FEATURE
How Classical Music is Transforming in Media Through the Lens of Maestro Cho-Liang Lin
SF Weekly
The convergence of classical music and digital media marks a pivotal moment in how centuries-old compositions reach contemporary audiences. The digital age has facilitated unprecedented collaborations between classical musicians and artists from other genres. Orchestras now regularly partner with hip-hop artists and pop musicians, creating hybrid performances that challenge genre boundaries.
RESEARCH AND OPINION
‘I was shaped by growing up in segregation’: Wynton Marsalis on how jazz connects democracy and liberation
BBC: Christopher Luu
Wynton Marsalis made history when he became the first musician to win classical and jazz Grammy Awards in the same year. He tells the BBC’s Katty Kay about jazz’s unique connection to liberation and how his father’s relationship with music shaped his approach.
Balanchine is Modern master whose impact on contemporary art should not be overlooked
The Art Newspaper: Ben Luke
The choreographer’s formal gestures and patterns make him crucial to contemporary performance art.
Protecting artists’ rights: what responsible AI means for the creative industries
The Conversation: Paula Gortazar
As companies develop and incorporate AI technologies, the dialogue must extend beyond algorithms and data integrity to include a thoughtful examination of their social and economic impact.
NATIONAL
Lincoln Center Gets $50 Million Gift to Promote Contemporary Dance
New York Times: Javier C. Hernández
The donation from two philanthropists will support performances, commissions and young artists, at a time of uncertainty for the dance industry.
Small Arts Nonprofits Face Uncertainty as NEA Cuts “Challenge America” Grantv
HyperAllergic: Isa Farfan
The $10K award, canceled for the 2026 fiscal year amid Trump’s anti-DEI mandates, was long seen as an entry point for receiving federal funding.
Trump directs National Endowment for the Humanities chair to step aside
Washington Post: Anumita Kaur
Shelly C. Lowe, the first Native American to lead the National Endowment for the Humanities, has left her role at the direction of President Donald Trump.
Conductor Marin Alsop on Trump, the Kennedy Center and why art is bipartisan
NPR: Scott Simon
Alsop kept her Kennedy Center performances with the National Symphony Orchestra recently because, she says, art is bigger than this moment and should be celebrated. “Art is about the human spirit … It’s about the human condition,” Alsop says. “Music, art — these are not partisan issues.”
Rhiannon Giddens is the latest artist to cancel Kennedy Center gig
NPR: Elizabeth Blair
Folk musician Rhiannon Giddens announced on social media that she has moved her May 11 concert — originally scheduled for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts — to a different venue in Washington, D.C.
Why the Philadelphia Orchestra star trumpeter quit after 6 months
Philadelphia Inquirer: Peter Dobrin
And the exit has also been more public than most personnel changes at the orchestra, in part because of the prominence of the position’s role within the orchestra, and since the trumpeter himself publicly declared his ambivalence about the job before even starting.
JD Vance Is Booed at a Kennedy Center Concert After Trump’s Takeover
NY Times: Javier C. Hernández
The vice president and his wife were booed as they took their seats for a National Symphony Orchestra concert of music by Shostakovich and Stravinsky.
INTERNATIONAL
After Nearly 125 Years, a Lost Jewel by Ravel Gets Its Premiere
NY Times: Javier C. Hernández
A prelude and dance by the French master recently surfaced in a Paris library. Gustavo Dudamel and the New York Philharmonic will give the world premiere.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MUSIC BUSINESS
Apple Music Classical expands to the web
9to5Mac: Chance Miller
After expanding to CarPlay a few months ago, Apple Music Classical has hit yet another new platform. Starting today, you can access Apple Music Classical on the web for the first time.
OpenAI urges U.S. to allow AI models to train on copyrighted material
NBC: Angela Yang
For decades, cassette players have carried the soul-stirring poetry of Sufi saints and the mystical melodies of Kashmiri instruments like the sarangi and santoor, and it’s long been a local ritual for families to gather around the warm hum of a tape player.
Spotify paid over $10B US to the music industry last year. How much actually makes it to the artists?
CBC News: Samritha Arunasalam
The streaming giant’s report comes amid the ongoing debate about how much money artists and songwriters actually receive in royalties and whether it is actually fair. Many artists, especially songwriters, struggle to see substantial earnings from streaming, even if their songs rack up millions of plays.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Kashmir’s Sufi music lovers are sticking with the audio cassette
Seattle Times: Aijaz Hussain and Dar Yasin
He’s part of a small, dedicated community that believes cassette tapes are the best way to listen to and archive the Sufi music of Indian-controlled Kashmir, where music inspired by local and central Asian Muslim saints has long been a deep expression of spirituality and emotion.
You give your houseplant light and water — have you considered Brahms?
Washington Post: Kate Morgan
The flora seemed like an enthusiastic audience, so at the start of the pandemic, when most live music performances were canceled and venues closed, Peters started inviting local bands to play to the plants.
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