Leslie Bruicusse wrote “Pure Imagination,” “Talk to the Animals,” “Goldfinger,” and so many more - and now that his papers are at the Library of Congress, interest in him is on a steep rise. - NPR
"Tarmo Peltokoski was hired Thursday to succeed Jaap van Zweden as music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. Peltokoski, at 24 far younger than most music directors, will start a four-year term in the 2026-27 season after serving as music director designate in 2025-26." - AP
"(Researchers) studied songs placed in the top five of the US Billboard year-end singles music chart each year between 1950 and 2022. … The results revealed the average complexity of melodies had fallen over time, with two big drops in 1975 and 2000, as well as a smaller drop in 1996." - The Guardian
The Donne report found that 78.4 percent of works in 2023–2024 were by historical (deceased) white men, with 30.6 percent coming from the top 10 (canon) composers, whose names are surely familiar. - San Francisco Classical Voice
Harvest Rock Church is asking $45 million for the 1,200-seat auditorium near the Old Pasadena district that has also hosted jazz greats including Ella Fitzgerald, Dave Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie. It has been called “the Carnegie Hall of the West” by fans. - Los Angeles Times
Will Crutchfield: "(Carolina) Uccelli was indeed extraordinary, and so is the single surviving opera" — Anna di Resburgo — "by which we can assess her abilities. Behind it lies a human story, touching and somewhat sad, to which there is now a chance to add a happy postscript." - The New York Times
The city is brimming with jazz musicians releasing stellar albums and taking risks live. But is L.A. so expensive and disconnected that it’s risking such rooms? - Los Angeles Times
Amid growing public outrage over the Board of Governors’ failure to retain the acclaimed Finnish conductor beyond his five-year contract ending after the 2024-25 season, audience member Laura Leibowitz displayed a sign during the June 21 performance that read “F— the board” in Salonen’s native language. - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
"They came, they listened, and barely a bark was heard — something that can usually go safely unremarked at a Philadelphia Orchestra concert. But for Saturday’s matinee, in addition to a couple of thousand fans of patriotic music, the orchestra drew eight puppies (training to be guide dogs.)" - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
Roadies are fundamental workers in the fulfilment of live music events and concert tours. They are much more than “humpers” who haul road cases and equipment in and out of venues and festivals. - The Conversation
"Michelle Miller Burns, who has led Minnesota's largest performing arts organization since 2018, will take charge of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where she had held several leadership roles before coming to Minnesota, the orchestra announced Friday. She starts with Dallas in September." - The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
The heirs of Alexandre Benois, a celebrated stage designer who worked on the original performance of "Bolero", argued that he should have been credited as a co-author and demanded a share of the proceeds. And because Benois died in 1960, that would put "Bolero" back under copyright until 2039. - France24
It took place the month after Woodstock, and it was in Toronto, but “the performances by each of the rock pioneers floored the young crowd, who had no idea of their power.” - CBC
In Berlin, “although every program booklet had a portrait of a female composer on its cover, her piece was usually a small fraction of the total running time: Unfamiliar works by women were often eclipsed by large-scale, crowd-pleasing compositions by men.” - The New York Times
