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MUSIC

How A Hit Song Behaves Like A Viral Infection

"When a disease breaks into a population you tend to see a sharp increase in infection cases and eventually it will peak at some point when it sort of makes its way through the susceptible population and starts to decline. We see that same pattern with song downloads in our data." - CBC

Video Game Music Can Also Truly Be Symphonic

Consider the music of Final Fantasy at Royal Albert Hall: "The two worlds of gaming and classical music merged, and while some concertgoers wore suits and bow ties, others dressed in cosplay as their favorite characters from the game." - The New York Times

Decoding Opera With The New Populist Audio Form

The podcast Aria Code, now in its third season, is a collaboration between the Met and WQXR, and it's hosted by musician Rhiannon Giddens. "Producers aim for a mix of well-known operas and ... more obscure gems," and downloads are booming. - The New York Times

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Moves And Cancels Concerts

The BSO relocated one concert and canceled two at Strathmore Hall, and not for the first time - this decision was "once again to allow Strathmore and the ticket sellers union an opportunity to resolve their dispute." - Baltimore Sun

That Punk Beethoven?

Who are the supposed punks of the classical music world? It seems that, for many commentators, any composer who went against the grain in some way was a punk. - The Conversation

It’s Just Too Much Trouble For EU Groups To Hire British Musicians Post-Brexit, Warns Simon Rattle

"People who are normally hired by organisations abroad are being told, 'I'm sorry, we just don't have the capacity to bring somebody from the United Kingdom, it is too complicated and too expensive." - London Evening Standard

Riccardo Muti Extends Chicago Symphony Contract For One More Season

His term as music director was set to expire next summer, but with the pandemic having shut down CSO concerts for the period when guest conductors would have auditioned to succeed him, Muti will stay on until August of 2023. - AP

New Metropolitan Opera Radio Host Named

Only the fifth person to serve in this capacity, Debra Lew Harder follows in the footsteps of former legendary voices of the Met, Milton Cross (1931-1975), Peter Allen (1975-2004), Margaret Juntwait (2004-2015), and, most recently, Mary Jo Heath (2016-2021). - Broadway World

How An Opera By A Black Composer Finally Made It To The Met

The company's certainly had opportunities before: William Grant Still submitted scores in 1919 and 1935; both were casually dismissed. So Terence Blanchard was astounded to get a call from Peter Gelb asking to stage Fire Shut Up in My Bones after its 2019 premiere. - The New York Times

Thirty Years Ago Nirvana Changed Seattle Music Forever

The album represents a moment in time when everything about Seattle culture changed. The very words “Seattle music” meant something different afterward, both in the Northwest and in the world. - Seattle Times

Why Do We Refer To Some Composers With Only Their Last Name?

Who gets last-name-only treatment and who requires a full identification is a weightier, more politically fraught question than it might initially seem. - San Francisco Chronicle

Yes, Music Really Can Be Infectious — Statisticians Apply Epidemiology To Pop Songs

"The pattern of music downloads after their release appears to closely resemble epidemic curves for infectious disease – and electronica appears to be the most infectious genre of all." - The Guardian

Enormous Stage Rock Nearly Crushes Tenor; Court Rules It Was Sabotage

It's the end of Tristan und Isolde at the Capitole de Toulouse. Isolde is singing the Liebestod and Tristan is playing dead upstage when he senses something very large very close: a 467-pound stage boulder that was supposed to stop 30 inches away … - The New York Times

“Pre-Saving” Music And What That Really Means

When you pre-save a song, it may look like the service you use, like Spotify, is the one requesting information about your account. But it’s not. It will tell you which service, label, or company is making the request, and who’ll get your data when you accept. - Wired

Nigel Kennedy Pulls Out Of Albert Hall Concert After ClassicFM Won’t Let Him Play Jimi Hendrix

Kennedy said the “culturally prejudiced” decision amounted to “musical segregation”, with the station he now calls “Jurassic FM” preferring him to play Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in Wednesday’s show. - The Guardian

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