Category: music

“Gary Ginstling, director of communications and external affairs for the San Francisco Symphony since July 2006 and former executive director of California’s Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, has been appointed general manager of the Cleveland Orchestra.”

“Aging rock stars and session musicians will keep receiving royalties for their old recordings for the rest of their lives under a European Union plan. Performers currently lose the rights to their recordings after 50 years.”

Tuesday night, Lang Lang soloed with the New York Philharmonic before a massive crowd in Central Park on a bright red Steinway grand. During the performance, Lang announced that the piano would be auctioned off “to raise money for the American Red Cross China Earthquake Relief Fund… Bidding starts at the $165,000 retail price.”

The Shreveport Symphony says that all of its musicians have officially signed contracts for the 2008-09 season, ending a stalemate over a controversial downsizing plan for the ensemble. “The new contract switches core or full-time musicians to a per-service pay structure, resulting in a 75 percent salary cut, from $12,693 to $3,123.”

It’s been a bad month for musicians in Cincinnati. First, a bass player in the Cincinnati Symphony was arrested for beating his wife, and now, a featured bass at the Cincinnati Opera is charged with a vicious street assault in the Over-The-Rhine neighborhood.

“Playing a certain type of music can enhance the way wine tastes, research by psychologists suggests. The Heriot Watt University study found people rated the change in taste by up to 60% depending on the melody heard.”

“Pittsburgh Symphony leaders were shocked this spring when ticket sales and subscription sales took a tumble after three consecutive years of increases.” But subscriber retention is reportedly strong, and the orchestra’s leaders say that the unforeseen downturn is probably due to the tough economy.

One of the reasons cited by the Columbus Symphony’s executive director in proposing the dismissal of music director Junichi Hirokami is that the conductor “hasn’t put down roots in central Ohio.” But several of the musicians are pointing out that the executive director himself stays in a Columbus hotel room after two years on the job, and lives in Boston with his family.

Columbus Symphony musicians have rejected a contract offer from the symphony board that would have cut salaries and caused the firing of Music Director Junichi Hirokami.

“The European commission will tomorrow defy a high-profile lobbying campaign by composers and songwriters and order a new pan-European system of selling online music rights.”