Out Of Cash, Honolulu Symphony Cancels All 2009 Concerts "Citing mounting debts and lackluster revenues, the Honolulu Symphony said it will file for bankruptcy protection and may lay off half of its musicians. … [The orchestra] will cancel all of its November and December concerts and made no guarantees that the rest of its 2009-10 season would go on." Honolulu Advertiser 11/07/09

email this story | Posted 11/08/09@12:22AM

Time To Close The Rock Hall Of Fame? "The Hall of Fame is a notoriously top-down institution, with an elite group of insiders making up a nominating committee that pre-selects their own idiosyncratic idea of the worthy candidates. So all of us lowly peons are only allowed to vote for 5 out of 12 possible candidates, which judging from this year's nominees makes for slim pickings." Los Angeles Times 11/06/09

email this story | Posted 11/06/09@07:48AM

Pianists As Super Heroes (Okay, Virtuosos, Then) "Today's virtuosos and super-virtuosos are reluctant members of the club. Many of the younger generation are shunning the repertoire and the older ones are shunning the label. So why are pianists wary of being associated with this tradition?" The Times (UK) 11/05/09

email this story | Posted 11/06/09@07:25AM

Honolulu Symphony Fails To Make Payroll "The chairman of the Honolulu Symphony's board of directors [said] that as of last Friday, the symphony did not have enough money to make its payroll. … He refused to confirm whether the orchestra will file for bankruptcy or postpone part of its season. The symphony has already put off two concerts this weekend." KITV (Honolulu) 11/04/09

email this story | Posted 11/05/09@10:16PM

Rolando Villazón Says His Voice Is Back "In a new video that was posted on his official website last month and has since been making the rounds on YouTube, [the tenor] declares that his [vocal cord] surgery was a success and even provides a brief vocal demonstration for his fans." He says he will return to the opera stage next year. Los Angeles Times 11/05/09 (includes video)

email this story | Posted 11/05/09@10:11PM

Vancouver Opera Celebrates Its Golden Anniversary It's been an eventful 50 years for opera in the City of Rainshine: a legendary 1963 Norma with Sutherland and Horne; Sutherland's husband, Richard Bonynge, as boss during the '70s; a lively Britten-and-Janacek phase; and plenty of the argument, strife and money troubles that are endemic to the art form. Vancouver Sun 11/04/09

email this story | Posted 11/05/09@10:02PM

Real-Life Dead-Baby Mystery Becomes Serialized Radio Opera "Baby Kintyre, a radio opera by composer Dean Burry to be broadcast in serial over five Saturdays starting Nov. 7 on CBC Radio 2, … takes its inspiration from a real 1920s Toronto household where a baby was wrapped in newsprint and buried between the floorboards of an attic … only to be discovered more than 80 years later." The Globe and Mail (Canada) 11/05/09

email this story | Posted 11/05/09@09:55PM

White House Kids' Event Signals Shift For Classical Music "For administrations past, classical music was the logical, even the only, form of entertainment: socially acceptable, properly high-church." Yesterday's White House classical music event for kids suggested instead "that classical music no longer automatically holds a position of predominance among today's power elite." Washington Post 11/05/09

email this story | Posted 11/05/09@04:41AM

Salmonella Silences I Musici Di Montréal "The chamber orchestra … has cancelled a concert for the first time in the 25-year history of the organization after a majority of its 15 musicians contracted salmonella on a recent tour of China." The Gazette (Montreal) 11/04/09

email this story | Posted 11/04/09@10:37PM

Tommasini Gets His Wish: NY City Opera's 'Sound-Enhancement' System Is No More "Before hearing a note in the [company's] spiffily remodeled auditorium, which I toured on Monday, I can make one sure prediction: There will be a marked improvement in the integrity and naturalness of the sound. How can I know this in advance? Because the theater's dreaded amplification system … is gone." New York Times 11/05/09

email this story | Posted 11/04/09@10:11PM

The Complete Beatles, On A Flash Drive "Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music said that they were releasing a limited edition USB drive that contains the stereo versions of the Beatles' albums, as well as the bonus materials that were included in their re-release." New York Times 11/04/09

email this story | Posted 11/04/09@09:54PM

LA Radio Passes On NEA Opera Honors "There will be a recurring California motif at the National Endowment for the Arts' second annual NEA Opera Honors ceremony on Nov. 14 -- but there are no plans for the national radio broadcast of the musical proceedings and award presentations to grace Southern California's airwaves." Los Angeles Times 11/04/09

email this story | Posted 11/04/09@05:30AM

Honolulu Symphony Faces Bankruptcy (Again) "The symphony, the oldest American orchestra west of the Rocky Mountains, has struggled in recent years to pay its musicians. Two months ago it received a $1.8 million cash infusion to cover operating expenses for the upcoming season." The HSO may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as early as Wednesday (Nov. 4). Honolulu Advertiser 11/03/09

