Sudip Bose: “For the sake of a nice, neat number, I am identifying 25 great works — hardly a comprehensive tally, and somewhat arbitrary. Looking over the finalists, I began second-guessing at once: Why no Virgil Thomson or David Diamond? Why Bernstein’s First and not his Second? Why not Ives’s Third? I have not, moreover, included symphonic works that do not bear the title Symphony; therefore, I have left out Samuel Barber’s Essays and Joan Tower’s Concerto for Orchestra. What do you think I ought to have included?”
Category: music
Reconstructing The Lost Musical Instruments Of Indigenous Communities
When Caleb Byerly was a young Christian missionary in the jungles of the Philippines, the indigenous tribe among which he lived told him about their old, traditional music – which had faded away after a previous generation of missionaries had told them it was profane. “‘I felt that if it was my people who helped destroy this music, my people would be the ones to help redeem it,’ Byerly says. … Based on his restoration work, Byerly and his wife started Evergreen Missions, a non-profit that helps indigenous peoples re-create their lost ancestral music.”
Battle For A Vision Of The Future Of Orchestras
“Our thesis for a lot of this work is that there is no future without the past,” Andrew Balio tells me. “I don’t think that’s a controversial statement.” He’s correct, and there’s no doubt that the Future Symphony Institute was born out of a real love for, and desire to share, the rich tradition of classical music. What the genre—and the wider arts world—found itself facing in the 20th century, however, was a challenging of the notion of a singular beauty, and a distrust of its pursuit.
Peter Oundjian Talks About His Toronto Symphony Years: The TSO Is Underrated
With some of Karajan’s advice in mind (“guide the orchestra, don’t impose yourself”) Oundjian steadily rebuilt the band while adding big late- and post-romantic scores to his personal repertoire. More than half of TSO players, and two-thirds of principals, are Oundjian picks. While few would question Oundjian’s authority in choosing strings, he seems also to have an ear for wind, brass and percussion, and how they work together.
Britten’s ‘Rape Of Lucretia’, Staged With A Man Playing Lucretia And A Woman Playing The Rapist
“Directed by Kip Williams, this particular production … comes from Sydney Chamber Opera and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, and the performers and artistic directors are all aged in their 20s and 30s. They found one way around the gender problems of the text by reversing the roles of men and women in many scenes, including the rape scene.”
The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Israel Tour Is Over – What Have We Learned?
Peter Dobrin: “The Philadelphia Orchestra wanted relevance. It got relevance. … And though the controversy over the orchestra’s trip to Israel may have created some uncomfortable friction, it also moved some conversations forward.”
Concert Artists Of Baltimore Shuts Down
Concert Artists of Baltimore, a professional orchestra and chorus led by founding artistic director Edward Polochick, is folding after 31 years of performing a richly varied repertoire with distinction throughout the area. Barry F. Williams, president of Concert Artists, said Wednesday that financial struggles led to the move by the board of directors to shut down.
Seattle Symphony Names A New CEO
Krishna Thiagarajan is currently Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chief Executive. Thiagarajan has previously held executive positions in the U.S. with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Symphony in C. He will begin his new post on September 1, 2018.
A Los Angeles Pop Group Finds Out It’s Getting Paid One-Tenth Of An Equivalent – But Male – Group
The pay gap in music wages is all too real. One member of the group Haim: “It’s scary out there and [messed] up not even to be paid half the same amount. But to be paid a tenth of that amount of money? It was insane.”
Surprising Everyone (Again), Beyoncé And Jay-Z Suddenly Drop A Finished Album
It’s at once a surprise and an utterly familiar ritual for fans of the couple, who are on tour together. “The sudden release immediately sent fans and the industry into a tizzy” – and sent non-TIDAL streaming services into a funk. “Spotify declined to comment and Apple Music did not immediately respond to requests for comment about its plans for the album.”