The new tool will launch as a paid add-on for Spotify Premium users, the companies said on Thursday (May 21), creating what they described as an additional revenue stream for artists and songwriters on top of existing Spotify royalties. - MusicBusinessWorldwide
The appointment is a historic one. Chan will be the first woman to lead one of the so-called “Big 7” symphony orchestras in the United States, encompassing New York, Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia. - KQED
Until the new conductors settle in, we won’t fully know how transformative their impact will be, but early signs suggest they could accelerate changes already reshaping the field since Covid—in programming, outreach, diversity, education, and institutional purpose. - Strings Magazine
The 55-year-old London native has long been active as a guest conductor, and not only of his own music. He has now been appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, starting this September. - Moto Perpetuo
To co-music director and conductor Gary Clark, GPGSO’s rapid growth makes sense in a city known for niche, DIY music scenes. It hasn’t exactly been a shock to the orchestra’s other organizers either. - Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
His supporters blame the Met’s issues on opera’s declining cultural currency and an operating structure that puts it at a unique disadvantage among arts organizations. “He has tried absolutely everything to keep his art going,” says Barbara Tober, a decadeslong patron. “He is held prisoner by the situation that confronts him every day.” - Vulture (MSN)
With Ticketmaster signaling its intent to contest the outcome aggressively and drag out the litigation, any meaningful accountability may arrive only in the distant future, rather than offering anything close to timely relief. - The Hill
Many of the lawmakers advocated on Monday for a Ticketmaster breakup. Raskin, for example, stated that Live Nation’s monopoly is so strong that artists are “seriously afraid” of the company. - Billboard
Subtitled “Liberty,” the work was due to premiere the last weekend of May, performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and conductor Marin Alsop. A joint statement said, “All parties agreed that additional time would best support the long-term life of the new symphony.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center actually programmed a gala in honor of luthier Sam Zygmuntowicz — because so many of its members, and other leading string players (including Joshua Bell and Maxim Vengerov), have instruments of his. - The New York Times
As the troubled San Antonio Philharmonic, which has canceled more concerts than it has played this year, appears to edge toward collapse, Jeffrey Kahane, who resigned as the Philharmonic’s music director in February, has announced the founding of a new orchestra and education initiative called Harmonium of Texas. - San Antonio Express-News
Although he had gotten through the dress rehearsal well enough, the San Francisco Symphony’s Music Director Laureate had to be wheeled onstage for Friday’s performance of Mahler’s 9th Symphony. He slumped ever farther to the right during the music, which was finally stopped during the third movement. - San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
“I should leave when I cannot do the job properly or when the board doesn’t want me to be here. I’m a workaholic, I’ve always worked. I don’t enjoy free time. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about work. I need work. My life would be empty without work.” - OperaWire
So what can motivate tech barons to give money to opera? How do we convince them that, with their help, they can be a part of imagining a new, mind-blowing, future for opera, just as they have transformed the way we think and live with their innovations? We need to answer those questions if opera is to survive. -...
