Former production coordinator Melinda McLain: “In rehearsal I saw him, at least once, grab one of the supernumeraries and just lay a kiss on her. … I also had young singers come and seek advice about how to repel his advances. And older singers, more principal singers, were concerned about their own marriages because of the inappropriate touching — some of which I saw myself, but also was reported to me by these singers so that we could figure out how to keep them out of his way.” (audio) – KCRW (Los Angeles)
Category: music
Baltimore Symphony Musicians File Charges With National Labor Relations Board
The unfair labor practices complaint charges that Baltimore Symphony management has failed to bargain in good faith, “unlawfully locked out the musicians … [and] failed and refused to provide relevant and necessary information requested by the union in bargaining.” – WBAL-TV (Baltimore)
Kansas City Symphony Music Director Michael Stern Renews For Three Years, Will Then Retire
The 59-year-old conductor’s contract was to have expired at the end of this season; he’ll now remain on the job through 2022-23. In his 14 years there so far, he’s brought the KCSO increasing renown beyond Kansas City and enviable success at home: the orchestra’s classical concert series averages 94% of seats sold. – KCUR (Kansas City)
BMI, The Performance Rights Administrator Announces Record Collections For Musicians
BMI announced record revenues this morning, with $1.283 billion, up 7% over the previous year. The performing-rights organization also distributed and administered $1.196 billion to its songwriters, composers and publishers, its highest distributions ever, and a 7% or $78 million increase over last year. – Variety
Petrenko’s Conservative Debut With Berlin Philharmonic Is Troubling
Alex Ross: “Conservatives in the orchestra and in the audience may be reassured, but this retrenchment is a troubling signal from a historically great orchestra that ought to be assuming a leadership role in global classical music.” – The New Yorker
The Cleveland Institute Of Music’s Plan To Get Better: Get Smaller
Where many institutions of higher learning are looking to expand, CIM is looking to contract. In an effort to compete with the nation’s top schools of music and reduce competition among graduates for jobs, CIM has enacted a multi-year plan to trim its student body from 430 to 350. This year, the school has welcomed 375. – The Plain Dealer
Opera Union, Not Trusting Opera Companies, Opens Investigation Into Allegations Against Placido Domingo
The American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents opera performers and staff, has launched its own investigation into the sexual harassment and abuse allegations against the singer. The claim: This investigation will go beyond any individual company and will “examine the systemic failures within the industry that could have allowed this conduct, if substantiated, to continue unchallenged for decades.” – Billboard (AP)
Can An Opera Company Do ‘Butterfly’ Without Offensive Stereotypes?
Sure, if the opera company completely strips down and alters the opera’s plot, going back to the original story, and removing race as a driving issue. Anne Midgette: “I wondered how anyone who didn’t know the opera would react to the piece, as those of us who did were inevitably recognizing familiar pieces and assessing how well they fit together in this new configuration.” – The Washington Post
Ella Fitzgerald Is Influencing A Whole New Generation Of Musicians
Millennial Latinx musicians say that Fitzgerald’s influence lives far beyond her own time. Colombian neo-soul artist Mabiland: “I had no idea a woman could sing like that. … To hear that voice and understand the power of someone who could put her soul into her voice like that — for me, that is Ella.” – NPR
Whale Songs Are Getting Deeper
Truly they are, and it’s probably because of humans. But in what way? “In a study last year that analyzed more than 1 million individual recordings of whale calls, scale shifts were found across species, and among populations that don’t necessarily interact with one another. Which is to say, whatever has triggered the change doesn’t seem to have a specific geographic origin.” – The Atlantic