FEATURE: BLACK LIVES MATTER
#BlackoutTuesday: A Music Industry Protest Becomes a Social Media Moment
The New York Times: Joe Coscarelli
What began as a proposed day of reflection after the death of George Floyd morphed into something broader, leading some to complain that #BlackLivesMatter posts were being silenced.
Black Lives Matter Cofounder Patrisse Cullors on How the Music Community Can Help
Variety: Jem Aswad
Variety spoke with Black Lives Matter and Movement 4 Black Lives Cofounder Patrisse Cullors about the movement and ways the music industry can get involved — which are the same ways everyone can get involved.
It’s Time to Lift Every Voice: Black Music Month Arrives at a Crucial Turning Point
Billboard: Gail Mitchell
Tracing the fight for racial equality through black music’s rich legacy.
How can Artists Respond to Injustice? Thoughts from Seven Musicians
NewMusicUSA: Will Robin
Powerful thoughts from Marcos Balter (composer), Jonathan Bailey Holland (composer), Pamela Z (composer and performer), George E. Lewis (composer and musicologist), Courtney Bryan (composer and pianist), Nathan Jochim (flutist, composer, and vocalist)
Art That Confronts and Challenges Racism: Start Here
The New York Times: Melena Ryzik, Wesley Morris, Mekado Murphy, Reggie Ugwu, Pierre-Antoine Louis, Salamishah Tillet and Siddhartha Mitter
Our writers suggest works that illuminate and tackle issues of police brutality, social injustice and racial inequity.
Breaking Down ‘Those Color Lines’ in a Music Industry That Drew Them
NY Times: Nabil Ayers
The first black person appointed president of a major U.S. record label talks about race in the industry, and what has and hasn’t changed.
Manhattan School of Music To Feature African American Works At All 2020-21 Concerts
The Violin Channel
The Manhattan School of Music has announced that all concert performances at the school during the 2020-21 academic year will feature at least one work by an African American composer.
New York Phil Clarinetist Launches #TakeTwoKnees Musical Challenge For Racial Justice
The Violin Channel
Clarinetist Anthony McGill has launched a new #TakeTwoKnees social challenge – aimed to shine a light on his African American communities’ struggle for racial justice.
A traveling pianist played to protesters outside George Floyd’s memorial to help Minneapolis heal
CNN: Lauren M. Johnson
Traveling pianist Davide Martello showed up in Minneapolis to spread a message of hope through music at George Floyd’s memorial. Martello, also known as Klavierkunst, lives in Oklahoma City and drove 12 hours to the memorial to use his talent to help heal the community.
These Ballet Dancers Are Calling Out Inequity at Their Companies
Dance: Jennifer Stahl
Dancers have taken to Instagram to directly call out the problems they’ve seen in their own companies
Warner Music, Disney pledge support to social justice groups
Los Angeles Times: Naomi Klinge, Meg James
Warner Music Group and the Blavatnik Family Foundation announced a $100-million fund Wednesday aimed to support the music industry and groups promoting social justice, specifically against violence and racism.
Violin Channel To ‘Blackout’ For 24 Hours In Solidarity With Black Communities
The Violin Channel
The Violin Channel will cease all everyday operations for 24 hours in solidarity with the black communities and those protesting police brutality.
The Sheku Effect: A Classical Music Star Rises
The New York Times: Zachary Woolfe
The young British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason is bursting to the forefront of a field that lacks headliners of color.
Breaking Down ‘Those Color Lines’ in a Music Industry That Drew Them
The New York Times: Nabil Ayers
The first black person appointed president of a major U.S. record label talks about race in the industry, and what has and hasn’t changed.
Spotify, Music Labels Pledge to Fight Racism After Public Rebuke
Bloomberg: Lucas Shaw
Spotify Technology SA has committed $11 million to combat racism, injustice and inequity, following calls from its employees to support the black community that has helped fuel its success.
Is Black Music the Well Many Other Artists Drink From and Profit From More Than Black Artists?
The Root: Danielle Young
What is black music? For many, it’s soul, funk, R&B, hip-hop and essentially all genres of music that reflect roots in blackness. But the industry doesn’t hear us. Music is very much a culture of “We make it, they take it.” We’ve seen it throughout history in the theft of everything we exclusively create within music, from Elvis Presley to Justin Timberlake.
We have a Music Industry that Lacks Economic Inclusion of Black People
Music Business Worldwide
A personal narrative of a music business insider who struggled with his race and equality as he built his business.
