Rwandan rebels stop 10 km from the French security zone.
8 July 1994 North Korean paramount leader Kim Il Sung dies in Pyongyang of an apparent heart attack.
Swaleh Naqvi, former CEO of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, pleads guilty in a Washington court to three counts of fraud, conspiracy, and racketeering.
9 July 1994 Still Lands for small orchestra by Alexander Goehr (61) is performed completely for the first time, in Peterborough Cathedral.
10 July 1994 Alyeksandr Lukashenko is elected President of Belarus succeeding Stanislav Shushkevich.
11 July 1994 Haiti orders all UN and OAS human rights monitors out of the country.
13 July 1994 Rwandan rebels take the last government stronghold at Ruhengeri, sparking a mass exodus of Hutus into Zaire.
The new Italian cabinet issues a decree ending the use of pretrial preventive detention, a weapon commonly used in the current anti-corruption efforts.
Sinfonietta no.2 for clarinet and strings by Krzysztof Penderecki (60) is performed for the first time, in Bad Kissingen, the composer conducting.
Autumn Sonata, a concerto for bass clarinet and orchestra by Thea Musgrave (66) is performed for the first time, in Cheltenham.
Valentino Dances, orchestral excerpts from the opera The Dream of Valentino by Dominick Argento (66), is performed for the first time, in Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. See 15 January 1994.
14 July 1994 A massive outcry against the cabinet decision of yesterday sweeps Italy. All prosecutors in Milan currently working on the anti-corruption campaign request reassignment.
49 people are issued with warrants in the case of bribery charges against Fininvest, a conglomerate owned largely by Prime Minister Berlusconi.
German soldiers march in today’s Bastille Day celebrations in Paris at the request of President Mitterand.
Spirit Garden for orchestra by Toru Takemitsu (63) is performed for the first time, in Tokyo.
Journey Through a Japanese Landscape, a concerto for marimba and winds by Thea Musgrave (66) is performed for the first time, in Cheltenham.
15 July 1994 12,000 Rwandans per hour are crossing into Zaire. Zaire opens the border they are powerless to close. These are Hutus fearful of Tutsi rebels who have conquered most of the country.
Gyula Horn replaces Péter Boross as Prime Minister of Hungary.
16 July 1994 Fragments of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet begin striking Jupiter. This will continue until 22 July.
On the Underground Set no.1 (On gratitude, love, and madness) for chorus by Thea Musgrave (66) to words of various authors is performed for the first time, in Cheltenham.
17 July 1994 The UN High Commission for Refugees calls the situation in Goma, Zaire as “absolutely catastrophic.”
Brazil defeats Italy 0-0 on a penalty shoot out in Los Angeles to win the 15th FIFA World Cup™.
18 July 1994 Rebel forces in Rwanda claim victory, effectively ending the genocide. At least 500,000 people are believed to have been killed by government forces. There are presently 2,000,000 refugees in Zaire.
A car bomb explodes near a building housing Jewish organizations in Buenos Aires. 96 people are killed. Nearby buildings are damaged, making hundreds homeless.
19 July 1994 The mostly Tutsi Rwanda Patriotic Front forms a government. Moderate Hutus are named to leadership positions including President Pasteur Bizimungu. Oxfam calls the refugee situation in eastern Zaire “a disaster on a scale not witnessed in modern times.”
Leonid Danilovich Kuchma replaces Leonid Makarovich Kravchuk as President of Ukraine.
In the face of public outcry and the opposition of his own coalition partners, Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy rescinds the cabinet decision of 13 July.
String Quartet no.12 by Peter Sculthorpe (65) is performed for the first time, in Barbican Hall, London.
20 July 1994 Bosnian Serb leaders refuse to accept the most recent peace proposal.
Amen for chorus by John Tavener (50) is performed for the first time, at Chichester Cathedral.
21 July 1994 Food and medicine begin entering Rwanda. Medical workers report a cholera epidemic in Zairean refugee camps. 800 have died already.
Alyeksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn returns to Moscow 20 years after he left, arriving by train from Vladivostok.
22 July 1994 UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appeals for $434,000,000 in aid for the refugees in eastern Zaire.
23 July 1994 Italian police arrest 23 more people in the Fininvest bribery scandal, including two executives of Fininvest.
A Cradle Song: Sleep, beauty bright, a song for soprano, counter-tenor and piano by Benjamin Britten (†17) to words of Blake, is performed for the first time, in Aldeburgh.
