The Seattle Symphony is in the market for a new concertmaster, following music director Gerard Schwarz’s decision to fire Finnish violinist Ilkka Talvi, who had held the post for two decades, and a mind-boggling sixteen candidates have been invited to sit in the orchestra’s first chair before a decision is made. But there’s a lot more to winning the one of the more coveted positions in the orchestral business than just being a top-notch violinist…
Tag: 03.20.05
Endangered Species: Famous Music Studios
Legendary music studios are disappearing at an accelerating rate. “A recent roll call includes Cello and Royaltone Studios, both in Los Angeles, and New York’s famed Hit Factory, and that’s just in the past two months. Illegal downloading, which means less revenue for record companies and less money for recording budgets, is partly to blame. A much bigger factor, though, has been the rise of cheap digital recording equipment: A high-quality home studio system can be had for well under $50,000 — about what it would cost to spend three weeks in a high-end studio like the Hit Factory.”
Davies Reports Dead Swan, Gets Visit From Police
Composer Sir Peter Maxwell Davies got in trouble with police recently when he reported a dead whooper swan near his property and prepared to eat it. The birds are protected, and even though Davies didn’t kill the swan himself, police still paid a visit. “Naturally, I’ve informed Buckingham Palace. Now I’m just hoping I’ll still be a free man – and not locked up in the Tower of London – at the time of my first big concert as Master of the Queen’s Music.”
Has British Poetry Become Irrelevant?
Has British poetry become “almost irrelevant, because the establishment has closed ranks against fresh ideas and forms?” So says the director of an experiment called Text Festival. “[It] has run out of steam. There’s nowhere for it to go other than becoming a mild entertainment or an anachronism.”