Columbus Symphony To Shut Down "Out of money and having failed to reach a new labor agreement with the musicians, the orchestra's board of trustees said today that it is canceling the summer Picnic With the Pops and Popcorn Pops series and most likely its 2008-09 season, scheduled to begin in October." Columbus Dispatch 05/09/08

email this story | Posted 05/08/08@10:27PM

The Scourge That Is MP3 "Are MP3s degrading music? Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Coldplay don't seem to think so, as each have distributed their music, for free, online and it's worked out tremendously. For other bands, the 'leaked album' has proven a true scourge." And then there's the sound quality issue... The Guardian (UK) 05/08/08

email this story | Posted 05/08/08@07:06PM

Welser-Möst Pulls Out Of Zurich Opera Production Cleveland Orchestra music director Franz Welser-Möst has disengaged himself from a Zurich Opera production of Die Fledermaus, citing artistic differences with the opera's director. What could Welser-Möst be objecting to in the staging? Well, the vampires, for a start... Chicago Tribune (AP) 05/08/08

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Kennedy Not Welcome At Classical Brits "Maverick violinist Nigel Kennedy says he has been 'prevented from performing' at the Classical Brit awards... Organisers confirmed that 'artistic differences' with Kennedy had 'proved insurmountable', while the star's manager said he was 'dumbfounded'." BBC 05/08/08

email this story | Posted 05/08/08@05:51AM

A New Concert Venue Aims To Change How Music Is Presented in London "Whether it works or not at first, Kings Place represents a credible alternative to the state-funded arts elephant and its discredited zoo-keeper, the Arts Council. It marks the start of a cultural economic revolution. There is no turning back." La Scena Musicale 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@05:22PM

Ross: NY Better Off Without Muti Alex Ross says that there's no reason for the New York Phil to be lamenting the loss of Riccardo Muti to Chicago. "After two music directors of the elder-statesman type, it was time for a younger leader, one alert to the challenges and opportunities of presenting classical music in modern America... [Alan] Gilbert now has more room to make his mark, without the shadow of a jet-set celebrity conductor hanging over him." The Rest Is Noise 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@06:39AM

Opera And Canadian Hip Hop, Together At Last "If you had to pick a pair of musical genres furthest apart from each other, opera and hip hop would be a fairly safe bet... Nonetheless, these star-crossed genres are coming together in a performance called The Hip Hopera, a new collaboration by the Canadian Opera Company and the Royal Conservatory of Music." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@06:10AM

NY Musicians Lament Loss Of Muti To Chicago Not everyone is happy about the Chicago Symphony's appointment of Riccardo Muti as music director - the New York Philharmonic, for instance. "I felt there was a relationship here, and he had committed to us," said Irene Breslau, a Philharmonic violist. "All of a sudden, it's like somebody going out with your best friend and marrying them." The New York Times 05/07/08

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Happy Ending To Lost Strad Story In April, Philippe Quint became one of the recent mob of violinists to leave his invaluable fiddle behind in public - in this case, in a New York cab. Quint got his instrument back when the alert cabbie turned it in, and in gratitude, Quint spent part of a day this week playing a private concert for the cabbies at the Newark Airport. The New York Times 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@05:45AM

Jazz Educators' Association In Bankruptcy "In April, the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and will be turned over to a trustee, its assets parceled out to creditors. This deals a body blow not only to Jazz educators in this country but around the world." All About Jazz 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@05:29AM

New Miami Orchestra On The Ropes Before It Starts It was only a few months ago that the Miami-based Concert Association of Florida announced that it was forming a new professional orchestra, and added a number of orchestra concerts to its schedule. "On Tuesday the Concert Association announced three concerts would be canceled due to a lack of ticket sales." Miami Herald 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@05:25AM

Minnesota PAC Launches Ambitious Renovation Plan St. Paul's Ordway Center for the Performing Arts has announced plans for a major renovation, during which a 300-seat theater would be replaced by a 1000-seat hall which would serve as the dedicated home of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. Star Tribune (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 05/07/08

email this story | Posted 05/07/08@05:15AM

UK Opera Company Gets Big Funding Boost Opera North is to benefit from a £3.5 million grant of Lottery funding from Arts Council England, which will be put towards the running costs of its new centre in Leeds. theStage 05/06/08

email this story | Posted 05/06/08@03:44PM

First: China Philharmonic To Perform For Pope "A priest told Reuters that a Chinese diplomatic envoy approached a Vatican official outside Italy to broach the idea of a concert, and the offer was repeated several months ago." CBC 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/06/08@03:34PM

