ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

Antonio Stradivari’s Home And Workshop Have Reopened

"Budding luthiers and young musicians can now get a step closer to the master by honing their skills in his original house and workshop, which have been transformed into a centre of learning and a musical pilgrimage site in (Cremona,) northern Italy." - Yahoo! (AFP)

How Tracy Chapman Made Country Music History

"More than three decades after Chapman’s 'Fast Car' dropped, ... drove to the top of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart" as a Luke Combs cover, making Chapman the first Black woman with a sole songwriting credit on a number one country hit. - Los Angeles Times

Writing Music For Rolling Boulders

"Composing for movies, often mischaracterized as auxiliary to the primary work of filmmaking, is an art form in its own right. At its best, it stands equally with not just the feats of directing and cinematography but also the greatest classical compositions." - The New York Times

Let’s Just Calm Down About AI And Music

All right, recent events are alarming for actual musicians. But "even a more radical artists-rights activist like Kevin Erickson, director of the Future of Music Coalition, is skeptical that AI could outright replace artists, or will inevitably learn on the backs of protected work." - Los Angeles Times

The Women Who Have Interpreted Dylan

Cher "ran into Dylan in a New York recording studio as her version was climbing the charts. He told her that he dug what she’d done with it, which, Cher writes, 'made me feel like floating away.'" - The New York Times

How Indigenous-Owned Record Labels Are Changing Canada’s Music Scene

The people are doing it for themselves: "Indigenous musicians are building their own foundation within Canada's music industry after years of feeling excluded from or limited by the system's unspoken glass ceiling." - CBC

The Rise and Fall Of “Smooth” Jazz

It really was just a marketing niche. This pressure to program for the broadest, least attentive listenership possible could lead to absurdity. - The New Yorker

A Talk With Yasuhisa Toyota, The Great Concert-Hall Acoustician

The man responsible for the sound at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Pierre Boulez Saal in Berlin, and the Philharmonie de Paris talks about vineyard-versus-shoebox shape, multi-purpose auditoriums (not a fan), cathedral-like acoustics (ditto), and the most stressful day for an acoustician. - Bachtrack

Gustavo Dudamel’s Slow-Motion Departure From LA

Celebrity has a tendency to reduce talent, even of the most prodigious kind, to a series of narrow gestures, a sort of mimeograph of itself. The Dude sure seemed to embrace the L.A. lifestyle, to take quickly to Soho House and Osteria Mozza, and having a hot dog at Pink’s named in his honor. - Los Angeles Magazine

William Byrd: The Remarkable Life And Music Of Elizabeth I’s Favorite Composer

For years he managed the tricky business of remaining a committed Catholic at Elizabeth's Protestant court before settling in a rural haven. He wrote an extraordinary body of sacred music — large-scale and small-, in English and Latin — along with keyboard and chamber works, madrigals and solo songs. - The New York Times

Four Leading Composers On How William Byrd’s 400-Year-Old Music Influences Their Work

Comments from Caroline Shaw, James MacMillan ("Classical music audiences tend to forget about the pre-Baroque, and it's a pity because William Byrd is one of music history's great figures"), Roxana Panufnik, and Nico Muhly (There's always a Byrd for something"). - The New York Times

Study: Drumming Helps Those With Autism

"What we see is children who learn how to play the drums aren't afraid of making mistakes. When they stop and make a mistake in their drumming they simply pause, reset, and off they go, and it's no big deal." - BBC

Grammys: Music Created With AI Is Eligible For Awards

“Here’s the super easy, headline statement: AI, or music that contains AI-created elements is absolutely eligible for entry and for consideration for Grammy nomination. Period,” Mason told The Associated Press. - Toronto Star (AP)

Robot Conductor Debuts With Korean Orchestra

The two-armed robot, designed by the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, made its debut at the National Theater of Korea, leading musicians in the country’s national orchestra. - CNN

George Benjamin’s New Opera Is About, Believe It Or Not, Happiness

Not that it's cheerful, mind you: Picture a Day Like This is about a mother whose child has died. Yet, after Benjamin's brilliant-but grim operas Into the Little Hill, Written on Skin, and Lessons in Love and Violence, this new piece is definitely a departure. - The New York Times

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');