Hertz Hall, the existing classical venue at UC-Berkeley, seats 600; it wasn’t uncommon for some concerts to attract 100 people or fewer, but there were no concert halls that size anywhere nearby. That is, until the opening on Sunday of the 100-seat Wu Performance Hall. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
This past Sunday, at the music center at Strathmore, near Washington, 22 students who had lost their chance to play tuned up with the military band veterans for the concert that was not meant to be heard. - CBSNews
"The solid bronze severed head of Melbourne’s decapitated King George V statue was reported to have briefly reappeared in public, gracing the stage during a performance by Irish rap group Kneecap.” - Irish Times
"I was conscious ... that I was part of a collectively realised beauty. And that it was as that beauty fell in plaintive harmony on those two words – wept and remember – that I felt the sweetness of living being restored to a memory.” - The Guardian (UK)
“For decades, cassette players have carried the soul-stirring poetry of Sufi saints and the mystical melodies of Kashmiri instruments like the sarangi and santoor, and it’s long been a local ritual for families to gather around the warm hum of a tape player.” - Seattle Times (AP)
But how much of that made it to the artists? “Major-label artists with massive streaming numbers can make substantial money, but for mid-level and emerging artists, streaming income is often unsustainable.” - CBC
“It has come to our attention that unsanctioned, AI-generated music purporting to contain Celine Dion’s musical performances, and name and likeness, is currently circulating online and across various Digital Service Providers,” read a Friday post on Dion’s social media. - Los Angeles Times
The pro-Canada songs currently spreading across social media, including some by Canadian celebrities, reveal a range of reactions to Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, while also contributing to the national mood. - The Conversation
On Thursday night, the Kennedy Center concert hall was awash in nearly a minute of howling, passionate booing. It started with one or two boos and caught on fast, roaring from the rows. I’ve never heard anything quite like it — let alone before a note was played. - Washington Post
A 32-year-old Briton (and a direct descendant of Konstantin Stanislavsky), Prior became assistant conductor of the Seattle Symphony at age 17 and music director of the Edmonton Symphony at 25. He begins his initial term in Eugene next October. - KLCC (Eugene, OR)
While it’s been clearly demonstrated that plants respond to sound, the evidence about whether they’re affected by music, let alone which genres, is far from definitive. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of music for plants around; several streaming services even offer specially-programmed plant channels. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Like a page turner for a pianist or a sheet music librarian, music editor is the kind of job that only the idiosyncratic structures of classical music can produce. - The New York Times
Streaming’s payment system, devised back when it generated so little money that the difference between 13% and 15% was almost irrelevant, is in dire need of revision. - Variety
“On Thursday, Dudamel and the Philharmonic will give the world premiere of the five-minute piece as part of a program celebrating the 150th birthday of Ravel. … The newly found piece, Sémiramis: Prélude et Danse, was written sometime between 1900 and 1902, when Ravel was in his late 20s.” - The New York Times
Esteban Batallán was lured away from the Chicago Symphony’s famous brass section, and he decided to go back. He describes the reason for his departure from Philadelphia as an artistic difference, but, from what he describes, the issue may have been the extent of his authority. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
