Zachary Woolfe, classical music editor: "Omnipresent and energetic, he has been one of the central figures in New York's cultural re-emergence, and certainly the city's most significant and visible classical musician at a transformative moment." - The New York Times
For example, the group Resonance Works Pittsburgh, which has committed to make half of all works it plays by women and at least one-third by composers of color, just did an all-female-composer program. But might that limit audience interest the same way all-Beethoven concerts can? - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
If this period of enforced home life made her reassess her priorities – she lives in Salzburg with her husband and their two children – she was not alone. - iNews
Melbourne Digital Concert Hall streamed 430 performances, with over $1.6 million going to musicians during one of the longest, strictest lockdowns in the world. In 2022, as the Australian Digital Concert Hall, it will transmit 200 programs by performers from Perth to Brisbane to Hobart. - The Age (Melbourne)
The school became known for supporting the education of girls, who make up about a third of the student body. The school’s all-female orchestra, Zohra, toured the world and was hailed as a symbol of a modern, more progressive Afghanistan. - The New York Times
As the value of Lebanese money fell, the 100 or so musicians in the orchestra watched the value of their pay fall from $3,000 to around $200. Most foreign musicians left the orchestra and the country. It is not clear how long the orchestra can keep going. - Voice of America
Venues for punk shows were numerous, encompassing everything from pet grooming stores to nonprofit community centers. The small-venue approach lent itself to the formation of a self-regulating community. - Slate
"Spain's announcement means UK musicians and their crew will no longer need visas for engagements of less than 90 days, a change in policy that came after months of lobbying from trade groups on both sides." - The Guardian
Why are generation after generation of young people drawn to these places where they’re pushed, jostled, pummeled or worse? Why do they run into a seething crowd? - The New York Times
The bass-baritone has made programming an art in itself, building evenings around a sermon or a Langston Hughes poem, slipping from Bach to jazz to Julius Eastman to plantation chant to R&B to Caroline Shaw. And, writes Alex Ross, he makes all of it matter. - The New Yorker
At year’s end, Tony will step down as The Times’s chief classical music critic. It is a position he has held since 2000, giving him the longest tenure in the role since Olin Downes. - The New York Times
And the puppets; don't forget the puppets. Instead of a quiet recital hall, "Schubert’s songs grew from entertaining evenings of spontaneous, alcohol-fuelled interaction, with dressing up, games and stories." - The Guardian (UK)
Claddagh Records, founded in the '50s to preserve Irish musical heritage, fell on hard times in the 2000s. But now a deal with Universal Music Ireland has changed its trajectory. - Irish Times
"The musicians, all connected to the country’s network of youth orchestras, performed a roughly 10-minute Tchaikovsky piece outdoors under the watchful eyes of independent supervisors with the job of verifying that more than 8,097 instruments were playing simultaneously." - Washington Post (AP)
