Category: music

“Whatever happens to the orchestra’s sound, the change is likely to be a matter of gradual metamorphosis rather than a sudden shift in gears. Indeed, the process isn’t just multifaceted; it seems almost mysterious, even to the musicians who produce it.”

“Things have gotten so weird in the music business that high-profile acts are inserting ads into their song lyrics. The next time you hear a brand mentioned in a song, it could be due to a paid product placement. And unlike magazines, songs are not required to point out which words are part of an advertisement.”

“The role of the music director is gradually shifting as orchestras look for an inspiring collaborator rather than a strict taskmaster. Orchestras are learning that they don’t need a towering father figure in order to fulfill some of their roles, particularly as they redefine how they interact with their communities.”

Parents of piano students in the community-based School of Performing Arts at downtown’s Colburn School are protesting elimination of the school’s Suzuki program. The schools says the program was ended because it doesn’t prepare students for advanced study with traditional piano teachers. But some parents believe the school is shortchanging its 1,500-plus community music students in favor of the school’s elite Colburn Conservatory of Music.

The Utah Symphony and Opera is just off a financial crisis. Ticket sales are down, and potential competition looms. And oh yes, the organization is looking for a new music director to replace charismatic Keith Lockhart who departs at the end of this season. So what exactly should the organization be looking for in a new director?

Longtime Cleveland Plain Dealer classical music critic Donald Rosenberg has been pulled from writing about the Cleveland Orchestra. Rosenberg has been critical of the orchestra’s music director, Franz Welser-Möst. “Ultimately, this calculated attack on a music critic doing his job casts a suspicious light on his detractors and their motivations.”

A French municipal library has discovered a musical score handwritten by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in its archives, the Nantes town hall said on Thursday.

“The whole philosophy is different from any other orchestra I know. There is no job security, no union, and no limits to how much we can rehearse and work.” It sounds, frankly, bonkers. What performer would sign up for a musical life of deregulated working conditions, in which the conductor – usually Fischer himself – can insist on whatever hours he chooses? Well, about a hundred of Hungary’s finest musicians, it turns out.”

“Why has the music industry stopped interpreters from following their natural instincts and being true to themselves? We need to find another [conductor like Vernon Handley]. If we don’t, what we face is a future of all-purpose performers, good at most things and outstanding at none.”

Well, it’s finally happened: nudity has come to the operatic stage. “Opera buffs have seen plenty of alluring sopranos in skimpy dresses and handsome bare-chested baritones. Is actual nakedness, if the dramatic situation justifies it, such a big leap?”