Piano Concerto for the left hand by Lukas Foss (71) is performed for the first time, at Tanglewood, Lenox, Massachusetts.
24 July 1994 Zaire opens its border with Rwanda allowing thousands of refugees to return home.
25 July 1994 In Washington, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and King Hussein of Jordan sign an agreement ending their state of war which has lasted 46 years.
A UN official claims that 14,000 people have died from cholera in Zairean refugee camps and the epidemic is out of control.
Reports surface in the Italian media that Prime Minister Berlusconi met yesterday with two cabinet ministers, the Fininvest chairman, and two company attorneys.
Exxon settles with Native Alaskans in their lawsuit for $20,000,000.
26 July 1994 A bomb explodes near the Israeli embassy in London injuring twelve people.
Nachstudie for piano by Wolfgang Rihm (42) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.
27 July 1994 A bomb explodes at an Israeli fund raising office in London.
Italian prosecutors arrest Paolo Berlusconi, brother of the Prime Minister, in the Fininvest scandal.
28 July 1994 The American Civil Liberties Union releases to the press over 600 pages of documents it received from the FBI, under the Freedom of Information Act, on Leonard Bernstein (†3). They detail the surveillance done by the FBI on Bernstein from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Andante cantabile and Allegretto poco capriccioso for string quartet by Györgi Ligeti (71) are performed for the first time, in Salzburg, 44 years after they were composed.
29 July 1994 President Clinton sends US troops to open Kigali airport.
US Army personnel begin pumping water out of Lake Kivu, but there are not enough trucks to transport the water to refugees.
Pro-Life advocate Paul Hill shoots to death Dr. John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard James Barrett outside a clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Hill also wounds Mrs. Barrett. Hill claims that killing doctors who perform abortions is “justifiable homicide.”
31 July 1994 The UN Security Council authorizes an invasion of Haiti to restore the elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide.
1 August 1994 The government of Haiti declares a state of siege. All power is transferred to the military and civil rights are suspended.
During this week, the Bosnian government brings an emergency water treatment plant to service, bringing running water to parts of Sarajevo for the first time since 1992.
US Marshals are deployed at clinics around the country in an effort to counter right-to-life attacks.
3 August 1994 The Bosnian Serb Parliament rejects the Contact Group Peace Plan for the third time and calls for a referendum in three weeks.
4 August 1994 Furious with the action yesterday by its Bosnian clients, Yugoslavia closes its border with Bosnia. Almost all telecommunication is cut.
Lounge Lizards for two pianos and percussion by Michael Daugherty (40) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Minneapolis.
5 August 1994 NATO planes attack Bosnian Serb troops after the Serbs steal weapons from a UN depot near Sarajevo.
Kenneth Starr is appointed special prosecutor in the investigation into President Clinton’s real estate dealings known as Whitewater.
6 August 1994 Serb forces return the UN weapons they stole yesterday.
60 Blätter for string trio by Gottfried Michael Koenig (67) is performed for the first time, in Darmstadt.
Music for Here for bassoon, viola, and cello by Betsy Jolas (68) is performed for the first time, in Norfolk.
7 August 1994 Bosnian Serb fighters resume their terrorizing of Sarajevo citizens.
8 August 1994 Estimates are published that 40,000 Rwandan refugees have died in Zaire. The new government of Rwanda agrees to a war crimes trial by the United Nations.
9 August 1994 Over the last week, Bosnian Moslems have captured 60 sq km of territory and 30 villages around Bihac.
Symphony no.5 by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London the composer conducting.
10 August 1994 The Dreams and Prayers of Isaac the Blind for Klezmer clarinet and string quartet by Osvaldo Golijov (33) is performed for the first time, at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival.
12 August 1994 A federal jury in Alaska orders Exxon to pay $286,000,000 in compensatory damages to fishermen.
13 August 1994 North Korean representatives sign an agreement in Geneva allowing UN nuclear inspectors.
14 August 1994 International terrorist Ilich Ramírez Sánchez aka Carlos the Jackal is arrested in Sudan. He will be extradited to France tomorrow.
The Apocalypse for a large number of singers and players by John Tavener (50) to words of Mother Thekla after the Bible is performed for the first time, in Royal Albert Hall, London.
