Category: music

“I think of composers as global now. It’s not so important where the composers are living. What’s important is that their voices be authentic and cross-generational. We’re intending to construct something of a level of quality that people will be interested in, all over the world.”

“The move’s shock value is high both because of the ensemble’s prestige and history, and because Philadelphia’s is the first major U.S. orchestra to declare bankruptcy – at least in recent memory, and, say industry veterans, perhaps ever.”

“When it first opened in 2003, Brooklynphono was making about 2,000 records a month. Now, Brooklynphono has five pressing machines, making more than 10,000 records a month. It caters mostly to indie-rock record labels based in Brooklyn, but also to several European dance record labels.”

“The company had been evaluating whether to visit the disaster-ravaged country, particularly since some singers and musicians had reportedly expressed concerns about the safety risks.”

“No matter what path of experimentation a new composer might attempt to clear, it has been previously explored at great length–generally by composers several generations removed.”

Videos about the background of the opera.

“Since the early 1980s, projects to build one have come and gone, victims of changing political power, of lack of financing, of lack of will. … But a hall is finally rising, and while work was behind schedule … orchestra and Quebec government officials promise it will be ready for inaugural concerts in September.”

The piece, about a demon that transforms itself from a snake into a woman in order to experience love, was Chinese-American composer Zhou’s first opera and the first commission made by Opera Boston.

“Numbers of independent stores reached a low of 269 in 2009, but last year that had grown to 281, the first increase in a generation, according to the Entertainment Retailers Association.”

“Our operating funds are rapidly dwindling and will be exhausted by June 2011. While the Orchestra does not have any debt, we are operating at a significant loss with a structural deficit of $14.5 million.”