The highest-profile recent examples have been the Metropolitan Opera productions of Terence Blanchard's Champion and Fire Shut Up in My Bones, but there are more: Rhiannon Giddens's Pulitzer-winning Omar, Anthony Davis's X and The Central Park Five, Tazewell Thompson and Jeanine Tesori's Blue, Jake Heggie's Intelligence, … - MSN (San Francisco Chronicle)
And from its formation in 1976, the Emerson Quartet sounded pretty. It became famous for its rich vitality and easy power in a vast repertory that it recorded prolifically and toured tirelessly. - The New York Times
The event began in 1993 as a three-day symposium in North Carolina: "Gateways: Classical Music and the Black Musician." Now based in Rochester, the event has grown to multiple concerts by a full symphony orchestra as well as chamber groups; 300 musicians take part across four cities. - The New York Times
“This is a plan of managed decline, rather than an attempt to rebuild the company and maintain the world-class artistic output for which ENO is rightly famed." - The Guardian
There is a "very real fear that the algorithm will ‘forget’ artists if they do not keep up a steady flow of social posts and releases, and you have the foundation stones for music’s just-in-time economy." - Music Industry Blog
There are new rehearsal spaces for the ballet and orchestra (the latter equipped for studio recording), a big space for unloading and assembling sets, and plenty of new office space that will save the company €350,000 a year in rent to other landlords. - Gramilano (Milan)
"We can’t hide from uncomfortable questions about to what extent we should be connecting capacity and generosity with power and influence in a world in which scrutiny over equity has never been more intense." - Symphony
"The archive had been stored in four different locations across the building, with the basement store repeatedly flooding and threatening to destroy some of the artefacts. The collection is now housed in a fireproof climate-controlled studio in the building with a new reading room, and is open ... by appointment." - BBC
Do we surrender to this terrible violence and let our striving for peace die – or do we insist that there must and can be peace? I am convinced that we have to move on and keep the larger context of the conflict in mind. - The Guardian
Many of the orchestra’s musicians scattered. Some stayed, volunteering in field kitchens, doing what they could to help the effort to push back the Russians from the capital. And it wasn’t long before the orchestra started performing again – reuniting first at La Fenice, Venice’s opera house, in April 2022. - The Guardian
Half the staff at Bandcamp, the online music platform known for championing independent artists and labels, have been laid off following the recent purchase of the company by music licensing startup Songtradr. - The Guardian
Contract negotiations drag on. Players say they want salaries that can attract top talent. Management says it wants to pay better but the cash just isn't there. And with the orchestra having merged with the Kimmel Center in 2021, a strike could upend the city's entire arts ecosystem. - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
"In an internal memo, … the group’s founder and artistic director, Brad Clark, has announced he will end the operations of Maryland Lyric Opera, effective immediately. Clark, the son of billionaire construction mogul A. James Clark, founded Maryland Lyric Opera in 2014." - Washington Classical Review
Men accounted for 95 percent of the conducting credits at the 11 largest American opera companies between 2005 and 2021. But men also dominated other major roles in opera: they accounted for 85 percent of directoring credits, 88 percent of set-designer credits, 85 percent of lighting-designer credits and 59 percent of costume-designer credits. - The New York Times
