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MUSIC

Jean Nouvel Wins Competition For Dramatic New Opera House In Shenzhen

The design of the Opera House takes on unconventional forms, opening up the space and integrating the opera house into the Greater Bay Area. Entitled Light of the Sea, the proposal puts in place a curved, light, transparent, and floating roof, under which performance spaces such as opera hall and concert hall are placed. - ArchDaily

Soprano Christine Goerke Named Associate Artistic Director Of Michigan Opera Theatre

"The move brings a singer at the peak of her international career to Detroit. She will perform locally at least once a season, take the lead in casting MOT productions and complement Sharon's experimental streak with a sensibility forged within the core of the operatic tradition." - Detroit Free Press

Hear For Yourself The Difference Between A $5,000 Cello, A $180K Cello, And A $1 Million Cello

Wendy Law uses the same bow, in the same room with the same microphone, to play the opening of Bach's First Cello Suite on a contemporary instrument by Jay Haide, a 19th-century English cello by Thomas Kennedy, and an early 18th-century instrument by Alessandro Gagliano, the first great luthier in Naples. - Digg (YouTube)

The Return Of Tower Records?

Inspired by the vinyl LP revival, new CEO Danny Zeijdel thinks he can make a go of the online business and, ultimately, brick-and-mortar. For now, "you can visit the website, buy a vinyl record, a CD, even a cassette tape, or slake your Tower nostalgia with a logo T-shirt. Everything comes to you wrapped in that familiar yellow...

What A Post-COVID UK Classical Music World Might Look Like (Muddled)

"The unevenness of response across the London halls, from the vagueness and uncertainty of the SBC to the Wigmore Hall’s dauntless ongoing programme of streamed recitals, with audiences to be readmitted as soon as possible, has been mirrored across the country." - The Guardian

Composer Hannah Peel Goes Deep Into The Trees, And Neuroscience

Peel's star has been ascending, with work for TV and movies, and hosting a new, controversial BBC music show - and she managed, with the help of the cosmos, Barbara Hepworth, her grandfather's voice, and nature, to compose a new album during pandemic lockdowns and restrictions and a lot of Zoom meetings. - The Observer (UK)

Maryland’s State Song Has Been Booted By Lawmakers

The state legislature voted to scrap the state's official song. Why? "The pro-Confederate Civil War-era tune features lyrics that denigrate Abraham Lincoln as a 'tyrant' and call on Maryland to join the South in fighting 'the Northern scum.' Penned in 1861 and set to the melody of 'O Tannenbaum,' it has been blasted by critics as racist and an embarrassment to...

Small Independent Opera Companies Are Saving Opera

Across Canada, indie opera companies are making the art form cool again; daring and provocative again. Pre-pandemic, the collective mass of these companies was on the verge of something truly special: making opera mainstream, something to be wafted over a crowded pub, or poured out freely in church basements and makeshift venues coast to coast. - CBC

Streaming Classical Music: Where The Money Really Goes, And Where It Ought To Go

"In the first two articles in the series, we looked at the streaming industry's revenues, how they're shared out between the music we listen to and how we choose that music. This week, we're going to look at who ultimately receives the money — and at how the industry could or should change." - Bachtrack

Russia Is Investigating Its Own Eurovision Song Contest Entry For ‘Illegal Statements’

Following criminal complaints by a veterans' group and the Russian Union of Orthodox Women that the pop tune's words "aim to seriously insult and humiliate the human dignity of Russian women" and " hatred towards men, which undermines the foundations of a traditional family," authorities are investigating singer Manizha Sangin for her anthem "Russian Woman," which salutes the strength...

Spotify Finally Provides An Explanation Of How It Pays Royalties

"First things first: It will not tell you how much money Drake made from Spotify; in fact there are no artist names on the site at all. Instead," Loud & Clear (as it's called) "'aims to increase transparency by sharing new data on the global streaming economy and breaking down the royalty system, the players, and the process.'" -...

Met Opera Musicians Agree To Renegotiate Contract, Will Get Paid For First Time In A Year

"The musicians, and most of the Met's workers, were furloughed in April, shortly after the pandemic forced the opera house to close. Months later, the Met offered the musicians partial pay in exchange for significant long-term cuts, but their union objected. Then the Met softened its position: Since the end of December, it has been offering to pay the...

Moving Beyond The “New World” Symphony

To help break this inertia, we must confront a work that has left indelible marks on music in this country: Antonin Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony. To grasp in full the complex legacy of this classic piece would allow us to move beyond it, fostering new paths for artists of color. - The New York Times

How Freelance Musicians Have Been Coping This Past Year

“It took 25 years for me to reach a point in my career where I was constantly preparing for the next orchestra concert, opera performance, or recording session. Not having goals to work toward really messes with your head." - San Francisco Classical Voice

Is It Finally Time To Get Rid Of Your CD’s?

"Here millennials sit, following begrudgingly in the boomers’ wake, at the centre of a generational Venn diagram: in the unique position of having CDs, vinyl and iTunes and streaming. For the best part of a year now, it’s been time for a clearout: so as we edge back to something resembling a normal life, dare we take the ultimate...

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