A Nick Jonas concert “reminded me of an obscure phrase coined by a 19th-century sociologist – Émile Durkheim’s ‘collective effervescence.’ … Individuals who are normally preoccupied with their personal concerns get swept up into a kind of electric, communal intensity.” - The Guardian (UK)
Soprano Asmik Gregorian: “This feels very strange and empty. … It was planned by Markus Hinterhäuser, and we are all here because of him. It feels a bit like a boat without a captain.” - The New York Times
The oldest known brass instruments in existence are two smallish trumpets found inside the tomb of the boy pharaoh in 1922. Seventeen years later, for a live BBC broadcast from Cairo, a modern musician played one. Bad idea. - CNN
BMG is the first significant rightsholder to ink a licensing deal with Suno since Warner Music Group announced an alliance with the AI company nine months ago. - MusicBusinessWorldwide
Scores are more available than ever: in multiple published editions, online in public domain collections, in libraries and elsewhere. But a manuscript, music written in a composer’s hand, has the almost magical power to make even the most distant giants feel near and alive. - The New York Times
They reveal that even as expenses ticked downward, donations fell 25 percent short of expectations last year, and that this year’s ticket revenue is on pace to earn about half of what the orchestra budgeted. - Washington Post
“The Mozarteum Foundation on July 15 unveiled 320 statuettes, barely … 20 inches high, showing Mozart with his dog. They were designed by German conceptual artist Ottmar Hörl. Within two weeks, more than 80 of the polymer figures had disappeared. By Wednesday, a total of 210 were missing.” - AP
The Strawberry Music Festival, held in the Sierra foothills near Nevada City in October, features American roots music of many types, including performances by major country stars. Co-founder Charlie Cran died suddenly in November, and his heirs, now the event’s owners, aren’t yet ready to present the festival properly. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
It’s a vital, creative and adaptive evolution, a way of preserving an important cultural heritage in a world of cheap noise where the piano recital might otherwise fade from view or become hopelessly marginalized. - 3 Quarks Daily
Increasingly, symphony orchestras define excellence very narrowly. The focus is on the musical quality of the playing. This is crucial, of course. But excellence must also be measured, in part, by community penetration and buy-in. - Nightingale Sonata
One scenario envisions the renowned 96-year-old orchestra — a fixture at the Kennedy Center — performing at "offsite alternate venues," according to a slide deck of the budget plans obtained by Axios. - Axios
“L.A. became the place that let him try just about anything. … Here is where he's been able to experiment ..., not just with the support of the orchestra but also the community. He became a symbol for an L.A. in which, as with YOLA, anything is possible.” - Los Angeles Times (Yahoo!)
“Chuck Redd hosted and performed at the Kennedy Center’s annual Christmas Eve concerts for years, but bowed out of last December’s planned gig, citing ‘the defiant and illegal name change happening to the Kennedy Center.’ (Management) subsequently sued Redd for breach of contract, only to have the suit thrown out in June.” - Variety
The orchestra’s audiences have diminished sharply since Trump took over the Kennedy Center. Those righteous liberals who think they are somehow striking back at Bad Orange Man by staying away are actually only hurting the musicians and other artists for whom the Center is a lifeline. - DC Citycast
The very act of conducting—waving a wand to summon ravishing or ethereal or earsplitting sounds—can look like either inexplicable magic or embarrassing nonsense, a kind of tuxedoed air guitar. - The Atlantic
