This was supposed to be the first full season since the pandemic for the orchestra in Saskatchewan's capital. Ticket sales, however, are down by almost 50% from before 2020 — which led to the decision to cancel next month's concerts. For now, May programming is still on. - Global News (Canada)
The 87-year-old Estonian, for many years the world's most-performed living classical composer, and the 62-year-old Beninese singer-songwriter, a five-time Grammy winner, take this year's award alongside Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. - AP
Why now? "The legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage ... have marked the diminished power of the Roman Catholic Church alongside the greater empowerment of women. Brexit, while further complicating Ireland’s ever-fraught relationship with England, has perhaps sharpened the Irish sense of self." - The New York Times
"It’s over. The old days are gone. I get letters blaming me for $3,000 tickets for a benefit I am doing. That money does not go to me or the benefit. Artists have to worry about ripped off fans blaming them for Ticketmaster add-ons and scalpers." - The Guardian
That is, in "Fragments," solo recitals that interweave Bach's cello suites with commissioned new works. Why? "We all had a lot of time to think about what it means to really connect with an audience, what it means to connect with each other." - The New York Times
Since the final in Liverpool sold out in 40 minutes, theatres across the UK will show the final. "Organisers say the screenings will encourage fancy dress and singalongs." - BBC
When the BBC announced plans to close the UK's only full-time professional chamber choir right before its century mark, 140,000 people signed a petition - and alternative funders stepped in. - BBC
"Some people believe students can only learn music well when they're young. Financial problems meant I never had that chance as a child. But I had a dream, a passion and the conviction, and these beliefs did not deter 52-year-old me." - CBC
Its students are deeply relieved. One said, "This school is my sanctuary from the stress of life as a Syrian refugee in Turkey. ... I couldn't bear the thought of something happening to it." - NPR
"Reena Esmail acknowledged the irony that we were talking about her new choral work — 'A Requiem for Water,' inspired by California’s water crisis — in the midst of a deluge. She was wearing galoshes, as were many members of the Los Angeles Master Chorale." - Los Angeles Times
The music — described to me as “earplugs-at-a-concert loud” by one frequent commuter — is the audio version of hostile architecture, where bumpy benches and spiky surfaces are employed to keep those who have nowhere else to go out of sight. - Curbed
After three decades of financial difficulties and musician-vs.-management strife culminated in a nine-month strike, the board threw up its hands and dissolved the San Antonio Symphony. Here's a deep dive on how things got to that pass and how the musicians organized a new orchestra, the San Antonio Philharmonic. - Texas Observer
"The musicians of the San Antonio Philharmonic have reached their first collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) union Local 23." The contract for the fledgling ensemble is more flexible than was the one with the now-defunct San Antonio Symphony. - San Antonio Report
"Charles Henry Pace … was one of the first African American gospel music composers in the United States, and the owner of one of the country's first independent, Black gospel music publishing companies." His archives had been sitting, unorganized, in crates until 2021. - AP
