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“Personally, I was impressed by the passion of those who are working at the construction site. I used to think that passion or enthusiasm only has something to do with the artists and never connected it with the scientists or engineers until I stood at the site.’ The song-symphony ‘Echo from the Three Gorges’ composed by Liu Yuan and performed by Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, will make its premiere at the Beijing Concert Hall.”

“A survey conducted by Motorola into musical habits around the continent showed that the UK is more in tune with music downloading than any other European country. Britons spend an average of 75p a month on digital downloads, three times more than Germans, French or Italians. This reflects the widespread adoption of digital music in the UK, as well as a thriving legal internet music scene.”

John Eliot Gardiner was halfway through recording all of Bach’s 198 cantatas when Deutsche Grammophon pulled the plug. He decided to continue and release them himself. And how’s it going? “We have practically no overheads because it’s run from home. And the musicians have agreed to accept royalties rather than fees. The break-even for each disc is around 5,000 to 6,000 and the first album sold 16,000. So far it’s gone better than any of us could have hoped. We’ve got hundreds of subscribers for the whole series of 52 CDs. Any profit we make goes straight back into the financing of the next batch of records.”

“The New Jersey Performing Arts Center has announced a residency program with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. The collaboration with NJPAC will bring music, food, educational workshops and a Thanksgiving 2006 performance by the orchestra.”

“After modernism, minimalism, postmodernism and postminimalism, a school of music is emerging that might be called wowism,” writes Justin Davidson. And who is a leading exponent? Jennifer Higdon.

Andrew Porter “is about to direct his own first production of Mozart’s opera, doubtless to the surprise of many of his admirers. Porter has not built his international reputation as a director but as a music critic, arguably the most widely respected of his generation. To those from whom he has drawn blood, it might seem the Canadian Opera Company has invited the fox into the chicken coop.”