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MUSIC

Cellist Calls For Airlines To Clarify Procedures For Taking Instruments On Board

“Most of the airlines do not have a policy for musical instruments,” he said. “And when there is a policy sometimes it is not applied consistently.” - ClassicFM

Why Musicians Are Angry About Spotify’s New Monetization Scheme

The damage that Spotify is doing to the music ecosystem is well known. But it seems they are only getting started. Two months from now it will already be much worse. Either musicians force their way into the decision making for streaming, or the corporations controlling it will force musicians out. - Dadadrummer

The Troubles At English National Opera Never Seem To End

The current crisis at the company is hardly the first: ENO has faced severe financial difficulties repeatedly over its history. Yet the government funding cuts ENO faces now, along with orders to relocate out of London, are more daunting than anything it's ever faced. - Financial Times

Philadelphia Orchestra Members Return To China, 50 Years After Its Historic First Visit

"The orchestra first visited China in September 1973, marking a thaw in U.S.-China relations just as the two nations began normalizing ties. … Fourteen of its members (are) traveling to China, including 73-year old Davyd Booth, a violinist who was on the orchestra’s first tour to the country ago." - AP

Charlotte Symphony Hits The Road With A Mobile Stage

The mobile stage will move throughout different neighborhoods that are “corridors of opportunity.” There are six under-invested areas in Charlotte, which are designated by the city as corridors of opportunity. - Charlotte Observer

When Orchestra Meets Rap

This isn’t your grandfather’s orchestra concert, but it’s not a hip-hop show either — it’s something in between, with both parties adjusting their usual style. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Vasily Petrenko: Thinking About Concerts (And Orchestras) In A Broader Context

"Concerts are concerts; OK, the people are coming, and they are enjoying it. But then, what are we doing in wider terms? What are we doing for schools, for education, for deprived people, for mental health, for everything else?" - Van

Malaysian Government Orders All Concert Organizers To Have A Kill Switch To Cut Off Power

"The deputy communications minister, Teo Nie Ching, told the parliament’s lower house that concert organisers must have 'a kill switch that will cut off electricity during any performance if there is any unwanted incident. We hope that with stricter guidelines, foreign artists can adhere to the local culture." - The Guardian

About Time: Justice Department Begins Investigation Of Live Nation Practices

The deals that Live Nation offers artists to land their events, and what restrictions those agreements might include, are among the practices the Justice Department is probing. It is also exploring whether the company’s agreements restrict venues’ ability to work with other promoters or ticket services. - The Wall Street Journal

The Malcolm X Opera Opening At The Met On Friday Is A Family Matter. Meet The Davises.

X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X has a score by veteran African-American composer Anthony Davis; scenario by his brother, actor-director and market research executive Christopher Davis; and libretto by their cousin, writer and professor Thulani Davis. Zachary Woolfe talks to the three of them. - The New York Times

How California Became A Hotbed Of New Music

Ara Guzelimian, who grew up in Los Angeles and now leads the Ojai Music Festival nearby, described California’s classical music culture as “the lingering positive presence of the pioneers heading West and looking to escape a kind of conformity.” - The New York Times

Norman Lebrecht Goes To A Yuja Wang Concert And Sees The Future Of Music

That triggered a subversive thought: why can’t all solo recitals be like this? Why won’t Carnegie Hall enhance its pianists with works of Pissaro or Picasso from the Metropolitan Museum? And why can’t we have live video close-ups of hands, face, hairstyle and legs in the recapitulation section of every over-long sonata? - The Critic

California Musicians Across The State Celebrate California

The 100-plus participating organizations, some large and wealthy, others neither, include professional orchestras, choruses, opera companies, youth orchestras, and educational institutions. - San Francisco Classical Voice

How Did Bach’s Toccata And Fugue In D Minor For Organ Become The Emblematic Spooky Music For Halloween?

After all, Bach knew nothing of Halloween, and to him the organ was an instrument for church worship. (Never mind the fact that some musicologists don't think it was Bach who wrote the piece.) No, the spooky associations of the music come straight from Hollywood. - The Conversation

Music Therapy: How And Why It Works

"Scientific research has begun to explore why music appears to have such a strong effect on health and wellness, particularly mental health, where sounds can serve as a conduit to lift someone’s mood, help them reflect and reduce stress, anxiety and depression." - The New York Times

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