The Austrian conductor, now 63, announced that he will not renew his current contract when it expires at the end of the 2026-27 season. By that point he will be, at 25 years, the longest-serving music director in the orchestra's history. - Cleveland.com
The words "virile" or "virility" were constantly used in reviews of the music of the late 19th-century Irish-French composer Augusta Holmès. What's more, "Holmès's virile lifestyle, as much as her works, put Ernest Hemingway’s to shame," writes Julia Conrad, who ranks the composer's works in order of virility. - Van
A new Brexit tax hike set to hit U.K. orchestras later this year could make trips to Europe “unviable” and undermine their activities back in Britain, the trade body representing the musical ensembles is warning. - Politico
“I am interested in how being ‘in sync’ with other people through the experience of music-making and other forms of artistic expression supports a general feeling of connectedness to others, which in turn may support people’s well-being.” - Ludwig Van
I don’t want it to be an art form where people feel like it’s only for certain types of people. Because it’s not. I mean, my story is sort of a testament to that. - Washingtonian
The orchestra says it reduced the programming to save money, because SoundBox concerts lose a lot of it even when they sell out. Yet the very-well-endowed SFS reported $144.9M income and only $74.7M in expenses for FY2022. Two SFCV writers consider what orchestra management has said about this. - San Francisco Classical Voice
George Lewis is one of the most formidable figures in modern music: a composer of international renown, a legendary improvising trombonist, a computer-music pioneer, a professor at Columbia, a stalwart of the Black avant-garde collective known as the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. - The New Yorker
One notable finding over the past ten years has been the steady rise in programming of music by living composers. Worldwide, since 2013, contemporary music has risen from around 6% to 14% in our listings. - BachTrack
A different festival director from a variety of artistic disciplines will be engaged each year. It is a new concept for the oldest choral festival in the Western Hemisphere. - Cincinnati Business Journal
"Alsop, 67, was music director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra from 2007-08 through 2020-21, the first woman to lead a top-level American orchestra. She agreed to a three-year term with the Philadelphia Orchestra starting with a 2024 tour of China." - AP
It's so popular now, still, thanks to hand-transcriptions from the 1990s - and a Best of College A Capella compilation CD. "Many of the singers interviewed about the song could not help but sing a few bars, unprompted." - The New York Times
The ARChive of Contemporary Music "reportedly holds some of the world’s biggest collections of Broadway, African, punk, jazz, country and western, folk, hip hop, and experimental recordings" - and it's in trouble. - Wired
In this 21st century oratorio, the director says, it's cathartic "to allow ourselves to feel what our ancestors have felt and know that we’re not alone. ... We are actually part of a much larger story that is filled with hope, redemption and the power to change." - The New York Times
In Britain, the call has gone out for everyone to check attics, garrets, and old bookshelves: "The original score of Gilbert and Sullivan's Utopia Limited was sold in 1915, but its whereabouts are unknown." - BBC
"The first on the chopping block is a March program curated by Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. … The orchestra added that future plans for SoundBox will include just two programs per season — a reduction from the three to five that have generally made up the series." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
