“Serenading an audience fresh from four days of divisive rhetoric, immigrant bashing and attacks on LGBTQ people with music from a sonic icon of Europe’s post-World War II quest for peace and dignity was either brilliant in its perversity or perversely hypocritical.” - Washington Post
When the Russians might bomb you out at any second, what’s the point, really? “People need some joy in their lives, even through these hard times.” - BBC
“His greatness was not necessarily the way he used sound or even the sound itself, rather why he used sound, where he used sound and how he interacted with sound. … Music also drove his video creation. And that creation has had a lasting effect on music.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
Jim Lucchese most recently worked as CEO for the music event startup Sofar Sounds. He also led Spotify for Artists, a program helping artists access and maximize fan engagement. - Boston Globe
Eurovision, like the Olympics, touts itself as an apolitical event. Fans and jury members are asked to vote for the best song, not the country that sings it. But neutrality is impossible. Politics are ingrained in the event’s makeup—from the finances of hosting to the concept of the “Big Five” countries. - LA Review of Books
When Peter Biggs stepped down in April, the stated cause was ill health. He now acknowledges the reason was "grievous errors of judgment": commuting from his country house and charging the orchestra for expensive overnight stays in Wellington while renting out the apartment he already had there. - The Post (Wellington, NZ)
"Orchestra members of the Welsh National Opera have voted overwhelmingly in favour of potential strike action, following threats of full-time jobs being reduced to 85% contracts by management. … The ballot was called as a result of WNO management plans to make the orchestra part-time, cutting the members’ pay by 15%." - The Strad
The American Federation of Musicians and Employers Pension Fund, set up for AFM's roughly 50,000 members in New York but underfunded for decades, was projected to become insolvent by 2034. The Federal funding, arranged by Sen. Schumer (D-NY), is part of President Biden's American Rescue Plan, passed in 2021. - The Hollywood Reporter
Across the musical universe, country is cool again. This year, for the first time, the country festival Stagecoach sold out before its better-known mainstream counterpart, Coachella. - The Wall Street Journal
Wearing sneakers onstage (and a Nehru jacket rather than a tux) is just one of numerous steps which the new Baltimore Symphony music director is taking to show ordinary folks that classical music does not have to be stuffy and intimidating. - The New York Times
Quebec RCMP say they seized 62.7 kilograms of cocaine hidden in the walls of a grand piano during searches in the Lanaudière and Sherbrooke areas following a tip from US Homeland Security. Four suspects have been arrested. - Canadian Press (Yahoo!)
Dozens of San Francisco Symphony Chorus members say leadership has proposed slashing their budget by up to 80%, a move they believe could further tarnish the institution’s reputation. - San Francisco Chronicle
Verizon "knowingly provides its high-speed service to a massive community of online pirates," said the complaint filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. - Ars Technica
Music being too easy to make means too much of the same music is made, “making it harder to find really exceptional things.” Because of the creative dependency there’s likely not much exceptional to listen to, anyway. - 3 Quarks Daily
The tool lets people hum the song, sing the song or even play the song on another instrument. The feature is rolling out to YouTube music subscribers on both iOS and Android. - Engadget
