Delos Emerges on the Road to Solvency

Delos International, the Southern California-based recording company which filed for protection under Chapter 11 last October, is beginning to emerge from the shadows cast by the bankruptcy proceedings.

“The process of coming out of (bankruptcy) involves a lot of steps,” said Delos founder and president Amelia Haygood.

“We’re on the first one now. But, it’s like getting A’s in school: If you can continue doing it, and put in the time, chances are, you’ll graduate.”

One of the more positive moves toward Delos’ eventual graduation is its recent signing of a distribution agreement with its colleague and Hollywood neighbor, A&M; Records. In this arrangement, A&M; carries out an expanded distribution and marketing program for Delos.

According to Rudi Simpson, Delos’ director of promotion: “Though (Delos) will be working with A&M; on both advertising and marketing, those areas will be mostly in their hands.”

Among the potential positive effects of this new division, Simpson said, are “an increase in unit sales and a reduction in overhead costs.” In the meantime, “we will continue to develop the artistic side. Delos will remain Delos.”

The 16-year-old recording company, founded by Haygood in 1973, has a reputation as a high-quality, audiophile-pleasing house. It holds the distinction of having produced Eugene Ormandy’s final recordings with the Philadelphia Orchestra; its current roster of artists includes pianists John Browning and Carol Rosenberger, soprano Arleen Auger, conductors Gerard Schwarz and James DePreist and their respective Northwest orchestras--the Seattle and Oregon Symphonies--clarinetist David Shifrin and the Orford Quartet, among others.

Expansion in the artistic arena can now proceed, Simpson says, promising to announce new recording projects--as well as new artists--in the near future. He expects to begin recording in August.

“Now that we are up and running,” Simpson said, “This period of reorganization starts to look very interesting. Among other things, we have streamlined our operation. And we’ve learned who our friends were.”

OLD SONGS: First in a series of two lectures sponsored by the California Museum of Ancient Art, Ann Kilmer’s “Music of the Ancient Near East: The World’s Oldest Song” will be delivered June 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Piness Auditorium at the Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 3663 Wilshire Blvd. Kilmer, professor of Near Eastern studies at UC Berkeley, has produced a recording titled “Sounds From Silence” on which she presents, on a replica of an ancient Sumerian, bull-headed lyre, a song 3,400 years old, which she deciphered on a clay tablet found in Syria. The tablet contained two sections of cuneiform text. The first section turned out to be lyrics to the song, a religious hymn in praise of the Hurrian moon goddess, Nikkal. Utilizing a number of other ancient texts known as “Theory Tablets,” Kilmer and an international team of experts translated the second section, which was musical notation for the words in the first section. Information: (213) 762-5500.

PEOPLE: Dudley Moore will serve as host of the awards ceremony at the Eighth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition next Sunday afternoon in Fort Worth, ending the quadrennial event. The latest competition--in which 39 pianists from 19 countries have participated--began May 27. . . . Speaking of winners, the two top prize-takers in the annual Zachary Society National Vocal Competition, held at Ambassador Auditorium, May 21, were soprano Rosa Vento of New York City and bass Peter Loehle of Ridgewood, N.J. Vento and Loehle each won a cash prize of $3,500, plus a round-trip flight to Europe for auditions. The other finalists, who shared prizes totaling $12,500, were Yu Chen, Edward Cook, Yan Yan Wang, John Atkins, Cynthia Jacoby, Brenda Wimberly, David Maze and Melody Rossi. . . . Philip Semark, formerly associated with San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Spoleto Festival USA, has been appointed executive director of Santa Fe Opera. . . . In preparation for Mel Powell’s induction as an honorary life member in the Arnold Schoenberg Institute at USC, radio station KUSC pays tribute to the composer/pianist/educator, Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The program will include performances of Powell’s “Strand Settings,” String Quartet, “Die Violine” and “Madrigal for Flute Alone.”

AND BRIEFLY: The recent Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Radiothon on KFAC raised $105,920 for the ensemble. Staged May 20 and 21 at the Beverly Center, the event called on the efforts of 200 volunteers, working both days from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. . . . Forty-six contestants from 14 countries will participate in the USA International Harp Competition in Bloomington, Ind., July 4-14. . . . The Riverside Symphony, 30 years old this year, has changed its name to Riverside County Philharmonic. Patrick Flynn remains music director/conductor. . . . Six concerts comprise the 1989 Mozart in Monterey Festival, June 10-18. Oleg Kovalenko is music director; among the soloists are violinists Paul Shure, Bonnie Douglas, Willim Barbini, Sherry Kloss and Leila Josefowicz, pianist Sally Christian, clarinetist Dominick Fera and hornist Richard Todd. For a brochure, write Mozart in Monterey, P.O. Box 410, 177 Webster St. Monterey, Calif. 93940.