“Classical music itself is not an enemy to common values in a multicultural society. And no one can seriously believe that western classical music is beyond the ken of Britain’s ethnic minorities.” So why are the faces at classical concerts still so overwhelmingly, unchangingly white?
Author: sbergman
What You Just Said Is The Opposite Of True
To many close observers of the London music scene, the UK culture minister’s decision to attack the BBC Proms as unfriendly and inaccessibly seems, if not actually offensive, certainly bizarre. “Over more than two months, the Proms provide the most sustainedly accessible high-quality musical festival anywhere. They are just about the most inappropriate target in the world of subsidised classical music.”
Fired Saskatoon Cellist Gets Her Chair Back
“Linda Bardutz, the principal cellist of the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra who was fired in December, has been reinstated… The decision to fire Bardutz, [who has played in the SSO for 18 years,] emerged from issues surrounding a cancelled concert on Nov. 28.”
Change At The Top For Mormon Tabernacle Choir
“The music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir resigned Tuesday after nearly a decade at the front of the world-renowned ensemble.” Craig Jessop will be replaced by the choir’s associate director, Mack Wilberg.
Will Philly Take A Flyer On Jurowski?
The rising young Russian conductor, Vladimir Jurowski, is considered a serious candidate to become the next music director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. But what would Jurowski be like week-to-week as a chief conductor? It’s still very hard to tell…
Finding The Needles In YouTube’s Haystack
There’s plenty of great user-generated video content available on YouTube. But there’s a lot more useless garbage. And finding a way to highlight the best (and make money from it) without damaging the populist feel of the site is a challenge to which no one has yet risen.
The Music Candidate?
One of the odder sub-stories of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign has been the way in which young artists and musicians have rallied around the Illinois senator, and begun celebrating him through self-produced songs and online videos. “Obama’s presidential bid has clearly struck a chord with the musically inclined. The senator, who is popular in rap shout-outs, has been designated “B-Rock” by the hip-hop community.”
Is ART Facing Its Future?
Boston’s American Repertory Theater “is at a critical juncture in its decades-long history as a Harvard affiliate,” and one critic says that the company is in sore need of direction. “Harvard, like any canny investor, isn’t going to pony up the big bucks unless it foresees a reasonable return on its investment. That return may not have to come in the form of cold cash; intellectual richness, international cachet, and free-flowing creativity are all valuable assets for a university.”
Concrete Ideas
As building materials go, concrete gets an awfully bad rap among artists and critics. But concrete has a long and fascinating history in 20th-century architecture, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t have to be ugly and bland.
Playing It From Both Sides
“As Martin Luther’s PR man, Lucas Cranach was crucial to the success of the Reformation, yet he also produced many great works for the Catholic church. Ideology was all very well – but for this artist, business was business.”