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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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)
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
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
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)
"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
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
"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)