Category: music

“There are more hours of classical programming on the air now than five years ago, but total listening to classical public radio stations has remained flat. News programming is much better than classical music at raising money to keep a station going. A listener-hour of NPR news may generate twice as much listener income and much more business underwriting income as classical or jazz.”

Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute may be the most exclusive music school in the world. “Curtis has thrived under the smiling and benevolent leadership of Gary Graffman, who, himself a Curtis graduate (he entered the school at age 7) and major-career pianist, restored order to a turbulent institution after he took over in 1986. Now, Graffman has announced his intention to step down, and despite his strong leadership, the school will soon have to undertake enormous change if it wants to protect its much-envied traditions.”

The Detroit International Jazz Festival is in dancer after the Ford Motor Co. declined to renew its $250,000 title sponsorship. “If Music Hall, which produces the festival, cannot replace Ford’s annual contribution — 21 percent of the proposed budget for 2005 — then one of the city’s signature cultural events could fold on the brink of its 26th anniversary.”

It’s been a very long two months for the striking musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, but with a tentative agreement awaiting their official approval, most of the players are relieved and cautiously optimistic about the ensemble’s future. Still, some veteran members say that this strike was different from past work stoppages in St. Louis, and are worried that the damage done to the orchestra’s reputation and to the relationship between musicians and management will not be easily repaired.

Ireland’s Wexford Opera Festival has anounced that it will contract with a low-cost Eastern European orchestra to play in its pit this year, snubbing the country’s own National Symphony Orchestra, but saving €150,000. “Irish musicians have accused Wexford of using cheap labour, and will picket the festival again this October in protest. The Arts Council has expressed its ‘serious concern’ at the festival’s failure to nurture Irish artists, and has made it a condition of future funding that the festival ‘respond with vigour to its concerns’.”

America’s classical music tradition might not stack up to Europe’s centuries of acheivement, but in the oft-overlooked area of film scoring, American composers have carved out an impressive niche. “When the film and the music are great, the results can be stunning – with a score that plays almost continuously for longer than most great symphonies. Picture Psycho without Bernard Herrmann’s electrified, staccato strings, or “The Third Man” without Anton Karas’ burbling zither… For nearly a century, movie scores have helped to propel a popular medium, and at the same time have surreptitiously exposed audiences of millions to the joys of the orchestra without requiring them to buy a ticket to the local symphony hall.”

The Chicago Symphony doesn’t seem to be in any big hurry to choose a successor to outgoing music director Daniel Barenboim, but John van Rhein says that the orchestra can afford to take its time. “It seems that the more people who are heard from, the lengthier the job description for CSO music director becomes. Beyond being a superior conductor, a fine musician and a strong leader who’s respected by the orchestra, he or she should be thoroughly familiar with how American orchestras function in a changing social and economic landscape. And the next music director should be willing to help the organization stump for funds, a role Barenboim has declined to play but one that has become essential.”

“Forget the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s hunt for a new music director, for now. The organization is moving on a parallel track that, while not likely to grab headlines, also relates closely to the CSO’s vision of its artistic future.The orchestra is developing relationships with a number of talented younger conductors, including Alan Gilbert, Mikko Franck, Andrey Boreyko and, next season, Daniel Harding. A few associations may bear fruit while others may fade. The important thing is creating opportunities for some of tomorrow’s potentially important conductors to refine their craft.”

Most major orchestras insist on exclusivity clauses in the contracts of “superstar” soloists, so as to insure that ticket sales aren’t diluted. But such clauses rarely need to be enforced, since booking agents are well aware of the rules and make sure that their clients aren’t double-booked in a single city. But this week in Minneapolis, the Minnesota Orchestra and the Schubert Club each announced their new seasons, both featuring appearances by soprano Deborah Voigt, despite an exclusivity clause in the orchestra’s contract with the singer. Both groups agree that the mistake belongs to Voigt’s manager, but the orchestra is enforcing its exclusivity anyway, forcing the Schubert Club to cancel Voigt’s appearance, even though most of the club’s brochures had already been printed.

The 8-week strike by the musicians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra is apparently over. One day after the SLSO management played its trump card, winning a ruling from the National Labor Relations Board that declared the strike illegal on a paperwork technicality, the two sides returned to the bargaining table and hammered out a tentative agreement. Details of the deal will be unavailable until the musicians vote to ratify it, but it is believed to be a three-and-a-half year contract.