Violinist To Perform For Cab Driver Who Returned Violin "A violin virtuoso plans to replace the airport cacophony of taxis and airplanes with the exquisite tones of a 285-year-old violin to give thanks to the cab driver who reunited him with the lost instrument." Yahoo! (AP) 05/06/08

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The Prize Goes To Chicago "In a classical music world of diminishing grandeur, the orchestra has hired one of the last lions of podium glamour, Riccardo Muti, as its music director and in so doing is lending a sheen to the city's cultural profile. At the same time Mr. Muti's embrace of a cold city on Lake Michigan -- which he diplomatically likens to the Mediterranean waters off his native Italy -- dampened spirits at the New York Philharmonic, which failed to lure him at least once and, by some accounts, including his own, possibly twice." The New York Times 05/05/08

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What Muti Means To Chicago "Landing him is a tremendous coup for Chicago, which has been without a music director since Daniel Barenboim's departure in 2006--especially since Muti had already turned down an offer from the New York Philharmonic in 2000. He will become the orchestra's 10th music director, effective with the 2010-11 season." Chicago Tribune 05/05/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@08:27PM

Riccardo Muti's Chicago Dreams "At this point in my life, I don't have to make a career. I don't have to prove to anyone 'Who is Muti,'" the conductor, who twice turned down offers in the last decade to become music director of the New York Philharmonic, said. "But I want both to devote myself to making music with the Chicago Symphony and to bringing music to the many communities of Chicago and to new generations. This is our future." Chicago Sun-Times 05/05/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@08:21PM

Cleveland Institute Of Music Appoints A Star President It's Juilliard String Quartet first violinist Joel Smirnoff. In addition to the quartet, the 58-year-old Smirnoff is chair of the Juilliard School's violin department." Yahoo! (AP) 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@06:14PM

Enough With Bashing Von Karajan "So Herbert von Karajan glorified tradition with his Salzburg Festival, promoted favorite musicians (violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter and clarinetist Sabine Meyer come to mind) and amassed extraordinary wealth (not just millions, but hundreds of millions of dollars). He had his flaws, plenty of them. Listen to either of those Bruckner Eighths, though, and you'll forgive the shortcomings in favor of astonishing art, undiminished by time." Louisville Courier-Journal 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@06:09PM

Muti Named To Lead Chicago Symphony The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association has named maestro Riccardo Muti as the next music director of the CSO. He's the tenth conductor to hold that post. Musical America 05/05/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@07:02AM

Saudi First: Live Mozart In Front Of A Mixed-Gender Audience "A German-based quartet staged Saudi Arabia's first-ever performance of European classical music in a public venue before a mixed-gender audience. The concert, held at a government-run cultural center Friday night, broke many taboos in a country where public music is banned and the sexes are segregated even in lines at fast-food outlets." Seatte Times (AO) 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@05:49AM

Orchestras As A Danger To Hearing Years ago, "there wasn't as much expected out of an orchestra. There wasn't so much sound." Now both instruments and techniques have improved. We're putting out more sound. Conductors like it. Audiences like it." St. Louis Post-Dispatch 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/05/08@05:41AM

Long-Lost Vivaldi Opera Gets First Hearing In 278 Years Argippo, "discovered by a Czech musician as he rummaged through an old archive of anonymous scores, was being staged at a castle in Prague, the city where it had its premiere in 1730." The Independent (UK) 05/04/08

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The Global Tan Dun "Tan Dun is a kind of rock star of the modern music scene. He won an Oscar for the score of Ang Lee's film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Hopping around the world, from Shanghai to Stockholm, from Tokyo to New York, he conducts and introduces his own music to a global audience of rapturous fans." New York Times Magazine 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/04/08@05:09PM

