Category: music

“The antithesis of a stern, towering maestro, Xian Zhang is personable and down to earth, saying that in her somber suits she could be mistaken for an usher. But her easygoing manner masks the fierce discipline of a woman raised on a strict diet of marathon practice sessions.”

The Baltimore Symphony plays Carnegie Hall this week, with its high-profile music director Marin Alsop on the podium. So what, right? Alsop’s probably played Carnegie plenty of times with other orchestras… what? She hasn’t? Ever?

“For 50 years, the Grammys have been the most prestigious (and most criticized) of the music awards shows. In many ways, they still are. But they’re still operating as if it’s 1988. Much like the industry they represent, the Grammys have been slow to adjust to the massive technological changes that have made music more accessible than ever.”

The CEO of Target Corporation is donating millions of dollars to establish a museum devoted to showcasing musical instruments of all kinds on the outskirts of Phoenix. “The new museum has delighted experts in the history of musical instruments, the poor relation in music academia and the museum world. It also comes at a time when world music is increasingly present on concert stages.”

“Let’s collect revenue for the use and sale of that content. The ISPs have a moral obligation. Their responsibility is not a luxury for the future, it’s a necessity to be implemented right now. Our talented clients deserve better than the shoddy and careless way they’ve been treated in the digital age.”

The orchestra finished its fiscal year with a $3,397,000 loss, “a little better than the $3,481,000 loss in 2006 but still a real problem. And although ticket revenue was up, the number of tickets sold was down by more than 9,000 on the core classical side, a total of 6.5 percent for the symphony’s basic business.”

The crumbing theatre was closed in 2005. “The restoration was initially due to cost 15 billion roubles ($610 million) and finish later this year. But last year engineers found the structure was more than 75 percent unstable and pushed back opening night indefinitely.”

“My guess: It won’t happen. Though an accomplished, entertaining, musically sophisticated and dramatically uncompromising look at American culture at its freakiest, the opera (and it is an opera, more than Les Miserables) is the victim of its own ambition and passing fads.”

“What’s to blame? For starters, a splintered, fiercely independent music community, venues scattered all over the map, and a tradition of hostile relations with local officials. Most cities that are known as music destinations have government music offices that market that identity. Chicago does not.”

“The Oregon Symphony will end the current season with a year-to-year increase in ticket revenue for the first time since 2002, ending five years of declining sales. Sales [have] increased $461,000 over the same time last season. Attendance is up this season, too, with average attendance so far at 1,662, a 20 percent increase over last season.”