“Combined digital and physical sales, chiefly CDs, dropped by 7% overall to 119.9m units. Digital album sales were up by 30.6% on last year – from a little over 16m to 21m – but the CD market continued to slump, falling 12.4% to 98.5m. The singles market has transformed in recent years, with digital tracks representing 98% of overall singles sales. CD singles now account for only 1.9m sales.”
Category: music
El Sistema USA May Leave New England Conservatory
“NEC says that it will honor its commitment to El Sistema USA’s central program … through the 2013-2014 academic year – but cannot support the program’s plan to expand at a cost of $125,000 to $400,000 a year. That leaves El Sistema USA’s leaders looking for a new home, potentially outside Boston.”
DC’s American Opera Theater to Close
“The American Opera Theater, one of the most intriguing of the many pocket opera companies in the Baltimore/Washington region, is shutting down at the end of this season.”
Kansas City Symphony and Michael Stern: Five More Years
“After six seasons preparing the Kansas City Symphony for a great leap forward in 2011, Michael Stern has signed on for another five years [as music director]. … The agreement comes on the verge of the Symphony’s move later this year to its new stage at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.”
Louisville Orchestra Pays Its Players Part of What It Owes Them
“The Louisville Orchestra paid its musicians a partial salary last Friday, after a federal bankruptcy court ruled that the orchestra must abide by its contract with the musicians union. Orchestra CEO Robert Birman wouldn’t specify what percentage of the musicians’ salary was paid.”
James Levine’s Four Decades Of Orchestra-Building
“Mr. Levine is an American generalist, but that hardly means he’s just generally competent. What’s remarkable is how convincing he is in most styles, how idiomatically right they sound under his baton.”
China’s Opera Boom
“After years spent building spectacular, state-of-the art opera houses in major metropolises and unheralded backwaters, China is experiencing a boom in Western-style grand opera production, opera education and original opera creation.”
A Circuit For Private House Concerts
“We’re trying to fill two needs at once: the needs for artists for places to work and provide access to live music for rural Canada, primarily. We’re in the cities, too, but we’re way, way more in the small towns.”
First Professional Palestinian Orchestra Since 1948
“All of the musicians are of Palestinian origin, and many have played with orchestras around the world. The group is an initiative of the Edward Said Conservatory of Music, named after the late Palestinian writer and academic, and was formed in 1994.”
The Year’s Best Jazz Recordings
As voted on by 120 jazz critics…