“London has five permanent symphony orchestras, all full of female players. Yet of the 20 conducting posts at these orchestras, just one is held by a woman – and the temporary post held by the London Symphony’s assistant conductor Elim Chan ends this season. It wouldn’t be acceptable in other professions. It isn’t acceptable here either.”
Category: music
No. 1 On The Music Charts? What Charts? Measuring Has Become A Mess!
“In recent years the task of tabulating a record’s success and popularity has grown more complicated. What used to be an album sale is now an “equivalent album sale.” Each component — that is a song — of a release — otherwise known as a project — is measured and weighted using industry-approved equations. Simple math? Far from it.”
Truth, Martyrdom, And Shostakovich (Richard Taruskin Takes On Julian Barnes’s Novel)
“This book, I think, is a beautifully written botch, and it has me wondering anew about truth. People have been doing that, of course, for a long time – at least since Pilate confronted Christ. And the wrangling over what the truth might be about Shostakovich and his experiences under Stalin has been going on, it sometimes seems, almost as long.”
Why Stephen Sondheim Won’t Be Writing Us Any Sonatas Or Symphonies
“I did that in college,” he tells Anthony Tommasini. “Theater is as big an interest in my life – interest meaning something I love – as movies or as music. They’ve always been equal. And therefore it occurred to me: Why not combine music and theater? That’s called musical theater! … [Besides,] I was brought up by Oscar.”
Competition Director: Music Competitions Are Evil
“The idea of a string quartet competing against another string quartet is perverse, and we go into this knowing it’s a strange paradigm. Like carbon credits in the energy sector, we offset what is inherently problematic with a range of programming and events that make it worthwhile.”
Why The Age Of The Jingle Is Over
“Despite its effectiveness, the jingle has become a relic of the mid-20th-century commercials it once dominated.” (Even Oscar Meyer has retired its two classics.) “Meanwhile, marketers are focusing their efforts on licensing existing music from recording artists. … What killed the jingle? It owes its demise not only to shifts in the advertising business but also changes in the music business, and how the two industries became more entwined than ever.”
‘At A Critical Crossroad’, Pittsburgh Symphony Posts $1.5 Million Deficit
The phrase came from PSO president Malia Tourangeau, “[who] expressed confidence the symphony could get back to black ink, [although] she said it faces two challenges this season that will cost it $1.2 million
Tchaikovsky, Meet Hubble: It’s Not Your Father’s Outdoor Classical Concert Anymore
“Summer symphony audiences are supposed to be easy. Just give them pleasant weather, a nice picnic, craft beer, the 1812 Overture with a few cannons … If only.” David Patrick Stearns looks at some ways – high-tech and low-tech – that classical groups are engaging summertime audiences.
Juan Gabriel, Superstar Mexican Singer And Songwriter (On Both Sides Of The Border)
“Sent to live at an orphanage at age four, Gabriel’s rags-to-riches story was as well-known as his glittery outfits and his unrelentingly romantic lyrics.”
Rap And Rock Don’t Make Chicago’s ‘Fine Art’ Cut
“The wide-sweeping aesthetic declaration comes as part of Cook County’s ongoing arguments about its tax code, and specifically the amusement tax levied against concerts, sporting events, ‘flower, poultry or animal shows,’ and any number of other ways the people of the Windy City get their kicks.”