ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MUSIC

San Diego Opera’s Ticket Sales This Season Were $1 Million Below Projections, But The Company Has A Surplus

Thank heaven for COVID relief grants.  And advance ticket sales for the coming season look promising. - The San Diego Union-Tribune

The Weird Wonderfulness Of Going Back To Glastonbury

If arriving onsite is a slightly discombobulating experience at first – even for a seasoned Glastonbury-goer, the sheer volume of people feels weirdly overwhelming after spending a significant proportion of the past two years locked in your home. - The Guardian

Lost Masters? John Mauceri’s “War On Music”

Conductor John Mauceri has released a study of the forgetting of so much classical music, especially music composed in America by refugees from Nazi-dominated Europe. - The Critic

Bob Stanley On The Origins Of American Pop

The most dynamic music in the US in the first decade of the 20th century was ragtime, which Stanley claims “set the template for every successive pop boom”. - New Statesman

Riccardo Muti Unloads On His Way Out Of The Chicago Symphony

Muti, whose Chicago contract runs through the 2022-23 season, considers himself the descendant of strong Italian conductors reaching back to Arturo Toscanini and Tullio Serafin. He’s not a fan of most contemporary directors. - AP

In Los Angeles, Street Symphonies Blossom

Young violinist Vijay Gupta "was shocked by the poverty and neglect he saw on Skid Row. The injustice and inequity upset him. He was also disturbed by what he saw as the airless insularity of the classical music world." So he decided to do something about it. - NPR

Take A Look At Wagner’s Early Operas

His earliest operas show "an impressionable composer who, before finding a voice of his own, knew how to expertly draw on those he admired; and who, before pioneering a declamatory style of operatic dramaturgy, rapidly developed a keen sense for theatrical storytelling." - The New York Times

Can Music Support Ukraine Without Being Propaganda?

 Credible reports have been published about atrocities committed by Russian soldiers in Ukrainian cities. But is music the same as weapons? Can musicians stand for Ukraine without becoming propaganda tools? - Van

In This Depressed Scottish Housing Project, El Sistema Is Working

"No-one is pretending there has been a miracle here, but 15 years ago, if the Raploch was known at all, it was known for its problems; these days it is better known for its music."  The complex has its own orchestra, and 400 of its kids play an instrument. - BBC

“Metamorphosis”: How Musicians Are Trying To Build A Successor To The San Antonio Symphony

The group of musicians that organized public concerts this spring (before the board shut the orchestra down) is now working on the logistics of an ongoing concert series, while former music director Sebastian Lang-Lessing is meeting with officeholders, business leaders and foundations about establishing a new organization. - San Antonio Report

Opera’s Diversity Problem Isn’t Only Onstage

The new study by Opera America found that, in North America, only about 20% of employees are people of color, compared with 39% of the population. There's some progress, though: women make up 61% of employees and 54% of leadership positions. - The New York Times

How Method Acting Influenced Opera

Method acting has a history in opera, and it begins earlier than you might think. Even before his Moscow Art Theatre toured the United States and galvanized famous disciples like Lee Strasberg and Stella Adler, Stanislavski was trying out his acting techniques with opera singers. - Van

Getting The Band Back Together: After COVID, Not So Easy For Students

Now that P.S. 11 band students have returned to the classroom, they are rediscovering their confidence as musicians. But it has been no small task to fill the hole of lost instruction. “Covid obliterated my program. It hasn’t come back for every student the way it was.” - The New York Times

The San Antonio Symphony Is Dead, But Its Musicians Will Keep Giving Concerts

"After playing three concerts this spring, the Musicians of the San Antonio Symphony is making plans for a fall season in which it hopes to stage one to two performances per month, says Brian Petkovich, president of the MOSAS Performance Fund." - San Antonio Magazine

Yes, San Antonio Can Have The Professional Symphony Orchestra It Deserves

"Not only is a reborn symphony possible, but ... it is essential to the quality of life in San Antonio, and preservation of the performing arts and the city's creative class. People are already working on it" — including conductor Sebastian Lang-Lessing, fired by the board in April. - San Antonio Report

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