ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

Arvo Pärt, Aged 90, Has Ended His Composing Career

The confirmation is tucked into a profile of the wildly popular composer, who has been in poor health and is reportedly developing dementia. - The New York Times

How Arvo Pärt’s Tintinnabuli Style Works

A music scholar explains how the artistic formula — famously described by the composer’s wife, Nora, as “1+1=1” — gets translated into the notes in a score. - The Conversation

Steve Schick: How Music Ought To Work On Us

While the presence of listeners seems axiomatic at every stage of music history, it has become indispensable now. Fostering dialogue, spoken or unspoken, within a community of listeners creates an environment of reciprocal wisdom and can serve as the basis of real interaction. We often feel the fundamental skill of a musician is expression. - ArtsHub

A New Festival Exploring AI In Opera

Planned for its first edition, set to run from June 4 to 7 next year, is a symposium exploring A.I. and opera-making, followed by performances, technology demonstrations, and conversations that showcase how artists and producers interact with A.I. and what kinds of creations audiences can expect as a result. - The New York Times

Kennedy Center Fires Its Chief Of Jazz Programming

The victim of the latest staff defenestration (a frequent phenomenon since Trump took over the arts center in February) was Kevin Struthers, whose title was senior director, music programming. A Kennedy Center spokesperson confirmed Struthers’s termination but gave no reason. - The Washington Post (MSN)

Ojai Music Festival Names Teddy Abrams Artistic And Executive Director

The composer/conductor/pianist — who will remain in his main position as music director of the Louisville Orchestra — succeeds Ara Guzelimian at the southern California contemporary music festival next September. - San Francisco Classical Voice

Metropolitan Opera Extends Peter Gelb’s Contract Through 2030

The news comes shortly after Gelb, who has been the company’s general manager since 2006, announced a $100 million deal for the Met to have a three-week residency in Saudi Arabia every February. - The Violin Channel

Miles Davis’s Catalogue Has A Buyer

“Reservoir Media has acquired a majority interest in the Miles Davis publishing catalog, as well as other rights associated with the late jazz icon’s estate, including a partnership in name and likeness opportunities and certain rights to his recorded music, the company announced early Tuesday.” - Variety

A Brief History Of The Machine That Created American Pop Music

The first jukebox was made in, believe it or not, 1889; it played wax cylinders and people listened through stethoscope-like earphones. In 1927, the Automatic Musical Instrument Company unveiled the first amplified, multi-record coin phonograph. Jukeboxes … introduced the world to music on demand, for far less than buying a record.” - Smithsonian Magazine

Why Musicians Are Leaving Spotify

"The sound quality is horrible. The disposable-ness of music has become almost culturally endemic, and then obviously the financial aspect of it is a joke," says Jamie Stewart of the experimental rock group Xiu Xiu. "It has not done anything good for bands. It has done good things for itself." - NPR

The Essential Dohnanyi Recordings

Crucial to Dohnanyi’s conducting was his belief that musicians had to perform older music in a contemporary way. “I’m not interested in the Brahms of the 19th century,” he said in 2002. “I’m interested in the Brahms of the 21st century.” His interpretations flowed from that insight. - The New York Times

Might These Ideas Save Classical Music Institutions?

Might London’s most civilised music venue have the answers that classical music needs if it is to claim the audience that is undoubtedly there, as well as the freedom that – for any serious art – is even more vital than subsidy? - The Spectator

Report: Met Opera Looking To License Its Intellectual Property

According to the Agence France-Presse, “Gelb is actively exploring other sources of raising funds including licensing agreements of its intellectual property, as well as naming rights to the Met building at Lincoln Center.” - OperaWire

Dissecting The Met Opera’s Deal Of Convenience With Saudi Arabia

As one of the foremost arts institutions in the US, the Met gets the funds it needs, and its partner gets the imprimatur they seek. But does the “artwashing” undercut the Met’s own principled (and admirable) stands elsewhere, such as its support of Ukraine and against Russian artists who defend Putin? - Parterre

David Bowie’s Secret Final Project Was A Musical About 18th Century Britain

Who would not want to hear a rousing chorus about the 1778 Catholic Relief Act, written by Bowie? - BBC

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