According to one CNN report, a song called "Fart" was blacklisted. The lyrics of the song read: "There are some people in the world who like farting while doing nothing." - BBC
In 2017-18, 2% of works performed were written by women, and 3% by composers of color. By 2019–2020, it was 6% of works by women and 8% by composers of color. This year music by women comprise 12%, and nearly 17% are by composers of color. - San Francisco Classical Voice
The Rady Shell was built to be the San Diego Symphony's summer venue, but, COVID rates and the city's weather being what they are, the orchestra will play there at least through the fall. Acoustically and audience-wise, it appears to be a success. - The New York Times
For centuries, the spruces of Val di Fiemme have been used in the greatest instruments Italy produces, from Stradivari violins to Fazioli pianos. Here's why these evergreens are so good for their purpose — and what threats they face, from bark beetles to wind storms. - Atlas Obscura
That's how Joshua Barone of The New York Times categorizes Robert Carsen: "His work is by no means repetitive, cautious or dull. But in more than 125 productions over three decades in the field, he has been peerlessly dependable." - The New York Times
Heather MacDonald's Part 2: "The biggest victim in the racial attack on classical music is the music itself. Once the poison of identity politics is injected into a field, it can never recover its prelapsarian innocence."Â - City Journal
Live music, of course: "By activating these spaces in ways that shed the Met’s stuffiness, the museum is broadening what performance can be." - Hyperallergic
While the music promoter Live Nation said that artists or bands themselves could set masking and vaccination requirements, some venues in places like L.A. are requiring proof of vaccination along with the county's mask mandate. - Los Angeles Times
If mainstream pop is designed to make people feel as if they’re on common ground with all of humanity, this music made listeners feel like they were in on a very specific joke. - The New Yorker
"Too often, those who fund our programs are, in effect, asking our team members to do more with less. There is a combined scarcity/charity mindset that permeates the entirety of our programs, forcing teachers and staff to make difficult choices about their livelihoods and quality of life."Â - Ensemble News
"Seventy percent of India's musicians practice folk, but they earn only 2% of the industry's revenues. … Many listeners today only hear the genre through movies, or adapted by indie bands," something the nonprofit Anahad Foundation is working to change. - The Christian Science Monitor
"We knew all this in January," says the CEO of the musicians' trade body. "The idea that the government has done something fantastic or that it has won some concessions is not correct. The announcement is not new information to the music industry." - The Guardian
"The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it had negotiated with 19 EU member state countries to allow British musicians and performers to conduct short tours visa-free." The only major markets not included so far are Spain, Portugal, and Greece. - The Guardian (PA Media)
