Category: music

“In a bold move, the Chicago Jazz Ensemble — one of the nation’s leading jazz repertory bands — is expected to engage the brilliant trumpeter and widely admired bandleader Jon Faddis as its artistic director, replacing the late CJE founder William Russo.”

If Disney loses a case in South Africa contesting rights to the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight it might have to give up numerous trademarks in South Africa.”Relatives of the song’s original composer, Solomon Linda, say they are entitled to $1.6m in royalties from the track, used in The Lion King. If Disney loses the case, it may have to sell over 240 trademarks, including Mickey Mouse, to pay the family.”

Dallas’ primary concert hall turns 15. “After a decade and a half, the Meyerson definitely doesn’t squeak like a mouse. Acoustically, it is the best hall of its generation, with a sound as sumptuous as warm brandy and a silk jacket. Architecturally, it remains a mixed bag, a good example of Mr. Pei’s elegant classical modernism but also aloof and somewhat intimidating, a piece of sculpture meant to be admired rather than embraced. Promises of hefty economic benefits – the association predicted that the new hall would generate at least $25 million in new tax revenue and 500 housing units – proved delusional.”

It takes a pretty good hall to impress a critic over many years, but Scott Cantrell likes Dallas’ Meyerson: “Fifteen years on, and with the experience of a lot of concert halls around the world, the Meyerson is still my favorite modern symphony hall and one of my favorites of any period. It’s not a perfect hall – there’s no such thing – but it’s a fabulous one.”

Mark Hanson took over as president of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in January 2004, and it didn’t take him long to decide that what the financially strapped organization needed was a completely new way of doing business. Whereas previous administrations tried to patch deficits by dipping into the endowment, and sought to downplay the importance of dramatically slumping ticket sales, Hanson is apparently seeking to face the MSO’s problems head on, and in public. Still, that means more deficit spending for the next couple of seasons, and an uphill battle to convince local donors that the symphony is worth their investment.

The concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra has been fired after 20 years at the helm, apparently at the behest of music director Gerard Schwarz. Ilkka Talvi, who has filed a grievance contesting his dismissal, was apparently the victim of a clause in the SSO musicians’ contract which allows the concertmaster to be dismissed at the will of the music director, even as the rest of the orchestra’s musicians are protected by a tenure system.

Seattle Symphony music director Gerard Schwarz has always been a master of public relations, and his two decades in the Pacific Northwest can attest to his staying power. But this has been a year in which Schwarz’s abilities as a conductor and leader have come under fire: he was all but dismissed from the directorship of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic last month, and at least one prominent critic has suggested that his recently-ended 17-year tenure at the helm of New York’s Mostly Mozart festival was tired and unimaginative. Still, Schwarz remains the face of classical music in Seattle, and so far, says Melinda Bargreen, he has weathered every storm with aplomb.

So you want to get into the hottest show of the summer, but you don’t care to camp out in a 3-day line or spend hundreds on scalper tickets? No problem: just spend a few minutes scouting the folks taking tickets at the gate, pick a target, and see where a well-placed $50 bill will get you…

It’s a fledgling movement, to be sure, but more and more rock bands are turning to the traditionally classical cello to bolster their sound, and add an unusual twist to a genre which has for decades relied on screeching guitars and hammering percussion. From indie-goth band Rasputina, which sports multiple cellos, to a Colorado-based acoustic rock quartet which recently decided that a full-time cellist could improve their sound, the cello seems to be overtaking the violin in the role of the classical instrument best suited to crossing over into the nightclub scene.