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)
"The appointment as Principal Conductor is effective immediately. Spano will remain in the post until the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School hires a new, permanent Music Director. That search is ongoing." - Broadway World
Under Wayne Brown, the company "has placed itself at the center of operatic conversation, … broken fund-raising records, (and) drawn first-time ticket buyers by the thousands," writes David Allen. What's more, says Deborah Borda, "He has a kind word for all, which is quite unusual in our business." - The New York Times
For 31 out of 52 weeks, female acts topped the chart either as solo artists or in collaboration with other musicians. Miley Cyrus had the biggest song of the year, with the break-up anthem Flowers attracting 198 million streams. But new music was largely absent from the year's top 10 best-selling albums. - BBC
"I hope the 20th century ‘early music revival’ might be viewed as an important shift in outlook in the performance of music. Seeking to try to understand music from earlier times and being prepared to be influenced by historical sources, be they manuscripts, documents, instruments or iconography." - Continuo Connect
The goal of the program is, said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, to use American music and musicians, across many genres, "to strengthen the ties that bind nations together." Naive? Futile? "Well, yes and no," writes Fred Kaplan, who surveys similar efforts during and since the Cold War. - Slate (Yahoo!)
Esteban Salas y Castro (1725-1803) grew up in Havana and worked as music director at an important parish church there and at the cathedral in Santiago de Cuba, where his music — well over 100 sacred works and villancicos — was later rediscovered, languishing in a cabinet. - Early Music America
Space living could also bring a revolution in concert-going, by giving new context to existing music and inspiring new ways of performing. - Washington Post
