Neither a cult reputation as a pioneer of bebop nor American canonization quite does justice to Monk, who was simply one of the most imaginative composers of the twentieth century, a judgment that in my view does not require the qualifiers “jazz” or “American.” - The Baffler
The album, which is untitled, came together after six weeks of remote instruction followed by in person socially distant rehearsals and four days of recording sessions in which the musicians recorded the sections of the orchestra separately — all without a single Covid-19 infection. - The New York Times
A specially developed device, the Endpoint Cylinder and Dictabelt Machine, has enabled the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts to retrieve and digitize the Mapleson Cylinders, made by an archivist at the Met in the first years of the 20th century. - The New York Times
Press On Vinyl got its pressing machine on Christmas Eve of 2021- and by the end of 2022, were pressing more than 3000 vinyl albums a day, heading for double than in the coming year - and fans are still waiting 6-12 months for albums. - The Guardian (UK)
Pop singer Abao: "When people think of Indigenous music, they think of some elder pounding a drum. That's important too, but young Indigenous people have their own way of living and their own community and they want to be able to mix their culture with what they like." - NPR
"At the top levels, where base salary is over $100,000, it takes years of training and experience and an intense audition process to get a job. Here, the difference in the two positions is more about function than skill." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Despite a highly misleading headline, Ivan Hewitt uses a West End show called "Handel's Messiah: The Live Experience" to consider the various things that get added (frequently high-tech and sometimes thoughtful) and taken away (religious content) to attract younger adults to classical music. - MSN (The Telegraph, UK)
"What we’re seeing throughout the entire performing arts sector at least in Milwaukee is people are coming out for the traditions and the pieces and the performances that they know already, but they’re not particularly adventurous to go see new plays, new operas or new pieces of music." - Milwaukee Business Journal
The spectacle of a pint-size virtuoso — in any field, not just music — feels otherworldly, and it inspires an almost lurid fascination that is difficult to resist. It can also lead us to misconstrue the reality of what we’re witnessing. - San Francisco Chronicle
"The (Colorado) company is in a bitter dispute with the labor union representing its performers, The American Guild of Musical Artists, ... with accusations that include charges of withheld artist payments, refusals to bargain in good faith, body shaming, sexual harassment, and other threats." - Colorado Public Radio
Physicists at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) used a 3D nanolithography tool called the Nanofrazor to cut the smallest record ever. The tune they "recorded," in full stereo no less: the first 25 seconds of "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree." - Ars Technica
"Hit hard by a cash shortfall and lackluster ticket sales ..., the (company) said Monday that it would withdraw up to $30 million from its endowment, give fewer performances next season, and accelerate its embrace of contemporary works, which, in a shift, have been outselling the classics." - The New York Times
"The Pops announced in November that it would cease operations at the end of this season. But the new tentative agreement, back-dated to this past Sept. 1, runs through Aug. 31, 2024 — suggesting that the group is eyeing a potential path to survival." - The Philadelphia Inquirer
In the 1950s, TV networks broadcast light operas by Victor Herbert and Kurt Weill. Those pieces are rarely revived now; neither are the comic works of Anthony Davis and William Bolcom, and there are composers today who could write more. We just need a company for them. - The New York Times
