The modern approach plays out in its new look, which patrons will see on everything from posters outside the box office to tickets to the website and social media. The static typeface of yesteryear, which looks the same no matter where it’s applied, is gone. In its place is a new custom, variable typeface called “ABC Symphony” that evokes...
The ancient conch shell was discovered at the site of some cave art in the French Pyrenees back in 1931, when archaeologists figured it must have been some sort of ceremonial cup. Now researchers using CT scans have determined that the shell was decorated and that its two holes had to have been man-made, most likely to accommodate a...
The 41-year-old Austrian-born maestro, who recently completed his term as chief conductor of the Zagreb Philharmonic in Croatia, takes up the baton in Portland this fall. He succeeds Carlos Kalmar, whose 18th and final season was cancelled due to the pandemic. (Meanwhile, Danzmayr has also extended his contract as music director of the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra in Columbus, Ohio.)...
Awards don’t help us quantify these qualities, but for a composer who burst onto the operatic scene so spectacularly with X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X at the New York City Opera in 1986, it’s an acknowledgement of his eminence in a world, classical music, that has usually struggled to deal honestly with Black musicians and Black...
"The museum tells a chronological story of Black music starting in the 1600s through present day and framed around major cultural movements including the music and instruments brought by African slaves, the emergence of blues through the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance and the civil rights movement. … And while there are museums around the country that focus on...
Thus far, only a few local music venues have signaled their interest in reopening under present conditions. In a statement on its website, the Washington Nightlife Music Association — a coalition of independent club owners — said many venues will opt to remain closed, citing safety concerns and a number of requirements, including a 25% capacity limit that “is...
Her project, called Rising Sun Music, "is a series of newly recorded works written by black composers — including many works that have never been recorded before — performed by Downes with guest artists. She plans to release one song per week to streaming platforms, with a new theme every month, beginning February 5." - Smithsonian Magazine
Spano, 59, is best known for his 20 seasons as music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, a position he’s leaving in June. Since 2011 he has also been music director of the prestigious Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado. Before Atlanta, he quickly rose to national attention as music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic in New York,...
By emptying stages and dancefloors, the pandemic has generated an urgent need to reimagine the live music experience - both for artists and the audience stuck at home. So, how is Covid reshaping the creative thinking behind live music performances, and what lasting impact could there be? - BBC
On Thursday morning, the orchestra released its operating results for the fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2020. The big news: a deficit of $11.7 million, the largest in its history. Last year’s deficit was $8.8 million, another record-breaker. No one who follows the orchestra has forgotten that the record-breaker before that, for 2012, was $6 million, enough to help...
For popular music fans, "rock created the music publications we read today. R&B created rock. Blues created R&B. And Mamie Smith made the blues a national sensation." - NPR
Elton John says his tours can absorb the costs and the paperwork, so theoretically Brexit's horribly negotiated touring musician deals (note: what deals?) don't affect him. But, he adds, "I don’t want to live in a world where the only artists who can afford to tour properly are those who have been going for decades and have already sold...
Guido Frackers is the guy. "So I’ve seen the environment at least one year before. And we have a “bulldozer” who goes in 24 hours before the orchestra arrives to pave the way, to line every hotel up, so when the musicians arrive at the hotel, checking in is basically as quick as it takes them to pick up...
"Recent case histories are alternately breakthroughs and models of artistic self-defeat. Which was which?" asks David Patrick Stearns. "The reverse of what I expected." The key: the message and the material have to fit each other. - Classical Voice North America
The reality is that many questions surround composer pay. Some people wonder why they’re not being paid more. Some people are surprised by the amounts they have been paid. Some people worry they should have gotten more, but weren’t bold enough to ask for it. Some composers get asked to name their number. Others are told, “this is the...
