Category: music

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said today that music is “not compatible” with the values of the Islamic republic, and should not be practised or taught in the country.

“The annual Experience Music Project Pop Conference, which gathers critics, journalists and academics for a weekend of presentations on the vast diaspora of music, is relocating from its longtime home at the Experience Music Project in Seattle to the UCLA campus.”

“[A] growing body of research suggests music can play an important role in certain aspects of health care, including pain management. A newly published study from Mexico reports repeated listening to certain classical works – including one by Mozart – helps ease the debilitating symptoms of clinical depression.”

“Anyone who has attended the Hollywood Bowl this summer has probably noticed the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s jumbo-screen advertisements encouraging people to donate to the orchestra via text message. … The service, which is hosted by mGive, adds the donation amount to your monthly wireless bill.”

“Jürgen Flimm, the noted German director of opera and theater and the outgoing artistic director of the Salzburg Festival, has a message for Peter Gelb: he’s available.”

“No doubt the orchestra will continue to face the challenge of raising dollars year after year, decade after decade. That challenge, though, becomes less odious when you couple it with these visionary components. If someone is going to pump their money into the LO, that same somebody wants to know the orchestra is going to be around for the long term.”

“An unbelievably dysfunctional staff, a protracted strike, and a terrifying natural disaster were just the beginning. Add to that an inert board of trustees, a national economic downturn, and the self-inflicted wound that was my music director, and you might have some idea of what went wrong – and right – during my tenure in San Francisco.”

“And what would lure a music columnist for the Toronto Star to this miniest of metropolises, deep in the heart of you know where? It’s the International Festival Institute at Round Top, and for my money it represents one of the most remarkable fusions of education and music-making anywhere in North America.”

“For the concert business it has been a summer of hard sells and empty seats. Despite sellouts for Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and some other hot acts, overall sales have been suffering, with prominent tours like the Eagles and “American Idols Live!” canceling dates.”

“A tiny but busy tape-based music culture is growing from roots in economic necessity, thrift-store crate-digging and, yes, a pride in being difficult for its own sake. But cassettes also carry a different nostalgia…”