A loose confederation of Indigenous artists is finding a wider audience by working at the fringes of modern music. These musicians and many of their peers are rapidly upending ideas about what it means to sound Native. - The New York Times
In particular, why does an orchestra from a mid-sized city such as Pittsburgh do such expensive tours, and what good does it do for their hometown? The answer, reports Jeremy Reynolds, comes down to one word — something that makes a bigger difference than you might expect. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"It's a way of kicking a can down the road after a couple of seasons amid a global pandemic. Several other orchestras around the country are doing the same." One bit of news: the musicians actually like management's negotiator. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
It is a telling bit of weakness as Salzburg faces renewed competition, especially from the growing Aix-en-Provence Festival in France — and even from the likes of Santa Fe Opera. - The New York Times
“I didn’t know this when I started down this path, but leadership, charisma, group psychology and the ability to motivate people and manage egos are really about 98% of the job.” - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Joseph Arthur says that the article left him "shunned and avoided," and says that the headline calling him "anti-vax" was wrong because he hadn't said anything about vaccines in general, just the COVID-19 vaccines. - Variety
For concerts, Hisaishi takes portions of his scores from films like My Neighbor Totoro and Porco Rosso, turning them into entirely new symphonic experiences - but without losing the humane touch of his work in the films. - The New York Times
The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra "coalesced quickly around a mission to stage, as the Met news release put it, 'artistic defense' of its homeland. Its debut concerts across Western Europe and Britain have been met with rave reviews and long ovations." - Washington Post
"The history of African country music is largely uncharted. When you piece together the fragments, a long and rich musical relationship begins to emerge. It starts in the 1930s, according to writer Jesse Jarnow, and differs hugely across the continent." - The Guardian
The site lists gigs that are available to book on the home page, and under the My events section, users can see their past and upcoming ticket bookings. - TechCrunch
Live performances can account for 90%-95% of a band’s income, according to Help Musicians, but Brexit has cut into one of their most important revenue streams, restricting them to £1,000 worth of merchandise before they get into a higher taxable bracket. - The Guardian
New programming initiatives mean musicians are rehearsing more unfamiliar works, and, come curtain time, standard repertoire sometimes ends up underrehearsed. Shutdown-induced layoffs mean remaining administrative staffers do the work of two or more people. They're burning out, and management's biggest concerns seem to be elsewhere. - San Francisco Classical Voice
More than 100 years after all the -isms in modern art, art lovers, art buyers, and masses of museumgoers throughout the world wholly accept the presence of most abstract modernism cheek by jowl with contemporary figural and representational works. So what happened to 20th Century music? - American Scholar
The Bavarian town has, in fact, two opera houses: Richard Wagner's famous custom-built theater and the Margravial Opera House, an opulent 18th-century venue seating 600. For two weeks every summer, it's home to Bayreuth Baroque, whose director is the countertenor Max Emanuel Cenčić. - Bachtrack
