“The launch of a new classical entertainment station aimed at younger listeners is based on more than a hunch. Research found that a new generation of listeners was switching on to classical music through different sources, with 48% of under-35s exposed to it through classical versions of popular songs, such as the Brooklyn Duo version of Taylor Swift’s Blank. And 74% of people in the same age group had experienced classical music via a live orchestral performance at a film screening, according to analysts at Insight working for Bauer Media, owner of the new station.” – The Guardian
Category: music
A Conservative’s Case For Classical Music
Roger Scruton: “To my way of thinking, there cannot be a coherent conservatism, either in everyday life or in politics, that does not take high culture seriously. It really matters to the future of our societies that classical music should survive, not as a museum exhibit but as a live tradition of performance and enjoyment, radiating its grace and graciousness across our communities, and providing us all, whether as performers or as listeners, with a sense of the intrinsic value of being here, now, and among our fellows.” – Future Symphony
Vivendi’s Plan To Sell Half Of Universal May Become Real This Year
Universal had 40 percent of U.S. music business last year, including the top four most streamed artists of 2018. But who will buy Universal – Spotify? Liberty Media? This sounds wild, but streaming is still growing: “Consensus in the music industry and the investment community is there is a lot more growth left for music streaming as markets around the world open up to subscription.” – The Wall Street Journal
Chasing That Conductor’s Podium When You’re A Tattooed Mexican-American Woman [VIDEO]
Jessica Bejarano was raised by a single mom living in poverty, and she says music saved her life. But it’s not an easy road. “Every time I was told, NO, you can’t be a director or NO, not going to happen here – even further into, you know, my dreams becoming a reality.” – PBS
Hot New Startup: ‘LinkedIn For Opera Artists’
Seriously. The Danish start-up is meant for artists to be able to take some control over their careers, no matter what their agents do. “Truelinked will feature digital profiles of artists that can be searched by companies and opera houses.” – The Stage (UK)
Alan Walker’s New Chopin Bio – This Year’s Best New Book On Music?
Tim Page: “This is now the best biography of Chopin — meticulous, scholarly and well-told. Whatever the composer’s shortcomings as a person, his music grows only more moving. – Washington Post
#MeToo And Mozart: Do ‘Don Giovanni’ And ‘The Marriage Of Figaro’ Glorify Predators?
“Many critics feel that [these operas] glorify the repugnant behavior and patriarchal values they depict — and question their place in the repertoire”, writes Frankfurt-based violinist Arianna Warsaw-Fan Rauch. Not surprisingly, for those who know the operas, Rauch makes the case that Mozart is solidly on the side of his female characters, but her argument and analysis are good. (Unfortunately, she doesn’t address Così fan tutte, which is a trickier case.) — Slate
Ranks Of Women Conductors Grow As BBC Symphony Hires Dalia Stasevska For Principal Guest Post
Stasevska, a 33-year-old Kiev-born Finn who picked up her baton professionally only four years ago, was introduced to the orchestra by its Chief Conductor, fellow Finn Sakari Oramo. — The Guardian
The Baltimore Symphony’s Contract Extension Agreement Just Expired
For now, all the drama is in the music. But tensions continue to simmer beneath the surface. The musicians had been operating under a four-month extension of their previous one-year contract that expired Sept. 9. – Baltimore Sun
So The Times Thinks It’s Wonderful That Yannick Nézet-Séguin Is Openly Gay. What About The Paper’s Own Role In Keeping The Closet Shut For So Long?
Joel Rozen: “Closeting rarely happens in a vacuum; it requires a hostile culture of gay suppression and mechanisms like the popular media to thrive. Rather than simply acting like the secrecy of high-profile gay men in Manhattan was a random phenomenon, a story such as Woolfe’s could just as well have addressed the music press’s past complicity in making homosexuality a secret in the first place.” — Slate