Jamaica applied for recognition of its musical tradition at a meeting of the UN in Mauritius this year. “It is a music that we have created that has penetrated all corners of the world,” said the country’s culture minister Olivia Grange.
Category: music
The Communist Manifesto Becomes A Cantata
“Choral Marx, which was recently performed at NYU’s Skirball Center, consists of nine singers whose variously musical utterance transfigures, toys with, and otherwise implements eight heavily excerpted selections from the 1888 Samuel Moore translation of the Manifesto. Led by [composer Ethan] Philbrick’s cello, the band played all the hits: ‘The history of all hitherto existing societies/ Is the history of class struggle,’ ‘The bourgeoisie has reduced personal worth to exchange value,’ ‘There is a specter haunting this world’ and so on.”
Why Do People Like Sad Music? It’s The Hormones
Yes, there are the obvious reasons: it can move us or validate our own sad feelings. And the human brain produces several hormones in response to music, including dopamine and serotonin. But sad music in particular induces production of a hormone called prolactin.
Songs Sung By Auschwitz Inmates Discovered
University of Michigan musicologist Patricia Hall was doing research in the archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum when she found handwritten arrangements of popular German songs — titles such as “The Most Beautiful Time of Life” and “Sing a Song When You’re Sad” — assembled for prisoners to perform for their SS captors.
How Bing Crosby Changed Pop Music
Without him, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Dinah Shore, Dean Martin and countless other intimate singers could never have happened. A workhorse, he turned out a staggering number of recordings (including dozens of No. 1 hits) as well as films, radio shows and personal appearances. Whatever he did seemed off-the-cuff and effortless.
Rethinking The San Francisco Conservatory Of Music (And Finding Success)
David Stull’s notion is that any reasonable education should teach you to think critically and creatively; write and speak effectively; work alone or on a team; translate constructive criticism to advantage, and, no matter the obstacles, continue to succeed. In sum, from a proper education, you should learn to embrace versatility, failure, and the desire to innovate. You should also know how to create a 501(C)(3).
Why Do Opera With Homeless People?
“When you say you’re working with a choir made up of homeless and formerly homeless people, people have the impression of what that means and it’s not an Individual one, as the members of the chorus show, it’s one of ‘huddled masses.’ I want this project to correct that misconception.”
With New Contract, San Francisco Symphony Musicians Are America’s Best Paid
The four-year labor agreement, ratified a week before the old one expired, sets a base salary of $3,263 per week, a figure that will steadily rise to $3,570 per week for the final six months of the term.
After 18 Years, Hong Kong Sinfonietta Music Director To Step Down
“Yip Wing-sie, the first Hong Kong woman conductor to lead a professional orchestra, is to step down as music director of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in 2020. … Made up mostly of local musicians, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta is known for its creative and diverse programming, performing major works from the classical repertoire as well as commissioning new pieces.”
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra Adds New Artistic Partner, Richard Egarr
Egarr, a British harpsichordist and conductor, has been artistic director of the much-recorded period-instrument ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music since 2006. He begins his term as one of the SPCO’s rotating artistic partners next season.