A Haunted Labyrinth for piano by William Bolcom (56) is performed for the first time, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
18 August 1994 Vestiunt Silve for soprano, flute, two violas, and harp by Lou Harrison (77) to a Goliard song, is performed for the first time, in Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon.
19 August 1994 Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga replaces Ranit Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
President Clinton announces that he is ending the US policy of granting automatic residency status to all Cuban immigrants.
20 August 1994 Bosnian government forces take Velika Kladusa from the Serbs.
21 August 1994 French troops withdraw from Rwanda, causing more refugees to flee the country into Zaire.
Mexican voters elect Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León of the PRI as President. His party retains majorities in both houses of Congress.
22 August 1994 Wim Kok of the Labor Party replaces Ruud Lubbers as Prime Minister of the Netherlands at the head of a three-party left-right coalition.
A new constitution goes into effect in Argentina. It lowers the president’s term to four years, but allows for reelection. It increases congressional power and the independence of the judiciary.
25 August 1994 Variants for violin and digital effects by Jean-Claude Risset (56) is performed for the first time, in Helsinki.
Introduktion, Thema, und Variationen for cello, harp, and strings by Hans Werner Henze (68) is performed for the first time, in Salzburg.
28 August 1994 Bosnian Serb voters reject the international peace plan.
Chorale for eight cellos by Peter Sculthorpe (65) is performed for the first time, at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Great Britain.
30 August 1994 Carolísima for chamber orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (59) is performed for the first time, privately at Prestonfield House, Edinburgh for the 50th birthday of Carol Høgel conducted by the composer. See 5 May 1995.
31 August 1994 The Provisional Irish Republican Army declares a unilateral cease-fire in Northern Ireland.
Russia withdraws its last troops from Berlin, Estonia, and Latvia.
1 September 1994 Michael Radford’s film Il Postino is shown for the first time, at the Venice Film Festival.
3 September 1994 In the first visit of a Chinese head of state to Moscow since 1957, President Jiang Zemin and President Boris Yeltsin sign agreements to reduce the number of troops on their common border and to stop aiming nuclear weapons at each other.
Incidental music to Wilson’s play Come in Under the Shadow of the Red Rock by Philip Glass (57) is performed for the first time, in Gibellina, Sicily.
On Stellar Magnitudes for mezzo-soprano, flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, piano, violin, and cello by Brian Ferneyhough (51) is performed for the first time, at Royaumont.
6 September 1994 For the first time (at least officially), an Irish Prime Minister meets with a leader of the IRA, when Albert Reynolds meets Gerry Adams in Dublin.
7 September 1994 Séraphin: Versuch eines Theaters für Instrumente/Stimmen/... by Wolfgang Rihm (42) after Artaud, is performed for the first time, in Frankfurt. See 24 November 1996.
8 September 1994 The last French, British, and American troops leave Berlin. For the first time since 1945 there are no foreign troops in the city.
9 September 1994 Sanctus from the Polish Requiem for alto, tenor, chorus, and orchestra by Krzysztof Penderecki (60) is performed for the first time, Przemysl.
11 September 1994 Fanfanfaren for four trumpets by Mauricio Kagel (62) is performed for the first time, in Neuf-Brisach, France.
12 September 1994 A European Union official opens a new bridge across the Neretva River in Mostar. It was built by the British Army.
Leaders of three warring factions in Liberia sign a peace agreement in Akosombo, Ghana. It ends the civil war and sets elections for October 1995.
An unemployed truck driver crashes his small plane into the South Lawn of the White House striking the building. The first family are temporarily staying at Blair House. The pilot is killed.
The separatist Parti Quebecois wins power in Quebec provincial elections.
14 September 1994 There Is No Tune for chorus by Luciano Berio (68) to words of Talia Pecker Berio, is performed for the first time, in St. Johns, Smith Square, London.
16 September 1994 UN observers begin to deploy on the border between Serbia and Bosnia to ensure that President Milosevic adheres to his embargo.
Sea-Nymphs for chorus by Iannis Xenakis (72) is performed for the first time, in London.
A federal jury in Anchorage orders Exxon to pay $5,000,000,000 in damages to 34,000 fishermen, landowners, and Native Alaskans for the Exxon Valdez disaster. Captain Joseph Hazelwood is ordered to pay $5,000 punitive damages.
Subito for violin and piano by Witold Lutoslawski (†0) is performed for the first time, in Indianapolis. It was composed as a test piece for the Indianapolis Violin Competition.
