In discussions about money, gender identity, public health and a variety of social issues, rappers and rightwingers have a lot more in common than you’d immediately think. - The Guardian
The reason the symphony has maintained such heft since then is because it supposedly represents timeless values. It has a tricksy ability to tread a line between repelling meaning – ie it’s pure music, not about anything except music – and attracting meaning like iron filings to a magnet. Not just any old meaning, though. - The Guardian
Broadcasts from Tanglewood particularly bristle with presence — you can hear every detail of the orchestra, and sometimes even the stubborn starlings chirping in the rafters of the Shed. - Washington Post
WRR Classical 101, long owned by the city of Dallas, is now run by public radio outlet KERA: there are sponsorship announcements rather than advertising and nonclassical paid programming is gone. Music director Emilio Alvarez aims to deepen ties with the community off- and on-air. - MSN (The Dallas Morning News)
"(An administrator wrote that) 'the specific allegations against Carlos Kalmar did not violate the Sexual Assault, Sexual Harassment, and Sex Non-Discrimination Policy Under Title IX.' About 30 students, faculty and staff were interviewed as part of the investigation by former U.S. Attorney Carole Rendon." - Ideastream Public Media (Cleveland)
Google and Universal Music are in talks to license artists’ melodies and voices for songs generated by artificial intelligence as the music business tries to monetize one of its biggest threats. - Ars Technica
"This highly specific medium morphs every which way, with new outspoken repertoire, an influx of vocal talent from the early-music community and liberated performance manner." David Patrick Stearns talks with singers, pianists, and composers about how song recitals are developing today. - Gramophone
"Brent Ottley ... says it became obvious two decades ago that Australia had begun 'running out' of piano tuners. He estimates there are just 250 left in the country and just 20 or so high-level technicians, with most of them close to retiring age." - The Guardian
"The big-city problems Aldean laments — violent crime, sedition, even fraying communal ties — are, in many cases, worse problems outside the cities than in them. This reality is a major driver of right-wing resentment — and music about it should, by all rights, have a hint of malaise." - MSN (The Atlantic)
"In June the opera company announced plans to slash its budget by about two-thirds and no longer put on full productions. After a transition year in 2024 with only a couple of scaled-down productions, the company would serve as an 'incubator' that hosts workshops of new operas in development." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"Hailed by critics for its high standards and wide-ranging repertoire, which has included all eras but emphasized the 20th and 21st centuries, the organization has struggled financially for years. Its financial problems have been exacerbated by a drop-off in both ticket sales and donations following the pandemic." - San Francisco Classical Voice
As the Philly Pops' legal and financial difficulties drag on, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center Inc. will produce a holiday pops concert with the group of now-unemployed Philly Pops musicians who call themselves the No Name Pops. ("No excuses. No nonsense. No Name Pops.") - MSN (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
At 57, though her singing career is not yet over, she's becoming a top administrator: having been artistic director of Salzburg's Whitsun Festival for more than a decade, she took over this year as head of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo in Monaco. - AP
Concerts have always been spaces where like-minded fans can gather to discover connection, but now this brand of togetherness has transformed concertgoing into an urgent pilgrimage, drawing the faithful in record numbers and providing near-ecstatic experiences. - The New York Times