The Key To Good Opera? It starts with casting. And casting isn't a simple matter of opening your ears... San Diego Union-Tribune 05/04/08

email this story | Posted 05/04/08@11:15AM

Is Bayreuth Leadership Resolved? Really? "Katharina and Eva Wagner have fought bitterly over the Festival leadership for many years, and it is common knowledge that there has never been much love lost between them. The likelihood of a harmonious future relationship is slim. Questions could also be asked about their qualifications." Bloomberg 05/02/08

email this story | Posted 05/04/08@10:31AM

Venerable Gramophone Magazine Plans Big Online Expansion "The plans are part of a broad expansion of Gramophone's online presence. In the first phase, expected by the end of the summer, it will make its entire archive, including some 100,000 recording reviews and articles, available free." The New York Times 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/02/08@05:16AM

Why The BBC Young Musician Contest Thrills "An eight-year-old playwright or philosopher is inconceivable; an eight-year-old pianist able to play a Mozart concerto in public is a miracle that can actually happen. The focus on youth is one thing that makes the BBC competition special." The Telegraph (UK) 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/02/08@05:09AM

Maybe It's Time For Performers To Take The Lead? "Musical scores came to be written as if dogma, down to the last pedantic detail; performers, even brilliant ones, became mere instruments to the composer's vision." But this doesn't necessaril lead to the best music. Maybe performers should have more power... The Australian 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/02/08@05:06AM

Major Online Music Services Could Pay $100 Million In Back-Royalties TimeWarner, RealNetworks and Yahoo could owe the money to thousands of songwriters and publishers after a judge's royalty formula. Yahoo! (Reuters) 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/01/08@05:37PM

A Wrongheaded Attack On English Church Music "Nothing could be more off-putting than the happy-crappy, watered-down dross that passes for music in these churches, where any sense of musical lineage has disappeared along with most of the congregation." And now one of the better traditional hymns is being banned? The Telegraph (UK) 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 05/01/08@06:30AM

Classical Music's Bad Century? "If nineteenth-century German politics and philosophy and musical endeavour made classical music unprecedentedly momentous, its implication in the near-annihilation of European civilization by the mid-century robbed it of moral authority, a collapse with which classical music still lives, sixty years on." Times Literary Supplement (UK) 05/01/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@05:56PM

Timed-Release: Music Industry Experiments Making money from recording music is no longer a simple strategy. When and what to release is proving a complicated strategy as the recording industry tries to calculate how to make the most money out of its products. Yahoo! (Reuters) 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@09:08AM

London's First New Concert Hall Since 1982 "The 420-seat venue is part of Kings Place, the next stage of the transformation of King's Cross after the reopening of St Pancras station." London Evening Standard 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 04/30/08@08:43AM

Feel The Tap Tap Tap Of That Laptop "Laptop performances have been around since the '80s, when they became de rigueur in trend-setting clubs from L.A. to Berlin. But laptop orchestras are quite new. Wang co-founded the first one in 2005, at Princeton University, where he was a doctoral student in computer science. Stanford's laptop orchestra was founded by Wang just last year." San Jose Mercury-News 04/29/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@11:23PM

The Classical Music Mega-Concert "The stadium classical music gig is coming to Britain. O2 , the concert venue in the former Millennium Dome, announced yesterday that it will stage a monumental production of Carmina Burana next January." The Times (UK) 04/30/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@07:15PM

It's Official: CBC Radio Orchestra Is Done "The CBC Radio Orchestra was founded by John Avison in 1938 and has had an illustrious history. It originally consisted of 25 musicians and was increased to 35 in 1952. Its conductors have included John Eliot Gardiner and Mario Bernardi." Victoria Times-Colonist 04/28/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@07:04PM

Wolfgang Wagner Steps Down In Bayreuth "Wolfgang Wagner, the 88-year-old director of the Richard Wagner Festival in Bayreuth and grandson of the composer, announced he is stepping down from his post after 57 years. The leadership succession stalemate was unlocked when longtime rivals Katharina and 63-year-old Eva Wagner-Pasquier, Wolfgang's daughter from his first marriage, set aside their differences to submit a joint leadership proposal to the foundation that runs the festival." Bloomberg 04/29/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@07:02PM

"Free" Music, Ad Supported Sony BMG has made its complete back catalogue of songs available free over the internet for the first time in a deal with the music website We7. "Users can listen to 250,000 songs for free but have to wait for a 10-second advert between each track." BBC 04/28/08

email this story | Posted 04/29/08@07:48AM