Researchers followed 147 Dutch schoolchildren—half of whom took supplemental music-education classes, along with their regular curriculum—for two-plus years, beginning at age six. “Children who received music lessons showed improved language-based reasoning, and the ability to plan, organize and complete tasks, as well as improved academic achievement. This suggests that the cognitive skills developed during music lessons can influence children’s cognitive abilities in completely unrelated subjects, leading to overall improved academic performance.”
Category: music
CDs And Vinyl Are Once Again Outselling Digital Downloads
“The RIAA released its 2017 year-end revenue report on Thursday, showing that revenue from digital downloads plummeted 25 percent to $1.3 billion over the previous year. Revenue from physical products, by contrast, fell 4 percent to $1.5 billion. Overall, the music industry grew for the second straight year. And with $8.7 billion in total revenue, it’s the healthiest it has been since 2008.”
Seattle Symphony Musicians Extend Contract, Get 12% Pay Raise
“The musicians’ annual base pay, currently at a minimum of $98,100, will increase each year of the [four-year] contract by 3.9 percent, 2.5 percent, 2.4 percent, and 2.6 percent, respectively, reaching a final base salary of $109,745 in 2022.”
There’s ‘Simmering Unrest’ Backstage At English National Opera, Warns Union
“Entertainment union BECTU has warned of a ‘simmering unrest’ within English National Opera that can only be addressed by ‘real improvements to working conditions’. The warning comes as BECTU members voted by a narrow margin – 51% in favour to 49% against – to accept a pay offer for 2018 to 2019.”
Philadelphia Orchestra Picks A New Top Exec
Matías Tarnopolsky, 48, executive and artistic director of Cal Performances at the University of California, Berkeley since 2009, is set to become the Philadelphia Orchestra’s new president and CEO.
An Orchestra Made Entirely Of DJs With Turntables
OK: “The piece is performed on Technics turntables, recreating the first ever pressed LP, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor by Nathan Milstein. Utilising groove screeching turntablist techniques, the group create a truly unique piece of music.”
John Luther Adams Explains How He ‘Hears The Desert In Music’
The composer: “You are in a strange landscape. You don’t know how to read the weather or the light. You are unsure how long you will be here, or how challenging the journey may be. ‘This is beautiful,’ you think. ‘But will anything ever happen?'”
The San Antonio Symphony Seems Likely To Meet Its Fundraising Goals
At least for this season – which ends August 31 – things are looking good. “Donations have come primarily from individuals, including some six-figure contributions from people who have requested anonymity, said Mark Tolley, treasurer for the symphony society. There have been no large corporate donations to this point.”
Apple Plus Beats Was Supposed To Be Magic, But What’s Happening Now?
Customers feared it, but “Beats executives likely knew this would be the case when they accepted the acquisition: that Beats would become a shadow of its former self, with its resources, talent, and ideas redistributed throughout Apple’s vast corporate village.”
This Is How You Make A Terrifying Children’s Book Into A Major Opera
You take some a woman with button eyes, a portal into another world, and a plucky heroin, and add music, of course. “Around a table, two “magic consultants” were huddled around a miniature toy theater, debating what sort of fake mice would freak audiences out the most. Eerie, discordant chords drifted from another room: A trio was practicing. ‘You’re doomed,’ they seemed to be singing.”