After debuting with the New York Philharmonic at seven and studying at Juilliard, he became one of the key members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. His recording of Barber's Violin Concerto, one of many he made for Naxos, was nominated for a Grammy. - The Strad
The orchestra has a deep pool of artistic talent, a fiercely devoted following, and Gail Samuel’s predecessor, Mark Volpe, grew the BSO’s endowment to roughly $550 million (the largest of any American orchestra) while overseeing a pre-pandemic operating budget of more than $100 million. - Boston Globe
Justin Davidson: "Librettist Kasi Lemmons and composer Terence Blanchard … haven't blown up the genre or bent it to new purpose or smuggled anything subversive into a temple of tradition. For all its newsworthiness, Fire Shut Up in My Bones is an old-fashioned opera opera." - Vulture
Two weeks ago, orchestra management made a "last, best and final" contract offer which would cut the number of full-time musicians by 40%; Sunday night, management declared an impasse in negotiations and tried to impose that offer. The musicians declared a strike the following day. - San Antonio Report
Time was, Dudley Moore could dash off a witty parody of a Beethoven sonata or Britten folk song arrangement. These days, NPR Classical and Britain's Classic FM tweet cartoons about John Cage's 4'33" or, god forbid, the sort of viola jokes we told in middle school. - Van
The 63-year-old Austrian conductor has extended his contract as the orchestra's music director through the 2027-28 season, which will be his 20th at the PSO's helm. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"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
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
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
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
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
"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
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
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
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
