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MUSIC

Everyone’s Pivoting – Here’s What’s Relevant To Classical Music

According to Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, there are ten different kinds of pivots. At least six out of them are relevant to classical music. - Ludwig Van

Documentary: Could It Be Years Before Big Music Festivals Return?

"If, like me, you happened to watch the documentary mere hours after hearing that statement, the Glastonbury scene took on a whole different kind of emotional meaning. All of a sudden, it wasn’t so much, “I can’t wait to get back to that,” as, “is that now gone forever?” - Chicago Tribune

Music Critic Peter G. Davis, 84

He was longtime critic for New York Magazine. Peter was best known as an authority on opera — his 1997 book The American Opera Singer is an essential work — but he covered every form of music-making with expertise and panache. - The Rest is Noise

Santa Fe Opera Hires New Boss With New Title

With the previous artistic director, Alexander Neef (who was shared with the Canadian Opera Co.), having left for the Paris Opera, Santa Fe decided to combine his position with that of director of artistic administration and call the resulting job "chief artistic officer." The company has now filled that job with David Lomelí, a former tenor who also has...

Here’s What A British Musician Now Has To Go Through To Work In Europe

While the UK was in the EU, a British musician could pretty much just accept a gig and go. Now she has to apply to each member country for a separate short-term work permit, with all the embassy visits, surrendering of passports, processing fees, and delays the process requires. Pianist Joseph Middleton, one of Britain's top specialists in art...

How A Young Pianist Learns About The Liszt Sonata From Historic Recordings

“I almost feel like you should know the notable recordings of a work like this,” Benjamin Grosvenor said of the sonata in a recent interview. “More than anything, it helps you understand what works and what doesn’t work. You react to some things positively and you react to some things negatively, and that fuels your imagination.” - The New...

The Chamber Music Series Getting Ten Times Its Usual Audience (And Making Money)

There’s one metric, however, that stands out as a marker of success. Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s virtual concerts are technically free of charge, but the pay-as-you-wish donation model has drawn real money — an average of $7,500 in donations per concert. This sum is at roughly equal to the paid ticket revenue PCMS typically collected pre-pandemic at APS for...

A Blow-Up Over Racism, Antisemitism, And Academic Politics In American Musicology

This story is convoluted, and needs careful reading to understand what's going on not only in musicology in the U.S. but also across the world. To quote the article, "How this ends is not clear." - The New York Times

Orchestras Must Overthrow The Tyranny Of Subscription Programming, Says NY Times

Anthony Tommasini: " locks them into standard-issue, week-after-week programs loaded with the classics and sprinkled, at best, with unusual or new choices. … Why can't orchestras be nimble and respond to sudden inspiration, or current events? If the Pittsburgh Symphony has a hit with a premiere, why must audiences in other cities wait years to hear it?" - The...

How The San Francisco Symphony Has Rebranded

The modern approach plays out in its new look, which patrons will see on everything from posters outside the box office to tickets to the website and social media. The static typeface of yesteryear, which looks the same no matter where it’s applied, is gone. In its place is a new custom, variable typeface called “ABC Symphony” that evokes...

18,000-Year-Old Music Instrument Identified — And Played

The ancient conch shell was discovered at the site of some cave art in the French Pyrenees back in 1931, when archaeologists figured it must have been some sort of ceremonial cup. Now researchers using CT scans have determined that the shell was decorated and that its two holes had to have been man-made, most likely to accommodate a...

Oregon Symphony’s Next Music Director: David Danzmayr

The 41-year-old Austrian-born maestro, who recently completed his term as chief conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic in Croatia, takes up the baton in Portland this fall. He succeeds Carlos Kalmar, whose 18th and final season was cancelled due to the pandemic. (Meanwhile, Danzmayr has also extended his contract as music director of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio.)...

Composer Anthony Davis At 70

Awards don’t help us quantify these qualities, but for a composer who burst onto the operatic scene so spectacularly with X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the New York City Opera in 1986, it’s an acknowledgement of his eminence in a world, classical music, that has usually struggled to deal honestly with Black musicians and Black...

New National Museum Of African-American Music Open In Nashville

"The museum tells a chronological story of Black music starting in the 1600s through present day and framed around major cultural movements including the music and instruments brought by African slaves, the emergence of blues through the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement. … And while there are museums around the country that focus on...

In Seattle, Music Venues Can Now Reopen. Few Are Choosing To Do So

Thus far, only a few local music venues have signaled their interest in reopening under present conditions. In a statement on its website, the Washington Nightlife Music Association — a coalition of independent club owners — said many venues will opt to remain closed, citing safety concerns and a number of requirements, including a 25% capacity limit that “is...

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