17 September 1994 Former US President Jimmy Carter leads a three-man delegation from President Clinton to Haiti to persuade the Haitian military leaders to step aside.
18 September 1994 The Swedish Social Democratic Party gains 23 seats in parliamentary elections, returning it to power.
Upon hearing the US forces are on the way, Haitian leaders agree to step down in return for amnesty and the lifting of sanctions.
19 September 1994 Maris Gailis replaces Valdis Birkaves as Prime Minister of Latvia.
3,000 US troops land without resistance at Port-au-Prince.
20 September 1994 1,800 US troops land without resistance at Cap-Hatien. Pro-Aristide demonstrators are clubbed by police in Port-au-Prince.
21 September 1994 The ruling center-left coalition of Danish Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen loses seats in parliamentary elections, but retains power.
An international team of scientists announces that they have found remains of the earliest known human ancestor in Ethiopia. They name the 4,400,000-year-old fossils Australopithecus ramidus.
In the “Hommage à Witold Lutoslawski (†0)” concert in Warsaw, new works are performed for the first time: In Memory of Witold Lutoslawski for two horns and two trumpets by Iannis Xenakis (72) and Paths--In memoriam Witold Lutoslawski for trumpet by Toru Takemitsu (63).
22 September 1994 After Serb gunners open fire on UN troops 15 times, NATO planes destroy a Serb tank.
23 September 1994 The UN Security Council votes (11-2-2) to lift some sanctions against Yugoslavia.
24 September 1994 Paramilitaries supporting the ousted Haitian junta battle US troops in Cap-Haitien. Ten people are killed.
A jury in Alaska state court in Anchorage awards $9,700,000 to Kodiak Island and six native corporations for damages caused by the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Portions of A Song of War and Victory for orchestra by Arnold Bax (†40) are performed for the first time, at Eton College. See 9 October 1997.
American Concerto for trumpet and orchestra by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (55) is performed for the first time, in Escondido, California.
25 September 1994 To God “In memoriam MB 1994”, an anthem for chorus and offstage trumpet by Dominick Argento (66) to words of Crashaw, is performed for the first time, in Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis.
Spirituals and Swedish Chorales, a cycle for chorus by Dominick Argento (66) to words of Olon-Scrymgeour and Swedish chorales, is performed for the first time, in Ted Mann Auditorium at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
26 September 1994 US President Bill Clinton announces that he is lifting most of the unilateral sanctions against Haiti.
Concert à quatre for flute, oboe, piano, cello, and orchestra by Olivier Messiaen (†2) is performed for the first time, at the Opéra Bastille, Paris. The work was left unfinished at the composer’s death and was completed by Yvonne Loriod (Mme. Messiaen).
27 September 1994 US forces take peaceful control of the Parliament building in Port-au-Prince and begin paying Haitians to turn in guns. Aristide opponents throw a grenade into a crowd near US positions. Five people are killed, around 40 injured.
28 September 1994 The ferry Estonia sinks in a storm off Finland. Over 900 people are killed.
Electricity is restored to Sarajevo.
29 September 1994 The World Health Organization announces that paralytic poliomyelitis has been wiped out in the Americas.
30 September 1994 Six Arab Persian Gulf states announce they will ease their adherence to the Arab boycott of Israel.
Three people are killed and twelve injured in violence between paramilitaries and Aristide supporters in Haiti.
Ritmos and Melos for violin, piano, and percussion by Terry Riley (59) is performed for the first time, at Mills College, Oakland, California.
1 October 1994 The Republic of Palau is declared independent of United States trusteeship, under President Kuniwo Nakamura. This effectively ends the United Nations Trusteeship Council.
A dike holding back oil leaking from a pipeline, breaks near the town of Usinski, Komi Republic, Russia. 102,000 tonnes of oil flows into the tundra, the Kolva River, thence to the Pechora River and into the Barents Sea.
Two days of voting in Slovakia result in a plurality of seats for the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia of former Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar.
Birthday Greeting for orchestra by Peter Maxwell Davies (60) is performed for the first time, in Free Trade Hall, Manchester to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
3 October 1994 US President Clinton lifts the ban on contacts with Sinn Fein.
US troops begin a crackdown on Haitian paramilitaries.
Presidential elections in Brazil result in a victory for centrist economist Fernando Henrique Cardoso. In the Chamber of Deputies, the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party wins the highest number of seats.
