The Orquesta Sinfónica Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho in Caracas is already the country's least conventional symphonic ensemble: they frequently perform in the barrios and regularly explore fusion with Afro-Caribbean music. Their most recent project, Sinfonía Desordenada (Disorderly Symphony), turned out to be, er, aptly named. - National Geographic
A majority (69%) of orchestras are planning a hybrid (digital and in-person) season for 2021-22. Once halls return to full capacity audiences, 45.9% of orchestras plan to continue some of the digital activity they’re doing... La Scena Musicale
Anna von Hausswolff can joke about it, but enraged demonstrators have actually shut down concerts of hers. All because a music blogger called her "the high priestess (of) satanic harmonies" and, in one track recorded 13 years ago, she sang "I made love with the devil." - The New York Times
Going online has forced music educators to adapt existing ideas, or adopt existing technology, to discover, invent and share ways to reach students to keep music education alive. - The Conversation
Uma Thurman and Renée Fleming are both Penelope; it's just that one speaks, and one sings. Thurman: "When you put language to music, it becomes very specific. ... It’s a challenge that makes me feel like I’m doing things for the first time." - The New York Times
The concerts for isolated people have ended up a lifeline for the musicians too. "Sometimes the concerts can be really unusual in that you start it in the middle of the street, and you don't know if anybody is listening, and then comes the surprise." - BBC
"The trope of the cloistered composer is a tried and true archetype — the solitary soul flanked by stacks of scores in the dark study of a secluded home, squinting at notation while sitting at a keyboard dusted with spent erasers." But things are a bit different now. - Washington Post
The letter alludes that the new publication is in response to “…the virulent spread of identity-based concert programming.” It goes on to state they are looking to “actively promote canonical masterworks of the Western Classical tradition from antiquity to the present day.” - Ludwig Van
Thomas Wilkins has been conducting Ellington with leading orchestras for some years now, including this weekend and next with the LA Philharmonic. He says that projects like that prompt publishers to print clean scores and parts, which is what will really make a difference. - San Francisco Classical Voice
"One new opera demands an enormous amount of attention, but two is downright invasive," says Ricky Ian Gordon. His Intimate Apparel (adapted by Lynn Nottage from her play) is at Lincoln Center Theater, while New York City Opera is producing The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. - The New York Times
Morgan’s leadership — which was characterized by people who knew and worked with him as values-based, community-oriented, and energetic — left no doubt among those at the Oakland Symphony about what the identity of the organization moving forward would be. - San Francisco Classical Voice
According to MRC Data, old songs now represent 70% of the US music market. Those who make a living from new music—especially that endangered species known as the working musician—have to look on these figures with fear and trembling. - Ted Gioia
"It will be a short sojourn, with the ensemble playing a total of four concerts in Iowa City, Iowa; Stillwater, Oklahoma; and Ann Arbor, Michigan. … Podium duties will be shared by principal guest conductor Nathalie Stutzmann and music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin." - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Josep Caballé Domenech, who succeeded Lawrence Leighton Smith in 2011, said that he'll step down after next season (May 2023), when his current contract ends. The decision seems to have taken the orchestra and administration by surprise. - The Gazette (Colorado Springs)
