ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

A First Look At The Renovated David Geffen Hall (Yes, A Look) By The NY Times Architecture Critic

Michael Kimmelman won't say anything about the acoustics until there are actual concerts, but he recounts the venue's star-crossed history of expensive disappointments and assesses whether the redesigned auditorium and lobby achieve the goal of being more attractive and welcoming. - The New York Times

President James Madison’s Crystal Flute Gets Played By Lizzo

The instrument is one of the 1,900 flutes in the Library of Congress's collection, the world's largest.  Last week, Librarian of Congress Dr. Carla Hayden tweeted an invitation to the superstar, a trained flutist, to visit the collection and try out a few flutes — and Lizzo did. - CNN

New App Will Listen While You Hum And Identify And Play The Song

Once the service identifies a track, it will show you an information page with its title, artist and single/album cover where you can play the song, add it your playlist or queue and add it to your favorites. - Engadget

Cleveland Orchestra Receives An Extraordinary Gift: The Only Complete Manuscript Of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony

The score, written between 1888 and 1894, was donated by orchestra board member Herbert Kloiber, who purchased it in 2016 from the estate of publisher (and occasional conductor) Gilbert Kaplan.  Kaplan had bought the manuscript from the foundation of conductor Willem Mengelberg, to whom Mahler's widow had given it. - Cleveland.com

The Organization That Tries To Bring The Performing Arts To Everyone In America

In time, instrumentalists, chamber groups, dance companies, orchestras, theatre troupes, opera companies—even comedians, magicians, and other offbeat entertainers (literally tens of thousands of performers)—would owe part of their livelihoods to Community Concerts. - Nightingale Sonata

In Florida, Three Orchestral Players Fired For Refusing To Get COVID Vaccines Are Suing

The three musicians, who were dismissed from the Naples Philharmonic as of June 30 and have filed suit against the orchestra's parent organization, claim a religious exemption from the Philharmonic's vaccination requirement. - Naples (Fla.) Daily News

The Pittsburgh Symphony Went On A European Tour And Were Treated To…

The orchestra’s members enjoy treatment on these trips more in line with sports teams or pop stars than classical musicians (although the gatherings lean more to champagne receptions and hotel bar soirees than wild bacchanals). - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Clapping Back At The No-Clappers

What's up with the no clapping between movements - and, in 2022, is it time to make a compromise between the rowdy 18th century and the decorous 19th in order to ensure the music's survival farther into the 21st? - MSN (Boston Globe)

Trombones Take Over The Gaming World

Well, the game Trombone Champ, that is. Viral videos of players are driving "a lot of tooting, to songs like the national anthem and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and subsequent laughs from people on the internet." - NBC News

So What If Stalin Hated This Opera?

Stalin called Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensh "muddle instead of music, an ugly flood of confusing sound, ... a pandemonium of creaking, shrieking and crashes.” Ouch. But it feels more urgent than ever with Putin at Russia's helm. - The New York Times

This Jazz Saxophonist Was Told Black People Like Him Shouldn’t Go To University

Courtney Pine became a success despite that music teacher. Even his dreams are in sync with his career: "I usually dream about music, about the missing chord or someone famous from jazz history, like Charlie Parker, giving me advice." - The Guardian (UK)

A Canadian Went To Maine For A Bargain, And Returned With A 700-Year-Old Music Manuscript

"Academics confirmed the parchment was from The Beauvais Missal, used in the Beauvais Cathedral in France, and dated to the late 13th century. It was used about 700 years ago in Roman Catholic worship, they said." - CBC

Can Pay-What-You-Wish Concerts Bring New Audiences To Classical Music? Yes.

Price isn't the only barrier for a classical newcomer, but it's a big one, and the few American organizations that have tried pay-what-you-wish — most notably, the Chicago Sinfonietta and, this past summer, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra — say it works.  But what about lost ticket revenue? - The New York Times

Minnesota Orchestra’s Musicians Have A New Four-Year Contract

"Effective immediately, the new contract replaces a two-year deal signed during the pandemic in September 2020, which required a 25% pay cut for the musicians until audiences returned in full. With attendance relatively strong again, ... musicians were able to make some modest gains in the new contract." - The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

New Official Space Force Song Is… Really… (Well, Take A Listen And Decide)

After the Space Force released the song and a “behind the music” video on Tuesday, some public reactions were scathing. - The New York Times

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