ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

Study: Big Increase In Retail Record Shops In The UK

A study by the Digital Entertainment and Retail Association (ERA) finds that there are now 461 indie record shops in the UK, 122 more than 2014. Purely in terms of store numbers, the sector has recovered strongly after a small dip during 2020 that is likely attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic. - The Guardian

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Will Make Its First-Ever Asian Tour

The full company has toured the Far East before, but this June will be the first time for the orchestra as a concert ensemble. Music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin and vocal soloists Elīna Garanča, Lisette Oropesa, and Christian Van Horn will perform in Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo and Hyogo, Japan. - The New York Times

Period Instruments: Experiencing Chopin On One Of Chopin’s Pianos

Pianos made in the 18th and 19th century were simpler, lighter and smaller than modern instruments, with narrower keys and lighter strings. The result is they play more softly than modern pianos. - AP

Detroit Opera’s Experiments In John Cage

The original production featured 64 arias, stripped of their original context and set against a collage of other materials in ways that could be harmonious or not; no two performances are the same. And navigating that forest can be a challenge. - The New York Times

Los Angeles Has Been A Hotbed Of New Classical Music For More Than 80 Years

Meaning since back in the 1930s and '40s, when Schoenberg and Stravinsky were there and musicians got lots of work playing movie soundtracks. Jim Farber surveys that history, from the Monday Evening Concerts (launched in 1939) through the Ojai Music Festival (founded 1947) to Jacaranda (launched in 2003 and closed last month). - San Francisco Classical Voice

Cleveland Institute Of Music Faculty Vote No-Confidence In School Leadership

Faculty senate of the Cleveland Institute of Music voted overwhelmingly in favor of a motion of no-confidence in its president, Paul Hogle, and provost, Scott Harrison, citing reputational damage to the school, underqualified leadership, the institution’s growing deficit, and concerns about loss of accreditation, among other grievances. - Van

Annals Of Bad AI Ads: This Orchestra Ad Imagines A Fake Audience

“Want to do something different this Saturday? Come see an orchestra play,” reads the ad. It was apparently created by someone who has never seen an orchestra play, and imagines it as rows of violinists seated in the audience, many playing with three hands or one hand or no hands at all. - The Guardian

A Perennial Question Arises Again: Why Won’t More Major American Orchestras Hire American Music Directors?

Before Leonard Bernstein, it was a given that U.S. orchestras wanted their maestros to be European. Yet by 2008, American conductors were music directors in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis and D.C. Today only one of those jobs is held by an American. - The New York Times

As Kronos Quartet Celebrates Its 50th Season, Two Longtime Members Are Retiring

Violist Hank Dutt, 71, who's been with the group for 46 years, and violinist John Sherba, 69, who joined one year after Dutt, will leave the group as the season ends in June. They leave violinist, founder and artistic director David Harrington, 74, as Kronos's only veteran member. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

It’s Musicians Who Are Getting Hurt By The TikTok Music Ban

“TikTok is how you get the word out about a new song — and now you’re muting someone’s entire catalog? The labels say TikTok is so important and push their artists to , and now they can’t?” - Variety

UK Backs Down, Grants Visas To Afghan Youth Orchestra Musicians

The band of 47 exiled musicians aged between 14 and 22 had been working for months on their repertoire for the shows, which are due to start at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on Thursday. The Home Office had initially refused their visa applications but overturned the decision on Monday after public criticism. - The Guardian

What Happens To Your Music If Your Streaming Service Goes Away?

The reason I’m screwed is that Spotify listeners’ ability to access their collection in the far-out future will be contingent on the company maintaining its software, renewing its agreements with rights holders, and, well, not going out of business when something else inevitably supplants the current paradigm of music listening. - The Atlantic

Algorithms Are Dulling Your Musical Taste

“Algorithmic recommendations are addictive because they are always subtly confirming your own cultural, political, and social biases, warping your surroundings into a mirror image of yourself while doing the same for everyone else.” - Los Angeles Times

The EU Has Fined Apple Two Billion Dollars For The Way It Treats Music Apps

“The commission said it found that Apple violated European competition rules by preventing app developers from informing users about 'alternative and cheaper’ music services." - Washington Post

Ignore The Nobel Committee, And Ask Yourself If Lyrics Can Ever Truly Be Literature

"While they can certainly be literary, a lyric is just one channel for conveying meaning in a song. The vocal delivery, melody, rhythm, arrangement and production are all used to enhance, or sometimes subvert, what the words are saying." - The Guardian (UK)

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');