“I almost feel like you should know the notable recordings of a work like this,” Benjamin Grosvenor said of the sonata in a recent interview. “More than anything, it helps you understand what works and what doesn’t work. You react to some things positively and you react to some things negatively, and that fuels your imagination.” - The New...
There’s one metric, however, that stands out as a marker of success. Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s virtual concerts are technically free of charge, but the pay-as-you-wish donation model has drawn real money — an average of $7,500 in donations per concert. This sum is at roughly equal to the paid ticket revenue PCMS typically collected pre-pandemic at APS for...
This story is convoluted, and needs careful reading to understand what's going on not only in musicology in the U.S. but also across the world. To quote the article, "How this ends is not clear." - The New York Times
Anthony Tommasini: " locks them into standard-issue, week-after-week programs loaded with the classics and sprinkled, at best, with unusual or new choices. … Why can't orchestras be nimble and respond to sudden inspiration, or current events? If the Pittsburgh Symphony has a hit with a premiere, why must audiences in other cities wait years to hear it?" - The...
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
