Writes the Columbia University linguist and New York Times columnist of Terence Blanchard's Fire Shut Up in My Bones and William Grant Still's Highway 1, U.S.A., "the tradition being appropriated here is based on a philosophy of composition and audience reception hardly inevitable." - The New York Times
“Audiences who were very reticent or uninterested in digital content became interested. I believe we cannot turn back from that whole process.” - Dallas Morning News
Music — at least for some of us — is an engaged and engaging activity that involves your ear, your intellect, your memory, your imagination and more. And that if those resources aren’t available, there’s no shame in preferring the more serene and restful option of silence. - San Francisco Chronicle
She's music director at San Francisco Opera and principal guest conductor at Houston Grand Opera, and she's the first woman and first Asian in either job. But, she says, "I want to be seen just as a conductor." - The New York Times
Francesca Zambello, 65, who is also the artistic director of Washington National Opera and an independent stage director, will have led Glimmerglass for 12 seasons when she leaves. - The New York Times
"Initially, the priest was 'Father McCartney,' because it had the right number of syllables. I took the song to John at around that point, … and he said, 'That's great, Father McCartney.' He loved it. But I wasn't really comfortable with it." - The New Yorker
To some observers, it’s a case of campus “cancel culture” run amok. To others, the incident is symbolic of an arrogant academic and artistic old guard and of the deeply embedded anti-Black racism in classical music. - The New York Times
The Chieftains became bigger stars than the Rolling Stones in 1975, when Stanley Kubrick used their music in the movie Barry Lyndon - and that's when they quit their day jobs to perform Irish folk music full-time. - BBC
In 1999, when musician Dame Hinewehi Mohi sang the national anthem in Maori at the men's Rugby World Cup, she got quite a backlash. Now, "awareness and celebration of Maori music is mirroring a shift in attitudes toward the language across New Zealand." - The New York Times
The delays have hampered many industries, but they are particularly upending classical music, which relies on stars from all over the world to make a circuit of leading concert halls and opera houses. - The New York Times
Theater impresarios quickly recognized them as their ideal audience: the true-blue fans who reliably subscribed to the whole opera season; bought programs, autographed photos; and drummed up the anticipation and conversation that kept theaters in business. - LitHub
Dead musicians will start by giving tours in concert halls, but as the cost of the technology goes down, they will begin performing everywhere. - Ted Gioia
Esperanza Spalding: "You may know who you're writing for, the instrumentation, the length. … But once you actually start populating the spaces with notes and phrases, it changes. You can't know what the shape of something you've never done before is going to be." - San Francisco Chronicle
Here's what to know about Nicholas Britell, Julia Bullock, Claire Chase, Bryce Dessner, Pekka Kuusisto, Nico Muhly, Carol Reiley, and Esperanza Spalding. - San Francisco Chronicle
