Category: music

“Thursday night, [Arild] Remmereit spoke out at a meeting for the first time since [his] firing. The meeting was organized by RPO supporters who are not happy with the decision of the board to cancel Remmereit’s contract. Music fans, former board members and even musicians came to the meeting to express their support and also to discuss their plan of action.”

“Though Philadelphia is a significant destination for classical performers, there’s no getting around its proximity to New York City – or how much the two cities feed off each other culturally. Not only do artists give their programs an outing in Philadelphia’s neighborhood before braving Carnegie Hall audiences, they’re also happy to perform here because it doesn’t require a plane trip to get to New York.”

“The major-label landscape hasn’t been hospitable to jazz in recent years, but there’s a bit of good news on the horizon: OKeh Records, the label that released historic early recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Duke Ellington, is being revived under the corporate umbrella of Sony Masterworks.”

“Across one and one-half years, children in the music group showed a greater increase on every measure of verbal memory than the natural science and control groups.”

“After dropping out of this week’s subscription concerts due to illness, Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti has withdrawn from next week’s program as well” and has flown home to Italy to recuperate. The CSO says he still plans to lead the orchestra’s upcoming Asian tour.

“The musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra have agreed to play a Feb. 1 concert at the Minneapolis Convention Center to celebrate the ensemble’s Grammy nomination. Music Director Osmo Vänskä has signaled that he will conduct” – leading the ensemble for the first time since management locked the players out at the beginning of this season.

Marc Hervieux, billed by L’Opéra de Montréal as “the prince of Québec tenors”, is refusing to sing during rehearsals because he’s angry that the company’s posters for Die Fledermaus feature models instead of singers.

“A competition has been launched to develop a musical instrument that can be played, at orchestral level, with one hand.”

“Following up on Saturday’s sold-out, well-received performance of The Second City Guide to the Opera, the Lyric [Opera of Chicago] announced Tuesday that the show will be reprised with new material for an extended run in June, after the opera company’s season has ended.”

“In a development reminiscent of previous health problems … the Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director has come down with a case of the flu that has forced him to withdraw from this week’s CSO subscription concerts.” Muti and the CSO are scheduled to begin an Asian tour at the end of this month.