Category: music

“There seems to be a trawling exercise going on where LOCOG representatives are looking at band websites, listening to the music, thinking, ‘I quite like that’ and sending them an email to see if they will work for free. That seems to be what’s happening, which is a complete breach of the agreement that we have with LOCOG.”

A Canadian folk song about war turns a movie about Martha Gelhorn and Ernest Hemingway into something much deeper than it would be. Why and how?

“I would guess that for many people, music in a museum seems genteel. I fear, though, that a Bach suite in the Corcoran atrium – as opposed to in the museum’s performance space – is in effect an upscale version of background music, ambient music, a signal that we’re in the realm of the high arts.”

After raising $7 million in six months to meet a bank-imposed deadline, the Michigan Opera Theatre is pleased. “For the first time since the full wrath of the recession hit in 2008, MOT has a healthy balance sheet and a secure future.”

“The reasons for this are plentiful, but most of it stems from the fact that services like Spotify disconnect musicians from listeners. The more anonymous music is, the less likely people will be to feel attached it and to feel the need to support it.”

“On Thursday U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Eric L. Frank approved the orchestra’s reorganization plan, which drew no opposition at a hearing attended by most of the major interested parties. His action clears the way for full emergence from bankruptcy by the end of July.”

“Saying it does not believe the Philly Pops can last without Peter Nero and an orderly passing of the baton to a successor, the local American Federation of Musicians is calling in a federal mediator in the dispute over Nero’s contract.”

“The use of an arts grant to fund what was more like a business development project has meant that the collection of world-class recordings has been funded for both its operating costs (such as hiring musicians) and capital costs (such as acquiring studio recording equipment) by the government, yet finished up in private hands.”

Finding another Vivaldi concerto isn’t unusual (he was a regular concerto factory). But this discovery is important, according to experts.

“The orchestra announced plans Tuesday to perform at the new Royal Opera House Muscat in February 2013. It will be the first major American symphony to perform there.”