With the mass introduction of vaccines, the decline in infections, and the lifting of travel restrictions, orchestras have already taken to the road, with many others just waiting to take off. - San Francisco Classical Voice
Perhaps Sphinx’s most fundamental and meaningful achievement has been its simplest one, the part that crying mother caught onto: creating a community of people who had thought they were the only one of their kind, or close. Forming what those in the Sphinx network call “la familia.” - The New York Times
A Princeton University study involving singers and orchestral players from the Met found that "musical professionals have such fine control over their breath that they emit weaker airflows during singing and playing than they and others do while speaking and breathing" — so aerosol-borne pathogens don't travel as far. - Smithsonian Magazine
Michael Haefliger will have run the summer event for 26 years when he allows his contract to expire at the end of 2025. Over that time, he has increased the festival's breadth and prestige to the point that it's now considered a peer of the august Salzburg Festival. - Switzerland Times
Spalding wrote she communicated with Harvard about a “decolonial education” curriculum she would like to implement as a course or initiative, but said what she aspires “to cultivate and activate in organized learning spaces is not (yet) aligned with Harvard’s priorities.” - The Crimson
Conductor Roberto Kalb, who starts effective immediately, will work alongside artistic director Yuval Sharon and associate artistic director (and soprano) Christine Goerke. Kalb will be the first person to hold that position since founder David DiChiera retired from what was then Michigan Opera Theater in 2016. - CBS Detroit
"The orchestra’s new female majority could prove fleeting — it currently has 16 player vacancies to fill, in part because auditions were put on hold during the pandemic — but it still represents a profound shift for an ensemble that had only five women (50 years ago)." - The New York Times
What is the message our Arts Council is trying to send to our young musicians? That they want them to train, and to immerse themselves in music, but that their years of dedication and craft cannot add up to earning a living? - MaxMusician
Martins, who has played for dignitaries and enjoyed the high-class life in New York as a younger man, had long suffered from a neurological condition called focal dystonia, which caused involuntary spasms in his right hand. Over the years, the pain grew more and more excruciating. - New York Post
Post-COVID, "There’s a real demand for this music now. ... I’m really enjoying it, but I’m also finding it hard. We’ve had these two years where we got used to a different pace of life, so it is a bit of a culture shock to be back." - The Guardian (UK)
"The Justice Department has opened an antitrust investigation into the owner of Ticketmaster. ... The investigation is focused on whether Live Nation Entertainment has abused its power over the multibillion-dollar live music industry." - The New York Times
Millions of fans were locked out. In a later deleted blog post published by Ticketmaster on Thursday, the company said that 3.5 million people registered for the Verified Fan program, and around 1.5 million of them were given a special access code and “invited” to the sale for Swift’s tour. - The New York Times
"In a surprise announcement that comes one week before Afton Battle's last day as Fort Worth Opera general and artistic director, the company has named Angela Turner Wilson its new leader. Wilson is a Fort Worth-based opera singer" and chair of the Vocal Arts Division at Texas Christian University. - CultureMap
Curtis Studio, as the label will be called, will feature artists in residence as well as student ensembles. The inaugural album, to be released on December 6, is Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, played by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra under conductor Osmo Vänskä. - Gramophone
"There is no relocation," Harry Brünjes told a group of MPs this week about Arts Council England's decision to defund the company unless it leaves the capital for a city such as Manchester. "This is closing ENO down. This is losing 600 jobs from London." - London Evening Standard
