Just as the boy chorister who sings the opening solo never knows that he’ll be the one to do it until immediately before the service (and its worldwide broadcast) begins, so — with a new strain of coronavirus raging around England — the choir and its director didn’t know until a week before Christmas Eve whether they’d be able to to the worldwide broadcast live. Here’s how they prepared for either eventuality. – The New York Times
Category: music
Can Dudamel’s New Virtual Reality Film Make The Young’uns Think Orchestral Music Is Cool?
“The film” — titled Symphony in Madrid — “is split into two, 12-minute sections. The first, shown on a giant screen, follows three young musicians in Spain, the US and Colombia as they practise their instruments and move through landscapes and soundscapes that range from the Mediterranean coast to the streets of New York and a coffee farm on a tropical mountainside. For the second, visitors are invited into the other trailer, given a virtual reality headset and headphones, and urged to take leave of their senses.” – The Guardian
Building On “Messiah” To Broaden A Multicultural Message
An 80-minute film featuring a dozen soloists from all corners of the country, this unabashed celebration of Canadian multiculturalism has recast the work as a series of deeply personal video narratives. – The New York Times
Time To Drop “Concertmistress” From The Lexicon
“I remember being the “concertmistress” of my youth orchestra and the vague embarrassment over the name. It was an honor that put me in front of everyone, but I couldn’t quite figure out why the “mistress” thing felt weird. I mean isn’t “concertmistress” simply the female version of “concertmaster”? Honestly, it really doesn’t convey the same sense of authority.” – Violinist.com
Church Music Directors Aren’t Having The Easiest Time At Christmas During This Pandemic Year
Indeed: “If the normal year presents the challenge of deciding between ‘Joy to the World’ and the Hallelujah chorus, this season the question is how to celebrate the birth of Christ without creating a potential superspreader event.” – The New York Times
BMG Says It May Have Given Black Recording Artists Unfair Contracts
And BMG doesn’t mean “in historical times,” but since 2008. “Although it did not identify the labels in question, BMG said black musicians’ royalties were up to 3.4% lower than those of non-black artists.” The inquiry at BMG will continue. – BBC
Philadelphia Orchestra’s New Principal Guest Conductor Says It’s A Good Time For Women On The Podium
Nathalie Stultzmann: “It’s very clear that things have improved. … What is incredibly difficult still is for a woman to get a position. We see great orchestras always having women coming for a week to guest conduct. It’s very important to see in the next years more women in the crucial positions of music director and principal guest conductor at the head of important orchestras.” – Philadelphia Inquirer
Record Intact: Boston’s H&H Extends Its Streak To 167 Years Of Messiahs. Here’s How
The period-instrument orchestra first performed the resplendent “Hallelujah” chorus during its inaugural concert in 1815, presenting the American premiere three years later. In the centuries since, H+H has often performed the storied oratorio, including, for the past 166 years uninterrupted, annual holiday performances that have sustained Bostonians through the Great Depression, two World Wars, 32 presidencies, the Civil War, and the Spanish Flu pandemic. – Boston Globe
What It’s Like To Be A Trans-Gender Opera Singer
“I couldn’t acknowledge that I was transgender or even queer until 2010, when I was studying voice at St. Olaf College. I was confronted with difficult realizations about who I am that I couldn’t reconcile with my plan to become a classical singer. Suddenly I was caught between two options: to live an authentic life or to keep studying voice. Maybe I was offering myself excuses, but I wasn’t willing to stop singing, so I didn’t change course. It wasn’t until January 2020 that I came out publicly as a transgender woman.” – OperaCanada
A (Detailed) Account Of How Mozart Composed His First Symphony
There are surprisingly few strikeouts or corrections in the London Notebook; probably he worked out the pieces at the clavier and then copied them down, relying on a remarkable memory for music, whether his own or works by others. – LitHub