"Vittorio Sgarbi has stepped down amid a rising tide of controversies. He is currently being investigated over allegations that he laundered stolen art. Last week, he shocked the nation by verbally attacking two journalists who raised the matter. … He is also accused … of accepting lucrative fees to appear at cultural events." - Artnet
"While the ensemble will remain the same in size and membership, it has a new name, a new music director and a program aimed at drawing more diverse audiences. The Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center ... will convene in July for its first season under conductor Jonathon Heyward." - The New York Times
Elaine Martone won Producer of the Year, Classical, for a bouquet of albums including Third Coast Percussion’s Between Breaths, Seth Parker Woods’ Difficult Grace, and the Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst’s Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5. - WRTI
“Half my drafts are muted now,” says Madeline Macrae, a Swift fan and TikTok creator. While initially frustrated by the change, Macrae thinks there might be positive impacts. Even though many ardent fans value the online community built through social media, some are also uncomfortable with the flattening of poetic songs into 60-second memes. - Wired
While you might look at your daylist and think that Spotify knows your music tastes intimately, it is equally the case that the algorithm has shaped those tastes over time. - The Conversation
Is art for one thing only? Do we need—why do I feel the need?—to formulate a Grand Unified Theory of art, one that would reconcile its various and sometimes contradictory purposes, that would proclaim, finally, that art may be for this or that, but this is what it’s really for? - Salmagundi
The decisions by Amanda Cruz prompted a searing response from the affected artists, who called her actions “outrageous” and “appalling” and said they continued “Cruz’s pattern of controversial leadership.” - Santa Barbara Independent
The Globe released a social-media statement defending the casting, saying that although they “recognise the barriers to access in our industry and are working hard to address that”, they also believe that “all artists should have the right to play all parts in ”. - The Guardian
The failure of the UK talks comes as AI has caused alarm among artists, authors, musicians and media groups who are concerned that their work will be copied and reproduced without payment. - Financial Times
Rachmaninoff, who was in the prime of his enormous career, was so impressed with her that he offered to teach Ruth Slenczynska at his apartment in Paris. Nine decades later, she is believed to be his only living student. - Washington Post
It could be argued that Williams is the best friend American orchestras have ever had. His orchestral film scores are many Americans’ first encounter with the sound of a symphony. - Symphony
Shades of American Fiction, but make it gay: "If you were a young Black writer in America in the 1950s and early ’60s, it was generally expected that you would write about struggle." - LitHub
"The term has come into vogue. It’s also become an explicit rallying cry for some of those taking direct action” - especially against the predations of AI. - The Atlantic
