“The League of American Orchestras, representing a mostly white industry, opens a three-day national conference Thursday in a majority African-American city at a time of increased racial tensions and heightened awareness of economic and educational disadvantages. The principal topic of the 2016 gathering in Baltimore: diversity.”
Category: music
What Do You Get When You Cross Harry Partch’s Instruments With A Sax Quartet?
David Patrick Stearns gets with the PRISM Quartet to find out.
“The nine instruments coming to Philadelphia – with names such as chromelodeon and cloud-chamber bowls – collectively weigh 2,473 pounds, with transportation costs of approximately $10,000, equal to a healthy performance fee for a star soloist.”
An Orchestra Bassist Explains What Most Conductors Don’t Understand About The Bass
“From my own experiments I am convinced that small double basses sound louder and carry further than large ones, without any lessening of the depth and warmth of sonic production. Because conductors face the stage, they often misjudge the sonic projection of the double bass as heard by the audience, and therefore favour large instruments.”
Orchestra Proposes Selling Its Rare Viola To Balance Its Books
“According to sources at the TSO, one of Canada’s oldest and largest musical institutions expects to post a $4-million-to-$6-million deficit for the current financial year, which ends on June 30, due to higher-than-expected spending on programs and administration.”
‘An Untenable Situation’: Cleveland Opera Theater’s Founding Director Steps Down
“Citing the creation of an environment at the company in which it would be ‘impossible for me to continue,’ the soprano [Andrea Anelli] this week announced that she had stepped down from the troupe she launched in 2006 as Opera Per Tutti.”
Orchestra Musicians Vote Three-To-One Against Renewing Chief Conductor’s Contract
As part of a larger survey distributed by management, the musicians of the Orquestra de València were asked, “Are you in favor, once his current contract expires, that a vote of confidence should be renewed and [Yaron Traub] should continue as conductor of the OV?” Well …
(in Spanish; Google Translate version here)
The What-Classical-Music-Needs-To-Change List To End All What-Classical-Music-Needs-To-Change Lists
It seems the classical web has acquired its own version of The Onion and Clickhole.
At The ENO: On The Job Training? “I’ve Never Run An Opera Company Before!”
“Appointing Daniel Kramer as artistic director of English National Opera feels like the last gasp for a company drowning in a sea of troubles.”
So What’s Yannick Going To Do At The Metropolitan Opera??
“So it finally happened: After years of speculation, the Metropolitan Opera appointed Yannick Nézet-Séguin to replace James Levine as music director. Naturally, the opera world wants to know what that will look like. And they want to know now.” David Patrick Stearns, who dislikes trying to predict the future but knows YNS’s work well, makes some educated guesses.
The Real Concerns Of Women Conductors
Dallas Opera CEO Keith Cerny shares some excerpts from the personal statements of the current round of applicants to his company’s Hart Institute for Women Conductors.”