Category: music

“Nigerian music — Afrobeats in particular — is having a moment. It blares in hotel lobbies, airport lounges, nightclubs and the dozens of bedroom recording studios where young men and women dream of stardom in this clogged, overheated city. While many countries have courts or jurists focused on intellectual property cases, artists in Nigeria have only in recent years begun to pursue copyright protection. They complain that laws to protect them are so seldom invoked that some judges don’t even know they exist.”

“After a season-long search, Ken Lam has been announced as the new music director for the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, replacing Alastair Willis, who left the position vacant when he ended his contract early back in 2015. … Lam will continue with his current position as music director with the Charleston [South Carolina] Symphony Orchestra and will be commuting between the two cities.”

“The new conductor comes to the WVSO from Pennsylvania (he and his family live in New York), where he serves as the music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic. He’s also the music director of Symphoria, founded by former members of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, and is the artistic director and principal conductor for the Syracuse Opera.”

They’ve come from all over the globe — China, Pakistan, Mexico, Greece — to make music in a new world. Twelve musicians, many of them playing ancient instruments from their home countries, show off their talents Friday night as the New Canadian Global Music Orchestra in a concert at Koerner Hall.

Today’s “indie opera” outfits are making do with less money than what even our country’s regional-level companies enjoy, so it’s no surprise that chamber-size realizations are often necessary. But what’s so pleasing about Heartbeat Opera’s “Butterfly” is how well its artistic intentions dovetail with its limited means.

“Over his 14-year directorship, Oundjian grew to be the energetic face of a revitalized TSO, steering the Orchestra out of deep financial ruin in the process – according to the TSO’s annual reports available from the 2006/07 season onwards, the organization ran yearly operational surpluses except for the 2009/10, 2011/12, and 2012/13 seasons. While the move isn’t surprising at all, the other news is that Sir Andrew Davis will return to fill in as Interim Artistic Director through 2020 until a permanent successor is found.”

“In the 1970s and ’80s, when current classics like Dolmen Music were new, they weren’t written down, at least not in a form even close to complete. Ms. Monk and her group were too busy singing them – living them, you could say – to sit and score them. It’s only in the past 15 years or so that Ms. Monk has turned some of her attention to preserving the pieces that she wants to survive her.”

“Coming in for a landing at Genghis Khan Airport this week, a group of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians will be literally dropped into a parallel world where familiarity feels eerie and the exotic is oddly reassuring.” David Patrick Stearns sets the scene for us in Ulaanbaatar, where a reduced group of the Fabulous Philadelphians is giving performances and workshops this week.

“[He] will take up the post with the 2019/20 season, for an initial five-year contract. … He succeeds Lionel Bringuier, whose tenure began in in 2014. Former chief conductors also include Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach and David Zinman.”