Constantine Orbelian, now both Music Director and Executive Director: “The main thing for me at this point is getting a home. ... I believe that without a home, it’s hard to put stuff here and there. And once we find it, one of my big focuses will be doing operas for children.” - OperaWire
“The chandeliers are wood-and-metal spheres that have been called ‘sputniks’ ever since the Met opened in 1966. Legend has it that a prototype was constructed with toothpicks and a potato.” - The New York Times
“When I was sixteen or seventeen, and getting into the adult category, I started trying to play different repertoire,” she said. “I’d get instantly shut down, or at least comments like ‘Oh, you might get a prize if you play better tunes.’ ” - The New Yorker
“It didn’t take us long to decide as a band that if Daniel Ek is going harder on AI warfare, we should get off Spotify. It’s not even that big of a sacrifice in our case.” - Los Angeles Times
“The new management has not entered into our artistic planning. They support it and the same way they support the National Symphony …, and we are looking to them for more help in terms of fundraising and marketing.” - Opera Now
Under Valentine’s direction, the Symphony has earned 14 Grammys and 27 nominations, produced more than 40 recordings, commissioned and premiered dozens of innovative works. - Music Row
“A federal judge says Russian soprano Anna Netrebko can move forward with her case claiming national origin discrimination by the Metropolitan Opera, which dropped her after she refused to repudiate President Vladimir Putin over Russia’s campaign against Ukraine.” - AP
The trouble started when Jackson, who was the founding editor of the journal, invited music theorists with expertise in Schenkerian theory to write rebuttals to a plenary talk by music theorist Philip Ewell, who is Black, given at a Society for Music Theory conference in 2019. - KERA
The future of the world’s largest fully-functional musical instrument was in doubt when Macy’s vacated the Wanamaker space earlier this year. Now the building’s new owner is partnering with Opera Philadelphia for a four-month series featuring concerts, ballet, bearded ladies, horror movies, and, of course, the organ. - Broad Street Review (Philadelphia)
“In the 21st century, no other country has reinvented the language of the orchestra on such distinctive and appealing terms. … Call it the First Icelandic School — the only formative national movement in classical musical history to have emerged in the 21st century, dominated by women and heavily influenced by art pop.” - Financial Times
A growing body of research suggests classical music can offer measurable benefits to athletes: helping regulate nerves, boost balance, reduce perceived effort, and even foster team cohesion. - Classic FM
The pernambuco tree grows only in small areas along Brazil’s Atlantic coast north of Rio de Janeiro state; the tree is endangered, and attempts to grow it on plantations have so far failed. As authorities consider increasing protective measures and restrictions on selling pernambuco wood, string players and luthiers are unsettled. - Bachtrack
No Leopold Stokowski could exist today, in the face of prying social media. Notwithstanding his glamorous marriage to Gloria Vanderbilt and an affair with Greta Garbo, he needed to be unknown. - The Wall Street Journal
Williams’s classical output includes a symphony, chamber music and concertos for a dozen instruments (including flute, violin, cello and bassoon). And yet, Williams said, he never wanted to write one for his “friend,” the piano, because “I just thought it was impossible.” - The New York Times
Inspired by the preservationist John Muir, Noack started the project as a way of getting closer to nature, and bringing classical music to rural areas where it is not typically accessible. The idea, Noack said, is to remove the barriers that typically limit classical music to concert venues like Carnegie Hall. - The New York Times
