How hard is it being a composer in an age when the majority of music consumers don’t even have classical music on their radar screens, and are increasingly used to paying next to nothing for the music they do listen to? Plenty hard, and the solution lies in developing a true mass audience for serious new music.
Author: sbergman
Reassessing The New CBC Radio 2
“Yesterday was called the official launch day of the new Radio 2,” under which pop music has largely replaced classical, “a genre of music supposed by our new, culture-free, diversity-hugging CBC executives to be of interest only to shut-ins. To judge by the inaugural show, the content is firmly grounded in the Three Bs: bland, bland and bland.”
News Flash: The New Radio 2 Doesn’t Suck
Okay, so classical snobs are almost guaranteed to hate the new CBC Radio 2 lineup, where classical music is confined to a midday slot. But what about the broader audience that the CBC is supposedly hoping to attract, the folks who could care less about Beethoven but appreciate quality popular music? “It’s not unpleasant, but it’s not a knockout punch… either.”
Looking For Lincoln Center
“This summer, Lincoln Center, the largest performing arts complex in the country, has been a maze of construction sites, plywood fencing and confusing detours.” Apparently, things are so confusing that people attending performances are actually having trouble finding the entrance.
Iowa Orchestra Forced By Floods Into Alternate Venues
With floodwaters in Iowa still causing problems, the Cedar Rapids Symphony has announced that it will be performing a good portion of its 2008-09 schedule in Iowa City, 30 miles to the south.
Can Online Concerts Become Profitable?
A number of European summer festivals are streaming their concerts online this year. “Does anybody actually want to watch classical concerts on their computer screens? Evidently, yes… The real question is whether anybody wants to pay for it.”
Fierce Independence Marks A Dance Master’s Career
Italian choreographer Luca Veggetti has been taking the US by storm recently. “He has long identified with what he calls the distinctly American sense of freedom, and he hopes soon to move here permanently.” Throughout his career, Veggetti has rejected the European cultural model in favor of a hard-won freelance career.
Madness And Artistry Behind The Scenes
“After opening night, directors and designers usually move to their next projects, while a small army stays behind to safeguard their artistic vision.” These are the stagehands, light and sound directors, and other behind-the-scenes workers whom the audience never thinks about, but without whom no show would be able to go on.
Mao As Pop Art Phenomenon
“Mao’s image is less conspicuous [in China] than it once was. His status took a dip when the savageries of the Cultural Revolution began to be told… [But] he remains omnipresent, like some Warholian multiple. Look and you’ll find him. His star power holds.”
Rushdie Threatens Former Bodyguard With Lawsuit
“Sir Salman Rushdie is threatening to sue a former police bodyguard who has written a book about protecting the author while he was in hiding… In the book, he claims Sir Salman was nicknamed “Scruffy” and was once locked in a cupboard because he irritated his protection officers. They then all went to the pub.”