email this story | Posted 11/03/09@10:22PM

What David Robertson Loves About The St. Louis Symphony "The greatness in this orchestra is right there, so I didn't need to build it. They don't bring their egos onto the stage, just their creativity." What's more, "[they] give close to 300 community concerts versus 75 in Powell Hall. And they didn't cut those when they had problems, which said to me this orchestra has its heart in the right place." Wall Street Journal 11/04/09

email this story | Posted 11/03/09@10:11PM

Manager Of Queen's Composer Jailed For Defrauding Him "Sir Peter Maxwell Davies hinted that the 'horrors' of the ordeal may even inspire a musical composition. Michael Arnold, a friend and business associate of the composer for 30 years," has been "jailed for 18 months for defrauding him of more than £500,000." The Times (UK) 11/03/09

email this story | Posted 11/03/09@07:44AM

Juilliard Archive Adds Beethoven, Mendelssohn MSS "The new acquisitions are a manuscript of Beethoven's 'Kreutzer' Sonata for violin and piano and an engraved proof copy of the piano-vocal score of Mendelssohn's oratorio 'Elijah,' each with scribblings by the composer." The New York Times 11/03/09

email this story | Posted 11/03/09@05:33AM

Children's Top 10 Classical Favorites Topping the survey is John Williams' "Harry Potter" theme. Whether or not the piece actually counts as classical music, the choice "shows that children love lavishly orchestrated music, and that they understand that you can create worlds of magic and mystery with a symphony orchestra." The Guardian (UK) 11/03/09

email this story | Posted 11/02/09@07:23PM

Looking For A Virtual Composer-In-Residence "The aim, they say, is to redefine the composer-in-residence for the digital age. He or she will win a modest prize of £1000, and a year-long residency on the website, allowing them to engage with web-site members through a Composer's Corner blog, a podcast series, online forums, and masterclasses. It will culminate in 2010 a live event with a performance of a new work." The Telegraph (UK) 11/02/09

email this story | Posted 11/02/09@07:52AM

Study: Illegal Music Downloaders Buy More Music Than Others "The survey, published today, found that those who admit illegally downloading music spent an average of £77 a year on music - £33 more than those who claim that they never download music dishonestly." The Independent (UK) 11/01/09

email this story | Posted 11/01/09@08:44AM

Will Digital Singles Save The Recording Industry "Last week, the Official Charts Company published figures that showed sales have already surpassed the record of 115.1m singles sold last year by almost 2m, and we haven't even entered the Christmas run-up. So, has the music industry finally turned a corner and found the panacea to all its woes?" The Guardian (UK) 10/30/09

email this story | Posted 11/01/09@08:24AM

The Virtual Orchestra Star So, why not Orchestra Hero? What if I could "play" the horn solo in "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" on a "controller horn" or the bassoon solo at the opening of "The Rite of Spring" on a "controller bassoon"? The New York Times 10/30/09

email this story | Posted 11/01/09@08:19AM

Ex Cliburn Director To Help Rebuild Tchaikovsky Competition The Tchaikovsky Piano Competition used to be the most prestigious in the world. Not now. "There is a general recognition that they [Gergiev and other Russian officials] were trying to do a perestroika, a reconstruction of the whole [competition] and to try to bring it back to its glory days." Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/25/09

email this story | Posted 11/01/09@07:57AM

Britney Spears Releases Tease On Twitter "With 3.6 million followers, Spears is significantly out in front of any other artist on Twitter, according to data from Big Champagne. For those keeping track of figures that largely can't yet be monetized, John Mayer is a distant second, with about 2.5 million followers." Los Angeles Times 10/30/09

email this story | Posted 10/30/09@08:08AM

One Giant Jukebox Wherever "There are plenty of stores out there - Spotify alone has 6 million tracks - many people have gigabytes of music on their hard drives, lesser-known bands publish on MySpace, and music blogs post rarities. Playdar provides a way to pull all those sources together into one giant jukebox." New Scientist 10/30/09

email this story | Posted 10/30/09@07:33AM

Bernard Haitink On The Trouble With Orchestras Says the veteran maestro: "It's so easy, forte, and piano is so difficult. … In principle, orchestras, professional as well as student, always play too loud. You never have to ask for forte. It comes by itself. You only have to ask for kinds of forte." New York Times 10/30/09

email this story | Posted 10/29/09@10:11PM

From Schubert To Torch Song With Pink Martini How a fabulous cocktail-lounge band transformed a respectable classical piano duet into a double-sided tale of thwarted passion. (With special guest appearance by NPR heartthrob Ari Shapiro as the cad.) NPR 10/27/09

