The administration is negotiating a new contract with the musicians, who haven't had a raise since 2019. The messy sexual misconduct case involving two principal musicians has heated up. The orchestra won't have a music director for another two years, and its CEO up and quit in July. - The New York Times
"According to AGMA, 100% of the paid choristers voted in favor of the authorization, with 98% of eligible members participating. Additionally, 81% of the unpaid singers scheduled to perform pledged to honor a picket line." The announced work on the program: Verdi's Requiem - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
"The resignation, on the day before the opening concert of the season, of CFO Sylvia Romo, hired by Executive Director Roberto Treviño in January, follows a string of staff resignations, terminations and nonrenewed contracts throughout Treviño’s 14-month tenure. - San Antonio Report
Research on the creativity trajectories of eminent composers has revealed a number of factors that affect productivity over a career. These include the ages at which they began studying music, began composing, and wrote their earliest acknowledged masterworks. - Psychology Today
The interesting thing is that the CD comeback seems to be largely the work of younger consumers. 43% of CD buyers are under 35. Vinyl is still rising in sales, but with prices of a vinyl album pushing £30 these days, Gen Z consumers may be turning to the CD album as a cheaper alternative. - MusicRadar
As a scholar of music’s role in American politics and patriotism, I’ve never seen music assume as much electoral importance as it has in recent months. - The Conversation
Scientists don’t fully understand why earworms are so hard to shake. But certain songs are more likely than others to set up shop in our heads. And the propensity to catch them can depend on what you’ve recently listened to and what you’re doing. - The New York Times
“The Lijadu Sisters were among the first — and fiercest — popular female artists, groundbreaking not only for their music (a mélange that included folky apala, funky Afrobeat and slinky disco) but also their feminism.” - The New York Times
"Vance George, who led the Chorus for 23 years, called the Symphony’s proposal to slash up to 80% of the group’s budget 'simply awful,' in a letter addressed to Symphony CEO Matt Spivey on Sept. 4." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
The composer had seemingly appeared from nowhere. Now he was engaging the world’s best soloists to perform his music—compositions that some musicians and critics found amateurish at best and soulless at worst. - Van
A judge in Tennessee has ruled that Spotify will not be liable for any lost royalties, despite finding that Spotify did not have a license to stream the tracks. - BBC
For most of the past 40 years, teachers told the 59-year-old Mexican composer her works were too exotic. Critics found it too big and messy. Major orchestras ignored her when giving commissions. Now, thanks to some major breaks, especially from Gustavo Dudamel, she's hit the big time. - The New York Times
During a performance of Tosca in Seoul last weekend, tenor Alfred Kim was singing an encore when Gheorghiu (who objects to encores) marched onstage, stopped the conductor, and shouted, "This is not a recital. It's a performance. Respect me!" The audience did not reward her at the curtain call. - Korea JoongAng Daily
"Constantine Orbelian was promoted Tuesday to executive director of the largely dormant New York City Opera, which hasn’t given a staged performance since 2022 and says it will return with William Grant Still’s Troubled Island at City Center in 2025-26." - AP
The former music director of the Toronto Symphony (and, before that, longtime first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet), Oundjian stepped in as principal conductor in 2022 following the departure of music director Brett Mitchell. He begins a four-year contract starting in fall 2025. - 9News (Denver)
