“The composer Kate Soper won the Virgil Thomson Award in Vocal Music, while the composer Lewis Spratlan and librettist James Maraniss won the Charles Ives Opera Prize for their work Life Is a Dream, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awards the prizes, announced on Tuesday.”
Category: music
Lebrecht: Has London’s Classical Music Scene Gone Flat?
“This is a piece I hoped never to write and each word is wrung from me with regret. But recent chats with regular concertgoers have confirmed the growling in my gut that some life force has vanished from London’s music in the past couple of years. The causes are diverse.”
The Worst Composer Hair Of All Time
Behold and shudder.
Social Outcast? What Happens When You’re In To Classical Music
“The trouble with being interested in classical music is that people look at you funny. You might be sitting with friends talking about pop music, or what you’ve read or seen on television, and everyone’s on the same page. And then you say “Yeah, it reminds me of that Shostakovich quartet, that chord at the end” and there’s a chill in the room, and the mood is killed.”
Judge: Led Zeppelin Must Stand Trial To Determine If They Stole Chords For “Stairway To Heaven”
“In a decision on Friday, US district judge Gary Klausner in Los Angeles said the song and the 1967 instrumental Taurus by the band Spirit were similar enough to let a jury decide whether Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were liable for copyright infringement.”
Recreating Ancient Instruments – *Really* Ancient, Like The Carnyx
The European Music Archaeology Project (EMAP) “covers the Paleolithic Era to around A.D. 1000 and the Dark Ages. Calling on the skills of archaeologists, philologists, acousticians, metal workers and others, it has brought back to life instruments ranging from ancient bagpipes to 30,000-year-old vulture-bone flutes.” (includes sound clips)
Orchestral Musician (Disgruntled) On ‘What I’m Really Thinking’
“We’re not all friends. The person on my right had an affair with the person on my left, and the ex sits close by. … Most people around me have had affairs, abuse alcohol or smoke. The working conditions are grueling enough that people develop coping mechanisms. It is a hugely toxic environment.”
Bang On A Can Marathon, New York’s Favorite New Music Event, Is Now Homeless
“They need to find somewhere else to bang on their cans. [The popular 12-hour annual festival] will not be held this year in New York City because it has lost its space and presenting partner of the past decade, the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place in Lower Manhattan” (formerly the World Financial Center).
The Children’s Author Who Rebelled By Stealing His Parents’ Classical Records
“I thought if I seduced more people into the world of classical music I wouldn’t be as lonely and wretched.”
Can The San Antonio Symphony Save Itself?
“David Gross is the President of the San Antonio Symphony, and he says the problem isn’t a new one. The deficit has been growing since 2008. Fundraising, ticket sales and grants just haven’t paid the bills and Gross says he asked everyone involved to help find a solution.”