“Singers are tested by every performance, year after year. We are trained to make it look easy. It is never easy. We live through sacrifice, isolation and self-doubt. ... Constant travel (if you’re lucky), fatigue and stress take an emotional and physical toll.” - The New York Times
During a meeting in the historic Uyghur city of Kashgar in October, authorities warned residents that performing, playing, uploading onto social media, or storing on devices any of a list of Uyghur songs would face imprisonment. Uyghur exiles report that several people have already been jailed for doing so. - AP
“The kid with the PC in the bedroom can’t play his instrument. He can make some sounds, and then you can get a vast amount of repetition, but if they didn’t take the time to learn their instrument and their scales and to actually speak the language of music then they can’t play.” - Music Radar
When “Walk My Walk” went No. 1, several observers disputed the narrative that country music was being overrun by AI. They noted that relatively few country listeners purchase digital songs in today’s streaming world, so topping that particular chart isn’t that significant. - Washington Post
“The organization has canceled its Classics 5 concert, which was scheduled for January 16. … The Philharmonic is made up largely of musicians who previously performed with the San Antonio Symphony, which dissolved in 2022. Many of the financial challenges that plagued the Symphony have also affected the Philharmonic.” - Texas Public Radio
Gen Z has decided CDs are cool again, sending sales wobbling upward before promptly wobbling back down. It’s mostly about vibes, nostalgia, and proving to millennials that nothing stays uncool forever. - LiveNow Fox
Esther Hwang alleges that she was assaulted by a senior orchestra member in 2017 — and that, after complaining to management, she was forced to sign an NDA and then edged out of the ensemble. VSO attorneys have threatened to sue her for violating that NDA. - Vancouver Sun
“Jazz supergroup The Cookers, scheduled to perform two concerts at the Kennedy Center on Wednesday as part of ‘A Jazz New Year’s Eve,’ have canceled both shows, the band announced on Monday.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
The limited expectations for 21st-century rock may just have turned out to be freeing. For songwriters, musicians and — with luck — enough fans to support them, rock is far from played out. - The New York Times
“The most remarkable records bear the hallmarks of the prison itself: a Bob Dylan album that was censored to remove the song ‘Desolation Row,’ and a Johnny Cash record that’s been defaced to read ‘I hate it here.’” - The New York Times (Seattle Times)
Benamor, by Pablo Luna, “featured cross-dressing characters and risqué humor that was largely tolerated during the Roaring Twenties in Madrid and premiered just months before a military coup that brought an end to the constitutional monarchy.” - The New York Times
“The entire tapestry of this film is musicalized — from the emphatic breathing, chest thumping and floor stomping that make up the worshipers’ rituals, to the songs, inspired by Shaker traditionals and performed by star Amanda Seyfried and the cast.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo)
The spokesperson at the Kennedy Center told NPR, "Any artist cancelling their show at the Trump Kennedy Center over political differences isn't courageous or principled—they are selfish, intolerant, and have failed to meet the basic duty of a public artist.” - NPR
“Streaming numbers have reflected the craze, with multiple tracks from featured Canadian artists ‘jumping tens of thousands of per cent in streams and thousands of new playlist adds in a matter of days’ — most notably for Feist and Wolf Parade.” - CBC
Pokrovsk’s displaced choir had to distill “the complex choral melody for just three singers this Christmas, down from the usual 30. Hearing the arrangement performed by three singers gives a sense of Ukraine at the moment after years of war: depleted, persistent, still beautiful.” - Washington Post (Yahoo)