4 October 1994 Nah und Fern, a radio piece for bells and trumpets by Mauricio Kagel (62) is performed for the first time, over the airwaves of WDR in Cologne.
5 October 1994 Pro-Life campaigner Paul Hill is convicted in federal court in Pensacola, Florida of killing a doctor and his bodyguard, and wounding the doctor’s wife at a clinic where abortions are performed.
6 October 1994 Etude 10 from György Ligeti’s (71) Etudes for piano Book II is performed for the first time, in Strasbourg.
7 October 1994 Social Democrat Ingvar Gösta Carlsson replaces Carl Bildt of the Moderate Party as Prime Minister of Sweden.
Italian police raid the corporate headquarters of Gruppo Fininvest SpA in Milan, owned largely by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
8 October 1994 La lugubre gondola/Das Eismeer for two pianos by Wolfgang Rihm (42), composed in memory of Luigi Nono, is performed for the first time, in Graz. See 14 September 1992.
String Quartet no.5 “Dancers on a Plane” by Kevin Volans (45) is performed for the first time.
9 October 1994 National elections in Austria result in losses for the left-right ruling coalition of Chancellor Franz Vranitzky. The largest gains are for the far-right Freedom Party but Greens and a new Liberal group also pick up seats.
Armed Arabs open fire on a street in Jerusalem killing two people and injuring ten. Israeli security forces kill the Arabs.
Popular music entertainer Rick James is ordered to pay $1,800,000 in compensatory damages and $225,000 in punitive damages to a woman he imprisoned and assaulted in 1992.
The Myrrh-Bearer for viola, chorus, and percussion by John Tavener (50) is performed for the first time, in Barbican Hall, London.
10 October 1994 Sonata for violin and piano no.3 by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Moscow.
11 October 1994 Emil Jonaissant resigns as President of Haiti.
The Colorado Supreme Court strikes down a law forbidding localities from enacting gay rights ordinances.
13 October 1994 Protestant paramilitaries in Northern Ireland announce a cease-fire and express remorse for all the innocent victims of their violence over the last 25 years.
Several works are premiered in Merkin Hall, New York: Fragment for string quartet by Elliott Carter (85), Ned Rorem’s (70) Somewhere... for voice and piano the composer at the keyboard, Spirit Quartet for string quartet and electronics by Tod Machover (40), and Quartet Movement in Memoriam DH by Robin Holloway (50).
14 October 1994 The Nobel Prize Committee announces in Oslo that the 1994 Nobel Prize for Peace will be awarded to Yasir Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin.
Arabs kill an Israeli soldier they have been holding hostage when Israeli troops raid their hideout north of Jerusalem. Three Arabs and one other Israeli are killed.
Etude 14a from György Ligeti’s (71) Etudes for piano Book II is performed for the first time, in Donaueschingen.
15 October 1994 President Jean Bertrand Aristide returns to Haiti and is tumultuously restored to power.
The first public performance of Study for Player Piano no.49 by Conlon Nancarrow (81) takes place in Donaueschingen.
Symphony no.2 by Philip Glass (57) is performed for the first time, in New York.
Spirituals and Swedish Chorales for chorus by Dominick Argento (66) is performed for the first time, in Minnesota.
16 October 1994 The ruling Christian Democrat/Free Democrat coalition of Chancellor Helmut Kohl suffers heavy losses in voting for the German Bundestag. They hold on to power with only a ten-seat majority. Social Democrats, Greens, and former Communists all gain.
Voters in Finland approve entry into the European Union.
17 October 1994 Reneta Ivanova Indzhova replaces Lyuben Borisov Berov as acting Prime Minister of Bulgaria, the first woman to hold that post. A new election is set for December.
Representatives of Israel and Jordan initial a draft treaty to exchange full diplomatic relations.
Brain Opera, a two-act opera and magic trick by Tod Machover (40) to words of Gillette, Teller, and the composer, is performed for the first time, in Kresge Auditorium of the Massachusetts Institute of Techonology.
19 October 1994 Arab terrorists explode a bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv killing 21 people.
In a “Schnittke at 60” concert, Concerto for Three for violin, viola, cello, strings, and piano by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Moscow. Also premiered is Schnittke’s Minuet for violin, viola, and cello.
20 October 1994 Sergey Bondarchuk dies in Moscow at the age of 74.
21 October 1994 Representatives of North Korea and the US sign an agreement in Geneva which provides for the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear-development program.
