Category: music

National Sawdust, which opens this week in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, aims to be a trendsetting launchpad for new talent in contemporary music, its organizers said, with a focus on emerging artists, commissions and collaborative projects that cross-pollinate genres and styles.

The rapid demise of Gotham was stunning — the operatic equivalent of the sudden death of an outwardly healthy person. The troupe had seemed to offer a new model for opera in the 21st century: It gave critically acclaimed performances of small-scale works, often sharing the costs with other presenters, in locales as varied as the Hayden Planetarium, a louche downtown nightclub and the Arms and Armor Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“Since the advent of recorded music, labels have exploited artists. And though they’ve certainly taken their licks, the big three (Universal, Sony, and Warner Bros.) have also begun to learn from some of their mistakes, and may have positioned themselves to regain their stranglehold on the industry.”

“Our symphony audiences have never been larger, and our financial position has never been stronger. The Kansas City community has embraced Michael, and he has returned the affection with energetic and entertaining performances of the highest quality.”

“These composers are using the same tricks classical music composers have used for centuries — combinations of pitch, tempo, rhythm, dynamics, and melody — that resonate in the human subconscious to evoke emotion. Today, football fans will sit rapt in concert halls, listening to the Green Bay Civic Symphony or the Philadelphia Orchestra play the soundtrack of their favorite sport.

“Somewhere in the chasm ahead lies a massive fund-raising campaign (just $375 million to go to pay for the actual renovation!), a redesigned hall, a new music director, financial stability, and an artistic vision, all of which will need to materialize at roughly the same time.”

“The terms were strictly financial. Musicians making less than $80,000 a year will receive a $4,000 raise in the first year and $2,000 in the second. Musicians above the $80,000 threshold will only get the bump in year two. The guaranteed minimum salary will rise to $66,000 in 2018, an increase of 10 percent over two years. The roster will stay at 28 players.”

“When executives at big record companies leave their jobs, there is usually a quick announcement and a scramble behind the scenes to install a new regime. Not so with the long sunset for Robert Hurwitz of Nonesuch Records, the prestigious Warner Music imprint that is home to acts as varied as Steve Reich, Laurie Anderson and the Black Keys.”

“Following one of the longest and hardest-fought series of collective bargaining sessions in recent Chicago Symphony Orchestra history, the musicians finally have a new labor contract.” The agreement includes small raises each year and no change in health care benefits.