Before this year, the controversies around the Greek-born conductor were usually over his music-making, which classical mavens tend to either adore or loathe. But his hand-picked orchestra and choir, called MusicAeterna, are based in and supported by Russia, so institutions elsewhere are under pressure to avoid them. - The New York Times
Julius Eastman: the fierce black queen iconoclast, scorned and consigned to oblivion in his day, is finally being celebrated for his unabashed talent and the sheer audacity of his inimitable genius. - Arts Fuse
From Timbaland to Sting to the next rapper to say inshallah, Arab culture has been a persistent influence on American music. But songs actually in Arabic have never been a presence on the charts. - Los Angeles Times
Says one member, "We call them instruments, some people call them office machines, some people call them sculptures. It's got a limited range of sounds, so you really have to work at what you are trying to extract out of it." - CBS News
The 78-year-old folk legend, who has spent years recovering from a 2015 brain aneurysm, made a surprise appearance in what had been billed as "Brandi Carlile & Friends" to close this year's Newport Folk Festival, an event she last performed at in 1969. - Billboard
They provide an entry point for film enthusiasts to appreciate the power of a live orchestra, which can enhance the emotion and excitement of the moviegoing experience tremendously. And they’re significant revenue generators. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
As anyone who has attended concerts or stage performances over the past year can tell you, digital programs are increasingly sprouting up as the heir apparent to the printed programs we’ve come to know and love. - Washington Post
"Only 11 percent of tickets are involved" and "most tickets are under $200" might not be the ironclad defense the company widely known as "Ticketbastard" thinks it is. - Variety
He trained as a cellist, used to skip French to go to the symphony, can dance, and said that "as a young Black man in Baltimore, a majority-Black city, 'I understand that my presence here is much more significant than it would be in other cities.'" - Baltimore Sun
The government of Wales is under fire for helping the supposedly environmentally concerned music festival buy a farm for the festival to use "as a base for its expansion." - The Guardian (UK)
"Those ushers who once carried proud armfuls of programs now wander the lobbies, outfitted (sometimes literally) with oversize QR codes, waiting to be scanned by passing patrons like a can of soup at the self-checkout." - Washington Post
Stefan Soltesz, an Austrian conductor, was near the end of the first act of Richard Strauss' The Silent Woman at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich when he fell from the podium. One opera director collaborator said, "In a world of dilettantes, he was the real thing." - The New York Times
The idea that “the unborn” are in any sense people has always been an appalling misrepresentation. Today, in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision stripping away decades’ worth of well-established abortion rights, “Frau” feels more problematic than ever. - San Francisco Chronicle
This roadhouse drama has pitted neighbor against neighbor in a remote area where lots are the size of baseball fields and police cars seldom patrol. One longtime resident describes the area as a ring of desert fiefdoms. - Los Angeles Times