Incises for piano by Pierre Boulez (69) is performed for the first time, in Milan.
22 October 1994 New York Waltzes for piano by Lou Harrison (77) are performed for the first time, in Aptos, California, 43 years after they were composed.
23 October 1994 A bomb explodes in Colombo killing 50 people, including opposition presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake. 200 people are injured. Tamil separatists are suspected.
Concerto piccolo über B-A-C-H for trumpet, harpsichord, piano, and strings by Arvo Pärt (59) is performed for the first time, in Göteborg.
24 October 1994 The Second Mrs. Kong, an opera by Harrison Birtwistle (60) to words of Hoban, is performed for the first time, at Glyndebourne.
25 October 1994 Laurie Anderson’s (47) sixth album Bright Red is released.
String Quartet no.8 by Ralph Shapey (73) is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
26 October 1994 At Wadi-al-arab on the border between Israel and Jordan, Prime Minister Rabin and King Hussein sign a formal peace treaty. Also attending is US President Bill Clinton. Yasir Arafat denounces the agreement.
27 October 1994 Bosnian government troops capture 200 sq km around Bihac, sending Serb fighters and civilians fleeing.
Voting begins in the first multiparty elections in Mozambique.
29 October 1994 Gun control opponent Francisco Duran sprays the White House with automatic weapons fire. No one is injured. Bystanders overpower him and he is arrested.
On the Underground Set no.2 (The Strange and the Exotic) for chorus by Thea Musgrave (66) to words of Herrick, Morgan, and anonymous is performed for the first time, in Ithaca, New York.
30 October 1994 Three Choruses by Alfred Schnittke (59) to words from the Russian Orthodox prayer book are performed for the first time, in Stockholm.
Dinosaur Annex for violin, vibraphone, and marimba/glockenspiel by Ralph Shapey (73) is performed for the first time, in First and Second Church, Boston.
Songs of Sadness, a cycle for baritone, clarinet, cello, and guitar by Ned Rorem (71) to words of Strand, Merrill, Hopkins, and Burns, is performed for the first time, in Alice Tully Hall, New York.
3 November 1994 Bosnian Moslem and Croat forces capture the town of Kupres, along with large numbers of Serb weapons.
A Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill becomes law in Britain. Among other things, it eliminates the right of the accused to remain silent.
4 November 1994 Bosnian Serb leaders close high schools in order that children may be conscripted into military service.
The UN Security Council votes to remove all 17,000 peacekeepers from Somalia by next April.
Adam, a cantata for mixed chorus with soprano solo and small orchestra by Andrew Imbrie (73), is performed for the first time, at the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston.
Entrata for brass and timpani by Krzysztof Penderecki (60) is performed for the first time, in Cincinnati.
6 November 1994 Symphonic Prelude for orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Hamburg.
Mercurius for chorus and crotales by Peter Maxwell Davies (60) is performed for the first time, in Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh.
7 November 1994 The Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague makes its first indictment. They accuse Serb Dragan Nikolic, commander of the Susica detention camp in Vlasenica, Bosnia, with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Etude 11 from György Ligeti’s (71) Etudes for piano Book II is performed for the first time, in Paris.
8 November 1994 Israel agrees to step up the pace of turning over powers to the Palestinian authority.
Bosnian Serbs begin heavy shelling of Sarajevo.
Andres Tarand replaces Mart Laar as Prime Minister of Estonia.
The UN Security Council votes to create an international court to try persons suspected of atrocities in Rwanda.
Dr. Garson Romalis of Vancouver, British Columbia is shot in the leg while in his home. Pro-Life advocates are suspected.
Congressional elections in the United States result in the capture of both houses by the Republican Party, a situation which has not existed since 1954. They gain eight seats in the Senate and 54 in the House of Representatives. Oregon voters approve the state’s euthanasia law.
9 November 1994 Bosnian Serbs begin a counteroffensive towards Bihac.
10 November 1994 President Saddam Hussein of Iraq signs a statement recognizing the independence and sovereignty of Kuwait and internationally recognized borders.
Symphony no.8 by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in Stockholm.
Das A und das O for soprano, alto, harp, and cello by Gottfried Michael Koenig (68) is performed for the first time, in Rome.
11 November 1994 Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga replaces Dingiri Banda Wijetungie as President of Sri Lanka.
