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MUSIC

Semyon Bychkov On Authenticity In Music

“I think the greatest challenge for us as interpreters today is to find authenticity of spirit in the music we interpret, and that's a cultural thing. There are two ways to do it. One is as a tourist and the other one is a native. - BachTrack

Poof! Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Folds. But Why?

“Before the pandemic, we had 8,000 subscribers. As of today, we have 2,000 subscribers. That’s a huge difference.” - Waterloo Record

This Baritone Was Singing The Role Of God. He Had A Heart Attack And Died Onstage.

At the Ambronay Festival in France, Alejandro Meerapfel, a 54-year-old Argentine, was performing in an oratorio called Il Dono della vita eterna (The Gift of Eternal Life). The concert was being telecast live on France TV's Culturebox. (And that's not the strangest part of all this.) - Classical Music (UK)

A Plan To Reconstruct San Francisco’s Davies Hall

"A plan is being formulated to reconstruct Davies and some of its environment (such as the large outdoor parking lot on Franklin Street), including reducing the number of seats to 2,100 and adding new facilities to venue, as if the three Zellerbach Rehearsal Halls in the building were not enough." - San Francisco Classical Voice

Conductor John DeMain Announces Retirement From Madison Symphony Orchestra

"The 2025-26 season marks the Madison orchestra's 100th anniversary. The symphony will conduct a search for a new leader, and DeMain intends to depart after that season" — his 32nd with the orchestra — "ends," at which point he will be 82. - The Capital Times (Madison, Wis.)

Fire Destroys An Entire Building At Bösendorfer Piano Factory

A large part of the archives of the historic company, which was founded in 1830, was destroyed in the blaze at the facility just outside Vienna. Firefighters were able to control the fire before it spread to the manufacturing floor. - Classic FM (UK)

North Carolina Symphony Gets A New Music Director

While music was always important to him, Carlos Miguel Prieto majored in electrical engineering at Princeton University and got an MBA at Harvard. He was working for Pepsi Foods International in Mexico City when he had what he calls a “vocational crisis” and realized conducting was his calling. - Charlotte News & Observer

There’s A Genre Of Music In Star Wars Called Jizz

But now Disney is trying to wipe away the famous name. "A new official short story collection ... asserts that this style of music is actually called jatz." - Vulture

Making Comics About Jazz Music Is Like What?

Luckily, graphic novelist Dave Chisholm is also a jazz musician. - Slate

A Symphony For Plants

Julie Andrews has a new book out about the time (not so long ago!) when musicians came together in an orchestral hall and played ... for houseplants. - NPR

A New Sound For The New World Symphony

The sound is new artistic director Stéphane Denève's French accent, as he succeeds the legendary Michael Tilson Thomas. - Washington Post

To Keep Kids Interested In Music, It’s Time To Dump The Holiday Concert

Instead, "bring play back into the classroom by instructing students how to hear a melody on the radio and learn to play it back by ear, and encouraging students to write their own simple songs." - The New York Times

Connections Between Classical Music And Heavy Metal

“Speaking broadly, I think both traditions value virtuosity and virtuosic display. Both traditions value advanced musicianship and instrumental ability, and don't mind openly showcasing those abilities.” - Van

Cassette By Cassette, One Pakistani Man Is Working To Preserve Afghan Musical History

In a small audio repair shop in Peshawar, across the Afghan-Pakistani border in Peshawar, refugee Mohammed Hasan Zamri collects old commercial cassettes and sometimes makes his own recordings of escaped musicians — protecting Afghan musical heritage from the destructive zeal of the Taliban. - The Guardian

Four Days After Abruptly Canceling Its Season, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Closes Down

The organization's entire board of directors has resigned. "This means," said a statement, "that the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony will cease all operations as of today, and will not return for any future seasons." - Waterloo Region Record (Kitchener, Ontario)

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