Founding music director Marat Bisangaliev says that launching the Symphony Orchestra of India back in 2006 was a serious challenge: with the country’s own art music traditions dominant, the few fully trained Western classical musicians from India had all gone abroad. “We zeroed in on a bunch of talented adults who were self-taught and put them through an intensive crash course designed specially to elevate their standard … They had to become worthy of a place in a symphony orchestra, and the move paid off.” And with no existing conservatory to train future orchestral musicians, the SOI has since founded its own. – The National (Abu Dhabi)
Blog
Harry Vetro’s New CD
The young Canadian drummer Harry Vetro has followed his debut album as a leader, Northern Ranger, with a shorter CD of four tracks. The new album has a similar title, Eastern Stranger, but perhaps that won’t create confusion among Vetro devotees. – Doug Ramsey
The twenty-five record albums that changed my life (10)
The track on this Duke Ellington LP that hit me hardest was “Sepia Panorama,” which featured Jimmy Blanton. I had only just started teaching myself how to play string badd, and Blanton was the first person ever to become a major jazz soloist on that notoriously unwieldy instrument. – Terry Teachout
The twenty-five record albums that changed my life (11)
It wasn’t until I sat down with this album from my father’s collection that I started to grasp that its star was far more than just a charming but old-fashioned minstrel-show entertainer with a wall-to-wall smile. And I had no idea in 1969 that I was destined to spend much of my middle age thinking and writing about him. – Terry Teachout
Streaming Wars Are Getting Serious This Fall (And It’s Going To Be Expensive And Inconvenient)
In a couple of weeks, you’ll have so many options to pay for content à la carte, you won’t really know where to start. And yes, you’ll be paying extra for the inconvenience. – Shelly Palmer
‘Rocywood’, Gritty Homegrown Cinema From Rio’s Favelas
Named for Rocinha, with 70,000 residents the largest favela in Brazil, Rocywood is a production company formed by five young Rio filmmakers. Their budget per film averages around $50 (US), with favela residents providing everything from the cast to rented equipment to hair and makeup. “The films, made for locals by locals, are screened on the streets of Rocinha using a projector and an improvised tarp as a screen, but are also available on YouTube for a worldwide audience to see.” – Hyperallergic
DirectTV Loses Staggering 1.2 Million Pay-TV Customers Last Quarter
ATT&T said Monday its DirecTV and its U-Verse television business in the third quarter lost a staggering 1.2 million customers, as more consumers cut the cord and migrate to video streaming platforms. – Los Angeles Times
‘Brexlit’, The UK’s New Literary Genre
“Brexlit is uniting literary authors across genres, settings and sales brackets. And unlike nonfiction about Brexit, it offers escape as well as insight: an opportunity to understand the nuances of Britain’s decision to leave the EU in a fictional world where, possibly, no such vote has ever taken place. Now, five very distinct and fascinating strands of Brexlit have been identified by [literature professor] Robert Eaglestone.” – The Observer (UK)
Netflix To Let Customers Speed Up/Slow Down Viewing Speeds
Whip through that “Seinfeld” at double speed? Audio books already come with this feature, allowing readers to speed up the playback. But video producers object to the idea as it changes how viewers will see their work. – The Hollywood Reporter
The Hero Of This ‘Hamilton’ Is The One Who Wrangles 200 Women In And Out Of 16 Bathroom Stalls At Intermission
Head usher Tanya Heath at the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia begins working her miracle with a talk like this: “May I have your attention, please. We are at minute five out of a 20-minute intermission, which means I have 15 minutes to get you into this bathroom. I’ve formed a serpentine line. And it works. It only takes about six minutes from that door to get you in this bathroom. All I need you to do is trust me and trust your sisters.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer