ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

The Streaming Music Revolution Began With A Demo Tape

Thirty years ago, The Ugly Mugs just wanted to get their music into people's hands. - Fast Company

What It Would Mean For Music If Bandcamp Goes Away

First, there’s the fear that an uncaring new ownership might end up sending one of the world’s most vital music libraries down the digital flush hole. Then there’s the concurrent fear that the community surrounding this special ecosystem will erode and go poof. - Washington Post

What To Learn From Being Bored At The Opera

There’s a volitional component to situational boredom—it inspires a pivot, a consideration of what one deems valuable. To be bored in this way is to desire change. - Van

A Wave Of Contemporary Operas Is Taking On Black Experiences In America, Past And Present

The highest-profile recent examples have been the Metropolitan Opera productions of Terence Blanchard's Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones, but there are more: Rhiannon Giddens's Pulitzer-winning Omar, Anthony Davis's X and The Central Park Five, Tazewell Thompson and Jeanine Tesori's Blue, Jake Heggie's Intelligence, … - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)

The End Of The Emerson String Quartet

And from its formation in 1976, the Emerson Quartet sounded pretty. It became famous for its rich vitality and easy power in a vast repertory that it recorded prolifically and toured tirelessly. - The New York Times

The Power Of 100 Black Orchestral Musicians On One Stage: The Gateways Festival At 30

The event began in 1993 as a three-day symposium in North Carolina: "Gateways: Classical Music and the Black Musician." Now based in Rochester, the event has grown to multiple concerts by a full symphony orchestra as well as chamber groups; 300 musicians take part across four cities. - The New York Times

Is English National Opera “Managing Decline”?

“This is a plan of managed decline, rather than an attempt to rebuild the company and maintain the world-class artistic output for which ENO is rightly famed." - The Guardian

The Music Industry Has Become “Always On” For Musicians

There is a "very real fear that the algorithm will ‘forget’ artists if they do not keep up a steady flow of social posts and releases, and you have the foundation stones for music’s just-in-time economy." - Music Industry Blog

La Scala Opens Its New 17-Story Tower, Designed By Mario Botta

There are new rehearsal spaces for the ballet and orchestra (the latter equipped for studio recording), a big space for unloading and assembling sets, and plenty of new office space that will save the company €350,000 a year in rent to other landlords. - Gramilano (Milan)

Simon Woods: We Need To Rethink Orchestra Governance

"We can’t hide from uncomfortable questions about to what extent we should be connecting capacity and generosity with power and influence in a world in which scrutiny over equity has never been more intense." - Symphony

For The First Time In 33 Years, The Pacific Symphony Is Choosing A New Music Director. The World Looks Different Now

Pacific Symphony’s leadership change is happening at a time when audiences have become increasingly choosy. - CultureOC

Royal Albert Hall’s Archive Rescued From Flood Damage In £1 Million Project

"The archive had been stored in four different locations across the building, with the basement store repeatedly flooding and threatening to destroy some of the artefacts. The collection is now housed in a fireproof climate-controlled studio in the building with a new reading room, and is open ... by appointment." - BBC

Barenboim: My Israeli/Palestinian Orchestra Found Common Ground. We Need To Move Forward

Do we surrender to this terrible violence and let our striving for peace die – or do we insist that there must and can be peace? I am convinced that we have to move on and keep the larger context of the conflict in mind. - The Guardian

Ukraine’s National Orchestra Regathers Its Musicians And Tours

Many of the orchestra’s musicians scattered. Some stayed, volunteering in field kitchens, doing what they could to help the effort to push back the Russians from the capital. And it wasn’t long before the orchestra started performing again – reuniting first at La Fenice, Venice’s opera house, in April 2022. - The Guardian

New Owner Eliminates Half Of Bandcamp’s Employees

Half the staff at Bandcamp, the online music platform known for championing independent artists and labels, have been laid off following the recent purchase of the company by music licensing startup Songtradr. - The Guardian

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');