CRB’s recent listener data suggests that a growing share of younger listeners are responding to that sense of discovery. In February 2014 the median age of CRB listeners was 74; as of this past February, it was 54, with 24 percent of listeners under age 35. - Boston Globe
"(They are a) miracle that brings in throngs, as many as 3,000 or maybe more, of people out on a Saturday night" — in Miami Beach, no less — "to sit on aluminum chairs or picnic blankets and listen to music that is centuries old." - MSN (The Miami Herald)
Ukraine’s folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra has qualified for the final. But the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises Eurovision, ruled that no Russian act would be able to participate this year, after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. - The Conversation
For a start, you have to cut more than three quarters of Shakespeare's four-hour text. And you have to find some way to make those all-too-famous lines — "the elephants in the room," composer Dean calls them — compelling and singable. (They had an ingenious idea for that problem.) - Playbill
The iPod debuted in 2001, and it changed everything. While other devices existed that let you carry around your MP3 collection, the iPod quickly became ubiquitous for the ease with which you could buy songs and add them to the device. - Protocol
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense granted special permission for the male musicians to leave the country, calculating that the world will be more motivated to protect Ukraine if it sees its culture as something precious and worth saving. - The World
The "da Vinci" Stradivarius violin, made in 1714, is also called the "ex-Seidel" after former owner Toscha Seidel, who gave Albert Einstein lessons and played (in addition to concerts and recordings) on many film soundtracks, possibly including The Wizard of Oz. - Smithsonian Magazine
"Chacon, 44, a member of the Navajo Nation who lives in Albuquerque, set out to use the sounds of the organ, accompanied by winds, strings and percussion, to explore themes of power and oppression." - The New York Times
The aim is for the orchestra to tour not only across Canada, but internationally, to show the world what Canadian jazz musicians, composers and arrangers have to offer. - CBC
The song is stealthily subversive: a traditional raga—the classical Indian framework for musical improvisation—has been laid over an infectious beat that sounds South Asian, Middle Eastern, and, improbably, reggaetón, all at once. - The New Yorker
The song contest, which bookes say will undoubtedly go to Ukraine's entry this year, also got a boost from the end of most COVID restrictions. "Much-loved events in the run up to Eurovision have been held for fans for the first time in three years." - BBC
In Canada, Concerts in Care tried everything from outdoor concerts to concerts from balconies near nursing homes to Zoom concerts to broadcasts of pre-recorded concerts. Now, the hybrid idea will continue. - CBC
There are blind auditions, special fellowships for Black musicians in particular, prep and financial aid for auditions as well as other programs from the Sphinx Organization. Writer Tim Diovanni looks into the efforts, focusing on the Detroit, Dallas, and Fort Worth Symphonies. - The Dallas Morning News
Well, strictly speaking, they're being admitted to the choir school; there will be separate boys' and girls' choirs. Music director Andrew Carwood: "I accept the idea of a boys' choir as culturally iconic, and I'd like to keep that. And I'd like girls to experience exactly the same thing." - The Guardian
Houston Grand Opera’s history of 70 world premieres — “readier to take chances” — certainly puts the Dallas Opera’s handful of new works to shame. - Dallas Morning News
