Category: music

“What is it with people and singing along? No really, what is it? Here, I offer four possible explanations for a phenomenon that, for anyone who celebrates live performance, doesn’t make much sense.”

“The orchestra, which had already been downsized from 88 to about 79 members under previous cost-cutting efforts, will be shrunk again by another 11 percent for next season to number in the mid- to upper-60s. The MSO also eliminated seven administration employees, and now has a staff of 30.”

“Their very cheapness and interest in getting stuff out as quickly as possible ended up unwittingly providing this platform with this incredible breadth to it — just in the diversity of sounds that were captured.”

“Proprioception (e.g. muscle memory) provides the player with a cognitive shortcut that frees the conscious mind from primarily focusing on the mechanical details of music performance and allows it to address issues of aesthetics.”

“The nomination, in the Best Orchestral Performance category, is its second in two years.”

“Prior to working for the NEA, Brown was producer of music programs for the Cultural Olympiad in Atlanta and managed music events associated with the 1996 Olympics. He also is the former executive director of the Louisville Orchestra.”

Vasily Sinaisky said that he and former Bolshoi general director Anatoly Iksanov, who was replaced in July, “did our job hand in hand, and I was absolutely happy. Now, the new general manager – Mr. Urin – is a completely different person.”

In a brief essay, Asher Fisch, a native-born Israeli and a protégé of Daniel Barenboim, explains how he believes his mentor went wrong in his 2001 attempt to break the Jewish state’s longstanding Wagner taboo – and how he hopes to succeed. Says Fisch, “It’s up to me, and it’s waiting to happen.”

“Something else that’s really interesting about how our emotions are affected by music is that there are two kind of emotions related to music: perceived emotions and felt emotions.”

“Several independent sources have called on the city to find the association in breach and to retake control of the hall, which Minneapolis owns by virtue of sponsoring a $14 million state bonding request for a recently completed renovation.”