That is, battling climate change. "If the result is more mystical than activist, DiDonato’s aim remains, as her liner notes say, a prompt for her listeners 'to build a paradise for today.'" - The New York Times
The composer, who has accrued reputational capital on the open market, exchanges some of it for an ever-dwindling share of institutional security. The institution in exchange acquires not so much her music or her services as a teacher—though these come in the bargain—as a stake in her brand. - The Baffler
Premiered by the Rome Opera in 2019 and soon to open at the Barbican in London, Waiting for the Sibyl is a 40-minute chamber opera with a scenario (you couldn't really call it a libretto) by Kentridge and music by composers Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Kyle Shepherd. - The New York Times
His idea, spelled out in a new book, is that the natural heirs of Mahler and Richard Strauss were the "degenerate" composers (e.g., Korngold, Weill) chased out of Europe by the Nazis and ended up composing film and theater music that wasn't thought to count as "classical." - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"The police said they were just following orders, and they obviously didn't know the music or why they had these orders. ... Anyway, they were late, because we'd already played Silvestrov's music. So Schubert ended up sacrificing himself for Silvestrov and Ukraine." - Van
Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, Dave Brubeck, and Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh are alumni. John Cage, Terry Riley, Lou Harrison, Pauline Oliveros, the Art Ensemble of Chicago's Roscoe Mitchell, and Morton Subotnick taught there — not to mention former department head Robert Ashley, who would get stoned before lectures. - The Guardian
It's a much-commented-on phenomenon, and that lack of pleasure is an important marker for distinguishing depression from plain old sadness. What's going on with that? It's all about the dopamine. - Mic
“I think this is really to be seen as a hostile action against the musicians more than against me. Now you're undermining the efforts of the musicians to continue live music in San Antonio by doing something like this. It's a very strange message to potential donors and patrons.” - Texas Public Radio
“There’s no way I could ever be in denial of what is happening in Ukraine,” he said during a series of interviews over the past week. “Russia is not a place where I want to raise my son. It’s not a place where I want my wife to be anymore. It’s not a place I want to be anymore.”...
The orchestra's board made the surprise decision — the stated cause being breach of contract — after Lang-Lessing announced that he will conduct the San Antonio musicians, who have been on strike since late September, in two benefit concerts next month. - Texas Public Radio
Rachel Saltz, who joined the newspaper in 2003 and became dance editor in 2015, will now supervise classical music coverage as well. Her predecessor, Zachary Woolfe, was named the staff classical music critic earlier this month. - The New York Times
No, truly. Just look at Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos infamy. No, we can't do anything and be anyone and go anywhere etc. Not even if our earbuds or headphones tell us so. - Slate
Here's the deal: "Being very different from the mainstream is really, really bad for your likelihood of initially making a hit when you’re not well known. But once you have a hit, novelty suddenly becomes a huge asset that is likely to sustain your success." - The Atlantic
