Category: music

In the suit, the musicians say that by cutting categories, the academy breached contractual obligations to its members, and that the loss of the Latin jazz category “could have a severe detrimental impact on the plaintiffs’ musical careers.”

“The first shoe dropped quietly. When New York City Opera announced its new season last month, the name of George Manahan, the company’s music director, was conspicuously absent. The second shoe, now hanging somewhere in midair, will be the elimination of Mr. Manahan’s position.”

“When the Sacramento Opera pulled the plug on the remainder of its 2010-2011 season last December, it was with the awareness that its operating model was unsustainable. This fall the company is making a modest comeback, staking its future on coproduced operas and a possible merger with the Sacramento Philharmonic.”

“The product has to evolve. It’s a bit like the folks at GM when they had a Buick whose average customer age was 65 – it’s not a path to success. You have to find a way to be different, find different entrées to potential markets, and then pull them back to the orchestra.”

“The American Federation of Musicians’ pension fund has suggested it could sue members of the orchestra board and outside funders” for $20-30 million if the Orchestra pulls out of the union’s pension plan. And Peter Nero, founder and conductor of the Philly Pops, has threatened to force the Annenberg Foundation’s involvement in his suit over the dissolution of the PhilOrch-Pops merger.

SGAE, the Spanish equivalent of ASCAP in the US, “was plunged into chaos when police raided the headquarters and arrested nine of its leaders on embezzlement charges.”

The classical music editor of The New York Times writes of listening to a concert while sitting near a concertgoer with a clacking medical device, and – as a cardiac patient himself – considers the balance between making performances accessible to everyone and not allowing noise to disturb other audience members.

“With the 2012 Olympics just around the corner, the racing driver Lewis Hamilton has put his finger on a problem the giant athletic boondoggle’s organisers have so far overlooked: our national anthem is too short.”

Hayley Westenra “was signed to Universal at 12 and four years later launched the fastest-selling classical debut album of all time. But behind the angelic facade, her life was far from perfect.”

“In a surprise move, the board of the San Francisco Girls Chorus has decided not to renew the contract of Artistic Director Susan McMane, bringing an end to her decadelong tenure at the helm of the prestigious vocal organization.”