Category: music

As Andrew Litton prepares to depart the Dallas Symphony (see more on this in ArtsJournal’s People section,) speculation is rampant concerning whom the orchestra will turn to as its next music director. On the shortlist: Andrew Davis, Stephane Deneve, and Philippe Jordan, among others.

The London Philharmonic has named 34-year-old Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski as its next principal conductor, succeeding Kurt Masur. Jurowski has been the LPO’s principal guest conductor since 2003, and his star has been rising fast on the international scene. “His contract is for an initial five years. He will give a minimum of 25 concerts per year, as well as touring and working with the orchestra in Glyndebourne – spending a total of seven or eight months of the year in Britain.”

The 1960s were a divisive time in America, and the music of the period reflects the “protest” movement that flourished at the time. And though overtly political music has been out of fashion for decades now, the protest song is showing signs of making a comeback, thanks in large part to the divisive qualities of the Bush Administration. “These artists’ dissent is not the innocuous, war-hurts whine of U2, R.E.M., Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams or the Dead Kennedys that has passed in recent years as an expression of conscience, but a rage-grounded strain that sounds a lot like the potent snarl of the dispossessed and betrayed.”

“The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is not yet halfway toward its 18-month goal of raising $1 million from new donors by June 30 to meet a dollar-for-dollar challenge grant from the Prudential Foundation. As of this week, the orchestra had collected $423,751 from 587 new individual and corporate donors.” No one knows whether Prudential would be willing to extend the deadline. “In more gloomy news, the orchestra, which has been searching for [former executive director Simon] Woods’ replacement for almost a year, has not interviewed a single candidate for CEO since December.”

New Orleans Opera is back on the stage, and amazingly, much of the audience seems to be back, too. But the challenges aren’t over for the company, as it deals with its too-small new home, the loss of many members of its pit orchestra to other ensembles around the country, and countless other logistical and musical issues that serve as a constant reminder of the devastation wrought by Katrina. “Many opera-goers and corporate sponsors who left the city haven’t returned yet either. With the city’s more pressing needs, the opera has had to make a strong case to get philanthropic dollars.”

Over the past decade, the Miami International Piano Festival has built itself up into quite the event. Founded by teacher Giselle Brodsky, the fest has recently begun sponsoring well-attended concerts in South Florida throughout the year. “Yet if outwardly the Miami International Piano Festival appears in hale health, for many observers, Brodsky’s organization has suffered from severe growing pains, manifested by a crucial loss of its bearings and wavering sense of mission.”

A piece by John Cage is being performed in a German church. Don’t worry about catching the performance though. It will continue over the next six centuries. It’s “a version of a composition by John Cage called ‘As Slow as Possible.’ A group of musicians and town boosters has given the title a ridiculously extreme interpretation, by stretching the performance to 639 years.”

Nicholas Kenyon argues that far from dying, classical music is thriving. “The real problem for classical music is that no one expects it to change, because it is steeped in tradition and is too often associated exclusively with the past. Yet it changes continually, both in character and in content. New music, so often thought of as esoteric and unappealing, has never been more varied in style and substance than now.”

New Labour made big promises about remaking music eduction in UK schools. But its initiatives have dwindled away, and it’s looking less and less likely that things will get better…

English national Opera will presnt an opera about Libyan disctator Muammar Gaddafi. “The opera tackles some of Libya’s most controversial moments on the world stage, including U.S. attacks on the country in 1986, the Lockerbie disaster of 1988 and the shooting of police officer Yvonne Fletcher outside Libya’s London embassy in 1984. Little wonder its creators see the project as high risk for one of Britain’s two main opera houses.”