A team at the University of Maryland (UMD) has received almost a million dollars from the US National Science Foundation (USNSF) to study the possible application of artificial intelligence to violin pedagogy. - Nightingale Sonata
And rightly so. "Any person could put into an AI programme something like ‘I want a song 100 BPM that sounds like a cross between Abba and Arctic Monkeys’. And some music will be created and it will be pretty good.” - The Guardian (UK)
"Only one song from Barbie was a cultural sensation, a TikTok masterpiece, a showstopping earworm—and it’s the other nominated song, the one that’s probably going to lose on Oscar night: 'I’m Just Ken.’” Why are Oscars voters intent on making bad choices? - Slate
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
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)
“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
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
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
