“As much as we, in the solitary spaces of our practice rooms, can throw ourselves into a piece, we must remember that if the performance hall is as empty as that practice space then we have clearly not achieved connection with our audience. That is our responsibility.”
Category: music
A Gajillion Gallons Of Water, A Piano, And A Concert
“The Armory’s latest installation-meets-performance piece Tears Become…Streams Become…required its staff to slowly, over the course of a 10-minute piano piece, fill the 55,000 square feet of the Wade Thompson Drill Hall with a standing pool of water that would mirror the hall’s gilded ceilings.”
New York Times Lays Off Critic Allan Kozinn
The paper’s longtime classical critic (on staff for 23 years, a freelancer for 14 years before that), who was reassigned to the general cultural news beat in 2012, departs on Friday.
The Highs And Lows Of Classical Music In 2014 – A Roundtable
“Joining host Naomi Lewin for this discussion … are Anne Midgette, the classical music critic of The Washington Post; David Patrick Stearns, classical music critic of The Philadelphia Inquirer and for WQXR’s Operavore blog; and Zachary Woolfe, freelance classical music critic for The New York Times.” (audio)
Two California Opera Companies Merge
“We were looking at a sustainable model to pay for, support and increase quality for markets of our size.”
Small Music Venues Are Dying In The UK (Can They Be Saved?)
“It is urgent that we find solutions to finance independent music venues which respect the spirit of live music and musicians. Artists are their customers, too, and we know that branding and club nights are not enough to keep some of our venues afloat.”
San Francisco Symphony Transforms A Dead Acoustical Space Into A Sound Marvel
“Using real-time reverberation and spatialization algorithms, this sound engineering solution tricks our brains into perceiving vastly different acoustic spaces. Add comfortable, if scarce, seating, evocative video projections, blue-and-green mood lighting, and of course alcoholic libations, and you might have created just the kind of alternative venue that would make Jonny Greenwood proud.”
Can They Reinvent The Chamber Orchestra In St. Paul?
With now-stable finances, new leadership, a revamped musicians’ contract, 90% capacity audiences, and plenty of ambition, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra means to try.
Explaining How An Opera Company Works To A Business Journalist
L.A. Opera CEO Christopher Koelsch talks about keeping the company healthy fiscally and artistically, how they weathered the financial crash and recession, and why lower total box office revenue isn’t always a worrisome thing.
Oldest Surviving Example Of Polyphonic Music Discovered By Chance In British Library
“The scrap of music, which would have lasted no more than a few seconds, was written on the bottom of a page of a portrait of a saint and has been dated to around AD900. Although there are very early treatises on such music, the discovery is the earliest practical example intended for use by singers.”