Fünf Fragmente zu Bildern von Hieronymus Bosch for tenor, violin, trombone, harpsichord, timpani, and string orchestra by Alfred Schnittke (59) to words of Reuser (tr. Droysen) is performed for the first time, in the Barbican Center, London.
12 November 1994 US President Clinton announces his country will no longer enforce the UN embargo on Bosnia.
13 November 1994 Swedish voters approve entry into the European Union.
Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum for soprano and nine players by Wolfgang Rihm (42) to words of Aeschylus (tr. Handke) is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.
Toccata mistica for piano by Hans Werner Henze (68) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
14 November 1994 By this date, Bosnian Serbs have retaken over half the territory lost last month around Bihac.
The Channel Tunnel between Folkestone, England and Calais, France opens to public travel.
15 November 1994 Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike replaces her daughter, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
17 November 1994 After a split in his two-party coalition, Albert Reynolds resigns as Prime Minister of Ireland.
Sonata for cello and piano no.2 by Alfred Schnittke (59) is performed for the first time, in the Barbican Center, London.
last things, I think, to think about for bass-baritone, piano, electronic sound generators, and slide projections by Roger Reynolds (60) to words of Ashberry is performed for the first time, in Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre, New York.
18 November 1994 Arab police fire into militant demonstrators in Gaza. 13 people are killed.
Bosnian Serb warplanes attack Bihac with napalm and cluster bombs. The bombs do not explode.
19 November 1994 Three weeks after voting ended, President Joaquim Chissano and his Frelimo party are declared victors in the first multiparty elections in Mozambique.
The National Lottery goes on sale in Great Britain.
Von Weit for cello and piano by Wolfgang Rihm (42) is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.
John’s Book of Alleged Dances for string quartet and sampler or tape by John Adams (47) is performed for the first time, in the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
20 November 1994 The government of Angola and UNITA rebels sign a peace accord in Lusaka. The civil war has lasted 19 years and cost 500,000 lives.
Raumauge for chorus and five percussionists by Wolfgang Rihm (42) is performed for the first time, in Stuttgart.
21 November 1994 50 NATO planes bomb the Serb air base at Udbina in Croatia in response to Serb air attacks on Bihac, a UN safe area.
With Letter and Clock for soprano, two clarinets, viola, cello, and double bass by Harrison Birtwistle (60) to words of Celan (tr. Hamburger) is performed for the first time, at King’s College, London. See 28 April 1996.
22 November 1994 Bosnian Serbs fire on British planes.
Italian prosecutors inform Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi that he is being investigated for bribery.
Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina warns that if President Clinton comes to his state, “he’d better have a bodyguard.”
23 November 1994 NATO planes respond to yesterday’s attack by bombing three Serb missile bases.
24 November 1994 Bosnian Serbs respond to the attack of 21 November by surrounding 450 peacekeepers and 30 UN military observers around Sarajevo. Elsewhere, Serb forces fight their way into Bihac.
The Spanish Lady, an opera by Edward Elgar (†60) to words of Jackson and the composer after Jonson, is performed for the first time, in West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge 61 years after it was composed. See 15 May 1986.
28 November 1994 Jeffrey Dahmer is killed in prison in Portage, Wisconsin.
In nuce for viola, cello, and double bass by Wolfgang Rihm (42) is performed for the first time, in Berlin.
Sogno d’Or, a song for voice and piano by Giacomo Puccini to words of his nephew Carlo Marsili, is performed probably for the first time, at the Teatro del Giglio, Lucca on the 70th anniversary of the composer’s death.
29 November 1994 Voters in Norway reject entry into the European Union.
Figures of Time for orchestra by Sofia Gubaidulina (63) is performed for the first time, in Symphony Hall, Birmingham.
30 November 1994 Bosnian Serbs now surround the UN safe area of Bihac.
22 countries and the World Bank agree in Brussels to give $200,000,000 to the Palestinian authority.
1 December 1994 Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León replaces Carlos Salinas de Gortari as President of Mexico.
Popular music entertainer Tupac Shakur is convicted of sexually abusing a woman in a New York hotel room last year. He will be sentenced to prison for one-and-a-half to four-and-a-half years.
2 December 1994 S709 for two-track Dynamic Stochastic Synthesis by Iannis Xenakis (72) is performed for the first time, in Paris. Also premiered is Ariadne’s Thread for string quartet and electronic sound generators by Roger Reynolds (60).
