Conductors Leonard Slatkin and Paul McCreesh, members of the Guarneri and Zehetmair Quartets, and two orchestra principals talk about when and at whom to look, what eye contact does and doesn't communicate, and how it may differ between orchestras, choirs, and chamber musicians. - BBC Music Magazine
Alongside free performances in Milan neighborhoods and cheaper tickets for young adults and families with children, the house has started discounts for people in their 30s. Says superintendent Dominique Meyer, "It is not as if one's salary suddenly becomes three times as big when you turn 30." - The New York Times
English-language writers seem to use the word over and over (as praise), though critics in other languages don't use equivalents. (Croustillant or croquant? Non.) Certainly nothing like the word appears in old treatises. Baroque violinist and musicologist Addi Liu considers what crisp does and doesn't really mean. - Early Music America
It all seemed promising two years ago, when pianist Anne-Marie McDermott was hired as artistic director to replace the orchestra/concert presenter's retiring co-founders. Now McDermott has resigned, key staffers have been fired or fled, and the organization's largest donor has walked away in disgust. - Santa Fe New Mexican
Nathaniel Silberschlag, who became the Cleveland Orchestra's principal hornist at age 21, astounds even jaded professional orchestra musicians. His teacher, Met Opera principal hornist Julie Landsman, calls him "brilliant, motivated, personable and talented beyond belief" and told Franz Welser-Möst that he's "the biggest talent I've ever seen." - The New York Times
My contention is not that the quality of music decreased, but that the changing consumption method devalues each moment of recorded sound. The immense quantity of music now available makes the pool larger, and thus the individuals (songs/tracks/works) inherently have less value. - NewMusicBox
The 53-year-old US singer and her co-writer Walter Afanasieff are named in a lawsuit brought by the songwriter Andy Stone claiming that Carey and her collaborators “knowingly, wilfully, and intentionally engaged in a campaign” to infringe Stone’s copyright for the song. - The Guardian
One of the reasons for Vänskä’s success in Minnesota has been that right from the start he gave the orchestra what it wanted: discipline and hard work. - MinnPost
Listening to Kimbrough and Burnside I feel that, at last, in my early sixties, I’ve entered a corner of that foreign field, that vast and crowded zone of meaning. - The Spectator
“There was a very particular profile that we were looking for in the artists, which is people who are virtuosos in their area and therefore are appreciated by institutions, but sometimes chafe at the limitations.” - The New York Times
We in Canada are operatically underserved. Our so-called second largest company offers its patrons the grand total of three mainstage productions annually and this season, shockingly, so does our largest company. So where does this leave Verdi, Puccini and Wagner? Out in the Canadian cold. - Toronto Star
James Blake’s new album, “Wind Down,” is created in collaboration with the A.I.-powered app Endel, which collects data on individual users from devices like the Apple Watch and generates personalized ambient music in real time. - The New Yorker
Even a hardened civil liberties advocate would have to down a stiff drink and say a prayer or two before defending someone’s right to publically mock murder victims and their families. - The Critic
The Italian conductor, who became music director in 2017, has extended his term through the 2026-27 season. (As of last September, he is also music director of Zurich's well-funded opera house.) Says NSO principal flutist Aaron Goldman, "However long we can keep him, we want to." - MSN (The Washington Post)
