Category: music

“Joel Beckerman spent about 18 months developing a song that boils down to a melody just four notes long. He’s one of a handful of composers who specialize in sonic logos, or the audio equivalents of the Nike ‘swoosh’ or John Deere’s leaping deer. More concise than a theme song and subtler than a jingle, sonic logos are brief melodies or sound effects designed to cement a brand in the consumer’s subconscious mind.”

“Vinyl record sales have reached a six-year high, according to the Official Charts Company.”

It’s worked for San Francisco Opera and Washington National Opera, so why not? The company will present, free of charge, a real-time transmission of its April production of Mozart’s Magic Flute at Cowboy Stadium, on “the world’s largest high-definition video board structure, comprised of four jaw-droppingly big viewing screens.”

“After four years, four state premiers and four different arts ministers, Sydney Opera House chief executive Richard Evans has called curtains and accepted a job on the other side of Sydney Harbour running Paul Cave’s BridgeClimb.”

During Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s announcement of the orchestra’s 2012-13 season, his first as music director, he revealed that he would be making recordings with the Philadelphians (among other orchestras) as part of his contract with Deutsche Grammophon.

“After playing without a contract since August, Oregon Symphony musicians agreed to a new three-year contract with management. … The contract also loosens previous restrictions on broadcasting Oregon Symphony concerts.”

At a Dayton Philharmonic concert earlier this month, during the long flute solo that opens Debussy’s Prelude to The Afternoon of a Faun, an infant began to wail – and kept going. Once he saw that the musicians were getting distracted, conductor Neal Gittleman “stopped the music, turned to the audience, and asked that the child be removed. Some audience members applauded.”

House Bill 1254 would make symphony performers between orchestra seasons ineligible for unemployment between orchestra seasons if they performed during the last season and plan to perform in the upcoming season.

“For a while, there has been an increasing feeling that festivals have shifted too far from their original hippie-spirited ethos. The point was to offer an alternative reality. Now, it’s a slick industry. The television rights have been sold, and with that have come price rises, mass audiences and corporate domination – the antithesis of everything they stood for.”

“Rock music’s death certificate is signed with startling frequency. A year ago, after three rock songs featured in the 100 bestselling singles of 2009, the DJ Paul Gambaccini announced: “Rock as a prevailing style is part of music history.” This month, after rock’s share of album sales fell to 29.4% – its lowest proportion since 2003 – the obituarists came out once more.”