3 December 1994 Wedding Prayer for chorus by John Tavener (50) is performed for the first time, in the House of Lords, London to celebrate the wedding of Lord and Lady Marks.
6 December 1994 A Simple Magnificat for chorus and organ by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (55) is performed for the first time, at Yale University.
8 December 1994 A team of German scientists in Darmstadt, led by Peter Armbruster, claims to have created Element 111. They call it Unununium. It was formed by smashing nickel atoms into Bismuth. Each atom created exists for less than a second.
Bosnian Serb forces release 55 Canadian hostages but continue to hold 300 UN troops taken 24 November.
Antonio Carlos Jobim dies in New York at the age of 67.
A revised version of Out of Peking Opera (Violin Concerto no.1) for violin and orchestra by Tan Dun (37) is performed for the first time, in Glasgow, directed by the composer. See 7 February 1988.
9 December 1994 Representatives of the British government and Sinn Fein meet openly for the first time since 1972, in Belfast.
10 December 1994 Bosnian Serb troops release 187 French, Russian, and Ukrainian peacekeepers but hijack a UN fuel convoy near Sarajevo.
11 December 1994 Russian troops enter the rebellious province of Chechnya.
In the first hemispheric summit since 1967, leaders of 34 western hemisphere nations agree in Miami to take steps towards a Free Trade Area of the Americas.
12 December 1994 Serbs attack UN peacekeepers (Bangladesh) in the Bihac area, killing one and wounding four.
13 December 1994 Russian planes begin bombing Chechnya.
Vladimir Meciar replaces Jozef Moravcik as Prime Minister of Slovakia at the head of a broad three-party coalition.
14 December 1994 Construction begins on the largest hydroelectric project in the world, near Sandouping, Hubei, China.
15 December 1994 John Gerard Bruton of Fine Gael replaces Albert Reynolds of Fianna Fail as Prime Minister of Ireland at the head of a new three-party coalition. Labour left the ruling coalition with Fianna Fail to join with Fine Gael and the Democratic Left.
The Republic of Palau is admitted to the United Nations.
17 December 1994 The presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay meet in Ouro Preto, Brazil to sign documents creating the second-largest customs union in the world.
Ergma for string quartet by Iannis Xenakis (72) is performed for the first time, at The Hague.
18 December 1994 Russian planes begin bombing Grozny.
The Socialist Party (former Communists) wins a majority of seats in parliamentary elections in Bulgaria.
Cave explorers near Vallon-Pont-d’Arc in the Ardèche region of France discover one of the most important examples of prehistoric art yet found. They find four halls 60x40 meters with 300 paintings or engravings. The art is estimated to be over 30,000 years old.
Aria antigua for flute and guitar by Joaquín Rodrigo (93) is performed for the first time, in Madrid. See 10 June 1959 and 21 February 1996.
20 December 1994 Russian planes bomb Grozny killing at least ten people.
All parties in the Bosnian war agree to a temporary cease-fire negotiated by Jimmy Carter, to begin 24 December.
Mexican tanks and troops retake territory in Chiapas unopposed by the Zapatistas.
21 December 1994 Nagoya Marimbas for two marimbas by Steve Reich (58) is performed for the first time, in Shirakawa Hall, Nagoya.
22 December 1994 Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy resigns as his coalition collapses. He has been in office for seven months.
24 December 1994 Moslem militants commandeer an Air France jet on the ground in Algiers. They kill two passengers and demand to fly to France.
25 December 1994 Moslem gunmen holding an Air France jet in Algiers kill another passenger. The Algerian government allows the plane to fly to France. It lands in Marseille.
26 December 1994 French security forces attack an Air France jet being held by Moslem gunmen in Marseille. They kill all four gunmen and free the remaining 170 passengers and crew. 25 people are injured in the action.
28 December 1994 Divertimento for cello by Krzysztof Penderecki (61) is performed for the first time, in Cologne.
30 December 1994 Pro-Life advocate John Salvi walks into two different clinics in Brookline, Massachusetts and opens fire with a rifle, killing two people and wounding five others. He will be apprehended tomorrow.
31 December 1994 Russian forces begin a ground assault on Grozny.
The Bosnian government and Serbs agree to a four-month cease-fire.
©2004-2012 Paul Scharfenberger
25 January 2012
Last Updated (Wednesday, 25 January 2012 07:41)