Aiming to rebuild its audience from post-pandemic lows by attracting younger and more diverse ticket-buyers, the company is devoting fully one-third of 18 staged productions to contemporary works. - AP
"The drama currently playing out at the San Carlo Opera House in Naples … has all the elements of high drama — conflict, tension, perhaps even vendetta — and is playing out like a farce, or, in the words of some Italian news outlets, 'un pasticcio': a mess." - The New York Times
The two-year contract includes pay raises, a reduction of one-week in the schedule and a promise to reconsider how auditions for the orchestra are conducted. - Yahoo!
"Shorter concerts (27%), more matinee performances (24%), conductors speaking to the audience (20%) and being encouraged to keep phones on during a performance (11%) – these were just some of the things people would like to see at orchestral concerts, according to a new study." - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (UK)
Hipgnosis admitted that they sold these songs at 17.5% below their estimated “fair market value.” This added to the already widespread suspicion that current claims of song value are inflated. - Honest Broker
The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, founded in 1945, abruptly canceled its youth events on Saturday - and then deleted everything off its calendar for 2023-24. - CTV Kitchener
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra now has built-in students at a new school - and that might help orchestral music stay alive in England. - BBC
In addition to those outside the opera house, "Berlin's mayor, its senator for culture and Ukraine's German ambassador have all criticised the opera for allowing the singer to return to its stage." - BBC
Jann Wenner, a founder of the Hall of Fame, was removed after an interview in which he said "said that Black and female musicians 'didn’t articulate at the level' of the white musicians featured in his new book." - Variety
Mena Mark Hanna, who became the festival's general director in 2021, has replaced longtime chief conductor John Kennedy with a new music director, Timothy Myers of Austin Opera. Kennedy said the decision "was no surprise," but the absence of a "caring, respectful transition plan" was disappointing. - The Post and Courier (Charleston)
Every note, every rhythm, every dynamic, every timbre, every expression, every slur: you must imagine it all to perfection in your inner ear. That is the job of a composer.” - The Guardian
"For 19 years it has been called Sage (Gateshead) after a deal with its donor the Newcastle-based software company Sage. But the tech firm wants an arena and conference centre being built next door to be called the Sage in a £10m naming rights deal." - The Guardian
The $300,000 quadrennial grant, like the MacArthur, can't be applied for, and candidates don't know they're being considered. Kantorow, now 26, is in illustrious company: among previous winners are Igor Levit, Kirill Gerstein, Piotr Anderszewski, and Leif Ove Andsnes. - The New York Times
The company's fourth general director, and the first to come from elsewhere (he had previously run Houston Grand Opera and Welsh National Opera), Freud will conclude his somewhat controversial tenure at the end of this season, two years before the expiration of his contract. - Chicago Sun-Times