email this story | Posted 10/29/09@09:53PM

Next Week In White House's East Room: Classical Music As part of the ongoing White House music series, "the first lady will host a Classical Music Student Workshop Concert, which will feature an appearance by superstar violinist Joshua Bell, guitarist Sharon Isbin, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and pianist Awadagin Pratt." Los Angeles Times 10/29/09

email this story | Posted 10/29/09@06:57AM

Canadian Opera Covers $1.6M Shortfall With Special Fund "How could there be a shortfall when, as COC board president Paul Spafford proudly reported, for the third year in a row since moving into its new home at the Four Seasons Centre, the opera company played to full houses?" Among other things, "[d]onations from individuals and corporations were $1.1 million below target." Toronto Star 10/29/09

email this story | Posted 10/29/09@06:32AM

Where Bernstein Left Off: Teaching The Classical Audience "Music institutions are feeling, it seems, a responsibility to assume the role that educational institutions are abandoning, in terms of teaching people about classical music. ... But there's a fine line between conveying useful information and lecturing at people." Washington Post 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/29/09@05:43AM

Rattle Re-Ups With Berlin For Nine More Years The Berlin Philharmonic "said Wednesday that [Simon] Rattle has signed a contract to continue in his role as artistic director through 2018 … The British conductor has led the Berlin Philharmonic since 2002." Los Angeles Times 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@09:57PM

Canadian Opera Co. Expands Broadcasts, On-Demand Streaming "The COC announced on Monday a plan to record and broadcast all seven of its mainstage productions during the 2009-2010 season, working in conjunction with current partner CBC/Radio-Canada. … The operas will also be available via streaming from the COC website and Radio 2's Concerts on Demand, for 12 months after each title's internet debut." CBC 10/26/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@09:52PM

Why Yamaha's New Electric Grand Piano Is So Extraordinary "The press materials insist that the AvantGrand is virtually identical to a concert grand, only cheaper, smaller, and always perfectly in tune." But it's much more: for instance, you can choose your temperament (equal, Pythagorean, Werckmeister), adjust the responsiveness of the keys, and record and play back what you just played - all by pressing a few buttons. Slate 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@09:38PM

Osmo Vänskä's Conducting Secrets The maestro who's galvanized the Minnesota Orchestra tells what he learned watching conductors as an orchestral clarinetist: "Don't speak too much. Try to use your body language. Make sure your beat is not like swimming." San Francisco Chronicle 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@09:29PM

Met Opera Staffer Named Director Of Grant Park Festival "Elizabeth Hurley, development director at the Metropolitan Opera in New York and former vice president for development at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, has been named executive director of the Grant Park Music Festival, effective Dec. 7." Chicago Tribune 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@07:14AM

Why Orchestras Aren't The Best Business Model To Emulate "[T]o hold up orchestras, and their relationship with conductors, as a business model is to subscribe to an idealized view of classical music as a happy sphere of beautiful golden tones. It doesn't reflect most orchestras' reality. Orchestras are notoriously dysfunctional places...." Washington Post 10/27/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@06:30AM

Carnegie's Gillinson Dismissive Of Stagehand-Pay Story Calling the lavish compensation of Carnegie Hall stagehands "an old story," executive director Clive Gillinson "declined to say whether he would seek to reduce [stagehands'] earnings in future" but said that "reducing overtime by sharing work with others ... would have a negligible effect on costs." Bloomberg 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@05:24AM

Impact Of Carnegie Stagehand Pay On Ticket Prices Murky "Carnegie declined to say what portion of its $70 million budget (down from $84.5 million two seasons ago) was devoted to stagehand costs, and it is not clear how much those costs contribute to, say, a $154 top-price ticket for a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert next week." The New York Times 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/28/09@05:11AM

Hollywood Composers Consider Unionizing "Composers and lyricists are among the few creatives left without a collective bargaining agreement. Services like orchestration, conducting and music performance are covered by American Federation of Musicians (AFM) agreements, but not the act of writing music or lyrics." Variety 10/28/09

email this story | Posted 10/27/09@10:17PM

The '60s Are Truly Over: Hendrix Massed Guitar Event In SanFran Implodes "An attempt to top the Guinness world record for largest guitar ensemble, with 3,000 players performing Jimi Hendrix's 'Purple Haze' at Sunday's West Fest concert in Golden Gate Park, fell short by about 2,950 participants - and some of those may have been playing ukuleles." San Francisco Chronicle 10/26/09

email this story | Posted 10/27/09@10:09PM

La Damrita: Why Diana Damrau Studies Flamenco Says the coloratura soprano, "Andalusia has everything, the music, the roots in Moroccan culture, the architecture, the beauty of the country, the pride of the people. The women are strong and free, but they don't neglect their femininity. All of this is in flamenco music and flamenco dance. You make music with your feet." San Francisco Chronicle 10/27/09

email this story | Posted 10/27/09@10:03PM