Category: music

When the 125-year-old concert venue closed in 2018 for construction, the plan was only to renovate the lobby, auditorium and stage. Now real estate developer Allied Properties has made a major investment: Massey will become the anchor for an adjacent seven-story building called the Allied Music Centre that will include additional performance stages and workspace for artists. – Ludwig Van

The tempos were ragged. There was no dynamic nuance at all. Some of the best movements of the oratorio were simply omitted. The singing, to be blunt, was perfectly horrendous. But I had a wonderful time. Of course, I was the only performer in sight. – San Francisco Chronicle

“The much-loved French contralto and conductor … expects to conduct about three weeks each year in the main subscription series, plus additional concerts at the orchestra’s summer homes in Vail, Colo., Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and on tour.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Frank Sinatra has a TikTok account …, as do Whitney Houston, John Lennon, and Prince. Some of the profiles were clearly set up by the late-singers’ estates. Others seem to be the work of record labels, in a bid to introduce their catalogues to a younger generation. And while the phenomenon is a little weird, it’ll also probably work.” – Mic

An agreement between management and the musicians’ union provides that the payments will begin on Jan. 3 and run through the end of the cancelled due to COVID) season on July 31. In exchange, the musicians agree to take part in community performances and other outreach activities. – Nashville Scene

Under the new contract, the musicians will see 25 percent cuts to their base pay through August 2023. Pay will then gradually increase until the contract ends in September 2024, though at that point the players will still be paid less than they were before the coronavirus pandemic struck. The cuts will amount to more than $20 million in musicians’ wages over the course of the contract. – The New York Times

After talks with the powerful union that represents the Met’s roughly 300 stagehands, Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, failed to yield an agreement this weekend, the Met announced that it planned to lock out the union’s workers. – The New York Times

“The future will be very different, and I am convinced that it will no longer be possible for a theater to be passive, waiting for the public, even with a great program. So in the future I see two aspects that are not contradictory but actually complementary.” – The New York Times

“In my childhood, it was quite difficult to go practice in some churches in Europe because we always have to [get] dressed up to go to the church, ask for the key from the priest or the minister, or we have to argue with some old Catholic nuns who were responsible for the church. They always said, ‘Oh you play the organ so loud, we can’t live here’. So now I’m alone and I can play as loud as I like…. Sometimes I play in pyjamas, of course.” – CBC

The price was not disclosed, but is estimated at more than $300 million. – The New York Times