Category: music

“The organization has been living payroll to payroll, relying on the generosity of a handful of wealthy donors and repeatedly asking the musicians for pay cuts. The sacrifices of both the players and donors have kept a $7 million symphony playing even as its audience and donor base shrank.”

“In launching its Cloud Player, Amazon has cocked a snoot both at its rivals and at the music business. The more one looks at it, the more exquisite the competitive dilemmas of its opponents now seem.”

“For anyone who’s surprised that this simple ditty has connected in a big way — the 13-year-old’s relentlessly chipper YouTube video is about to cross the threshold of 66 million hits — don’t be.”

“The organization, which has sold more than 250,000 tickets to more than 100 concerts, is the victim of the economic downturn and venue-scheduling difficulties, said executive director Susan Carey, one of the festival’s two employees.”

“Violin dealer Dietmar Machold has been arrested in Switzerland. Swiss police acted on behalf of Austrian investigators, who want to extradite the German-born owner of Machold Rare Violins to Austria to face charges of fraud and misappropriation.”

“The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra will honor Syracuse Symphony Orchestra tickets for the remainder of the season,” after the Syracuse orchesta suspended operations, cancelled all concerts and refused refunds to ticketholders. The two cities are roughly a 90-minute drive apart.

So-called “cloud music”, where music libraries are stored in cyberspace rather than on computer hard drives, is the new Holy Grail of the digital music industry, as technology companies race to entice consumers in a world where the CD has been all but abandoned.

General director Peter Gelb “said any risk created by problems at nuclear reactors would be fully evaluated “before the advance team is scheduled to depart in the middle of May.”

“SSO management has asked the musicians for $1.3 million in salary and benefit concessions for the 2011-2012 season, said Jon Garland, chair of the Musicians Committee. Monday, musicians told management and the board they cannot agree to this proposal, he said.”

“The Juilliard School, long an all-Steinway institution, is breaking with tradition and buying a non-Steinway piano. Paolo Fazioli, the Italian piano maker, will be in New York later this week to complete the deal with Juilliard, after the performing-arts school agreed to purchase one of his pricey, handmade – and coveted – pianos. ”