Category: music

There’s a shocker! A new study “calculated that Americans from ages 15 to 18 listening to 2.4 hours of music a day hear 84 references to substances daily and more than 30,000 annually. About two-thirds of the references put drugs, alcohol and tobacco in a positive light by associating them with sex, partying and humor.”

“Condemned tells the story of a group of people who find themselves homeless after they are kicked out of a hotel. The opera’s creators have actually lived through the trials presented in the production.”

“David Gyger, an American-born journalist, and his wife, a former university lecturer, published Opera-Opera each month from an office a few doors from their [Sydney] apartment but have decided that the January issue, Number 361, is their last… The loss means there is no single coherent source providing qualitative information about opera and musical theatre across Australia.”

The Toronto Symphony has announced the launch of “a record label dedicated to releasing the orchestra’s [live] performances,” both on CD and in downloadable form. “Sales of TSO Live CDs are expected to be concentrated in the Toronto area.”

A prominent Finnish violinist is leading an unusual movement, helping to establish classical venues that resemble pop music clubs and attract an audience that normally wouldn’t be found in a traditional concert hall. The clubs hearken back to Finland’s early days as an independent nation, when classical performances were common at bars and restaurants.

“Problems that have plagued the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra for months got a full airing at the symphony society’s annual general meeting Monday night.” Among the orchestra’s challenges: a conductor who is suing several of his musicians.

“There is a difference of 110bpm between Scotland and the south of England, according to Uncut magazine. Music taste varies as well, with country music hugely popular in Northern Ireland, while the Scots prefer anthemic Celtic rock.”

“The ‘Juno’ soundtrack is an exceedingly rare case in these chilly record industry times — the exception that proves the rule. Top-selling movie soundtracks are a relic of previous decades, the victim of digital downloading and its pick-and-choose utility. The changes taking place in the music industry have been replicated at every level, including at the soundtrack divisions of most major labels.”

“As Hollywood writers strike for a piece of digital profits, a similar battle is brewing over royalties paid to songwriters and music publishers. The Copyright Royalty Board began hearings last Monday to determine publishing royalties for CDs, downloads and — for the first time — subscription music services, ringtones and interactive webcasts.”

“Mariss Jansons may be the best conductor in the world. This is hyperbole, certainly, in an age that includes such real and putative lions as Lorin Maazel, Simon Rattle, James Levine, Yuri Temirkanov, Gustavo Dudamel and others, but it is hyperbole with a foundation in demonstrable fact.”