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MUSIC

Mark Swed: The Next Generation Of Piano Virtuosi

Both Sashas are exceptional virtuosos. Neither is particularly demonstrative. But Malofeev, now 23, can become a keyboard demon. Kantorow, on the other hand, is more a genius of the genteel. He keeps his cool in a downpour; he keeps his cool with Rachmaninoff. - Los Angeles Times

Postmortem: What Brought Down The Pitchfork Festival

The relief Mike Reed expressed came, he said, from witnessing Pitchfork stray from his original vision of a curated weekend of independent music, designed for audiences and artists whose tastes don’t fit with more corporate bashes like Lollapalooza and Coachella. - Chicago Sun-Times

Opera Australia Chief Abruptly Resigns

Her departure comes less than six months after the abrupt exit of artistic director Jo Davies, the first female artistic director in the history of the company. Davies lasted just 18 months and left after repeated clashes with Allan. - Sydney Morning Herald

Minnesota Orchestra Posts $3.8 Million Deficit But Record Earned Revenue

That budget gap (the orchestra's fifth in six years) is due to the end of COVID-related financial assistance from the Federal government. Yet earned income (including ticket sales) was a record $11.6 million, up 22% over the previous year. - The Minnesota Star Tribune

Reviving The First Known Opera By A Black American Composer

Edmond Dédé was born in 1827 to a free Black family of musicians in New Orleans. He settled and made his career in France. In 1887 in Bordeaux, he completed Morgiane, ou Le Sultan d’Ispahan, a full-fledged French grand opera which was never performed — until now. - Early Music America

The Former Chicago 7-Eleven That Will Now Dispense Classical Music

The venue, designed by Chicago-based JDJ Architects, will be called the Checkout, a nod to the building’s former life as a 7-Eleven, and doubles as part of ACM’s hopes for the establishment. - Chicago Sun-Times

Spotify Paid A Record $10 Billion To Music Rights Owners In 2024

Spotify’s $10 billion payout figure means that it paid music rightsholders an average of $833 million every month in 2024. - Music Business Worldwide

Paul McCartney And Elton John Protest Proposed Changes To UK Copyright

McCartney told the BBC that the proposed changes could disincentivise writers and artists and result in a “loss of creativity”. - The Guardian

Site-Specific New York Company On Site Opera Shuts Down

"For more than a decade, (the) small but nimble group brought opera to unexpected places: the Bronx Zoo, Madame Tussauds, cafes and soup kitchens. The company won acclaim for its innovative approach, including a Beethoven song cycle performed by phone during the pandemic." - The New York Times

Spotify: The Aural Drug That Flattens Music

As its playlists became increasingly dominated by music from content farms—low-wage operations producing dreck for somebody else’s profit—these mood classifications turned into what Ms. Pelly calls “streambait,” the aural equivalent of clickbait. - The Wall Street Journal

Classical Concert Top Tens For 2024: Busiest Orchestras And Performers, Most-Played Composers, Etc.

There won't be too many surprises at the top of the lists — Daniil Trifonov and Yuja Wang as busiest pianists, Mozart and Beethoven (dead) and John Williams and Arvo Pärt (living) most-played composers — but one Canadian orchestra performed even more than the Berlin or Vienna Philharmonics. - Bachtrack

Spotify And Universal Music Group Reach A Deal That May Help Musicians After Bundling Fiasco

The deal, which supposedly ameliorates some of the damage from last year’s audiobook-music bundling plan by the streaming giant, “also marks the first direct license between Spotify and a major publisher in several years.” - Variety

Jessie Grimes Has Been A Successful Classical Musician For Years, And At Last She Feels Comfortable

The artist in residence in Dublin says, “The fact that I wore a dress for all those years now boggles my mind. I was afraid for a long time to be queer in those spaces, because they were occupied by wealthy, upper-class white people.” - Irish Times

Pittsburgh Symphony, Despite Rising Revenues, Has A Seven Million Dollar Deficit

But there’s a plan to manage the deficit - and to raise more funds, despite historically low audiences for core “classical” concerts (unless Yo-Yo Ma is there). - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Inside 150 Years Of Paris’ Opulent Palais Garnier Theatre

At a 150th anniversary gala on Friday, before guests reach the marble staircase, the baroque sculptures, the inlaid golden mosaics and the elaborately painted ceiling, they will pass two giant mirrors set on the ground floor. - The New York Times

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