“We are writing to let you know,” said AFM Local 6 in a statement, “that the musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra will not be able to perform on Opening Night, September 12, unless management has reached a fair contract with us before then.” - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“It was an innovation with a carrot and a stick for the artists who benefited from the extra exposure. ... But the offering also came with a carrot for consumers … and the corresponding stick was particularly ugly.” - Tedium
In many ways, YOLA was the glory of the “¡Bienvenido Gustavo!” Bowl program 17 years ago, and it proved even more so for the goodbye Gustavo, or more accurately “hasta pronto,” see you soon. - Los Angeles Times
Cultural significance and institutional stability are not the same. Even the most renowned orchestras depend on funding, infrastructure, audiences and collective bargaining agreements. When they lose elements of this institutional backbone, it can imperil even the strongest orchestra. - Washington Post (MSN)
“The Los Angeles-based improviser and former The Late Late Show With James Corden bandleader, who headlined San Francisco's Downtown First Thursday party earlier this year, was taken off the Northern California festival bill … following a recent investigation into allegations involving the comedian and musician's relationships and drug use.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“The trumpets of the pharaoh Tutankhamun!” booms the BBC announcer. A short intake of air and then — the blare of a trumpet which for more than 3,000 years had lain silent inside the boy-king’s tomb. - CNN
“The future of Opera Australia’s signature event, the annual Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour, is in limbo over a funding dispute with its patron, reclusive Japanese billionaire Haruhisa Handa,” who is reportedly unhappy that the event has been presenting money-making musicals rather than opera in recent years. - Australian Financial Review
Wholly AI-generated tracks will be banned from the ARIA charts from Monday next week, but some AI-assisted music will remain eligible, an ARIA statement said. - PBS
In a tellingly worded statement, the union president said, “This groundbreaking agreement offers unprecedented artistic collaboration through all aspects of the artistic process. … It is also an innovative and transformative path forward for American orchestras, involving players as never before in the process of artistic decision making and planning.” - WBUR (Boston)
What she told me was a little alarming: “2025-2026 is the worst year for classical arts organizations since I’ve started doing this work.” The reason for this goes deep into the deficiencies of arts funding. - San Francisco Classical Voice
“The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), the trade group representing the country’s music industry, has banned wholly AI-generated songs from its weekly charts that showcase the most popular tracks in Australia.” - Variety
“He doesn’t have a pretentious bone in his body, eagerly embracing the way ... rockers bashed away at a late-19th-century Russian suite. And just as eagerly, he embraced the world of film music so completely that he became only the second LA Phil music director with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.” - TheWrap
“AVROTROS will not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027 because the event can no longer be considered neutral, with a participating country still involved in a large-scale military conflict,” the network said, though the decision on the Netherlands’ participation remains up to national public broadcaster NPO. - AP
These stories from the classical music world are particularly jarring. It’s easy to stomach the idea of Swifties doing what they do: that’s part of their culture. But classical music fans have long cultivated an image of sophistication. - The Conversation
The Justice Department was preparing to wage a legal battle more than a decade in the making against the world’s largest concert promoter. Then President Trump called. Settle it, the president told a senior DOJ official, the official later told associates. - The Wall Street Journal