How Jazz Helped Fuel the 1960s Civil Rights Movement
Open Culture
An interesting back story of Charles Mingus, “Fables of Faubus”.
RESEARCH AND OPINION
String Category Winner Announced at BBC ‘Young Musician of the Year’ Awards
The Violin Channel
Violinist Coco Tomita has been awarded 1st prize in the string category final of the 2020 BBC ‘Young Musician of the Year’ awards.
Violinist Catherine Cho – Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival Artistic Co-Director
The Violin Channel
The Violin Channel recently caught up with violinist Catherine Cho – the recently appointed Artistic Co-Director of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival.
Anders Beyer – CEO & Artistic Director of the Bergen International Festival
The Violin Channel
The Violin Channel recently caught up with Anders Beyer – CEO & Artistic Director of the Bergen International Festival.
‘I Just Let Myself Go’: Igor Levit on Surviving a Satie Marathon
The New York Times: Joshua Barone
The pianist livestreamed “Vexations,” a solo of four lines repeated 840 times, to evoke the crisis facing artists during the coronavirus pandemic.
What Did Bach Sound Like to Bach?
Humanities: Paula Wasley
Scholars look to recover the original soundscape of the composer’s work.
‘Me Hearing Me’
Commonwealth Magazine: Katherine Lucky
What Virtual Choir Teaches about Togetherness
Giving it away for free – why the performing arts risks making the same mistake newspapers did
The Conversation (Australia): Caitlin Vincent
There’s a long-running adage about working for free in the performing arts. “The problem with working for exposure,” it goes, “is you can die from exposure”.
Could There Be a More Difficult Time to Become an Arts Leader?
NY Times: Robin Pogrebin
As many cultural institutions are dealing with layoffs and furloughs, some are appointing new leaders who face a whole new set of challenges.
NATIONAL
U.S. Artist Management Agencies Launch Petition for Government Aid
The Violin Channel
Primo Artists and Park Avenue Artists management agencies have launched an online petition to advocate Congressional leaders for extended support relief for the performing arts sector.
New York’s Metropolitan Opera Cancelling Remaining 2020 Season
The Violin Channel
The Metropolitan Opera has announced the cancellation of all performances between now and the 31st of December, 2020.
Crowds Define Opera. They’re Also Keeping It From Returning.
The New York Times: Anthony Tommasini
As the Metropolitan Opera announces that it will remain closed through the year, our critic reflects on the chorus scenes he will miss the most.
Live From New York, It’s Jazz at a Distance
The New York Times: Alan Scherstuhl
The Greenwich Village club Smalls is booking bands inside the venue again, but audiences will still have to stay home.
Austin Symphony Trombonist Fired Over Racist Comments
The Violin Channel
The Austin Symphony has today terminated Principal Trombonist Brenda Sansig Salas from the ensemble – following an outburst of racist comments.
INTERNATIONAL
Privatisation is the best option for the (London) South Bank Centre
Norman Lebrecht: The Spectator
The subsidy guzzler is the despair of the rest of British arts – which does not prevent a totally supine arts media from rushing to defend this glorified food-mall to their last free croissant
Opera returns to Vienna with hotel ‘window concert’
Yahoo! News
Deserted by tourists, a hotel in Vienna gave itself a temporary one-night-only makeover, turning itself into an outdoor concert hall.
Deutsche Oper Berlin Announces Reopening with ‘Das Rheingold’
Opera Wire: Francisco Salazar
The Deutsche Oper Berlin has announced that it will open its doors on June 12.
Royal Opera House announces first live concerts from its venue since closure
London Indoors: Jessie Thompson
The Live from Covent Garden series will begin on June 13, hosted by Royal Opera House director of music Antonio Pappano and the BBC’s Anita Rani.
Musicians Playing Through the Lockdown, to One Listener at a Time
The New York Times: Ptrick Kingsley
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of most cultural events, including concerts. But two German orchestras found an intensely personal way to play on.
Wigmore Hall Live Lunchtime Concerts broadcast across Europe
The Strad
The London concert venue is broadcasting performances every weekday in June on BBC Radio 3 and on radio stations across Europe.
Violinist Coco Tomita wins string category finals of BBC Young Musician 2020
The Strad
The 17-year-old violinist played music by Ysaÿe, Debussy/Heifetz and Hubay in the category finals, recorded in December.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
How to Make Your Virtual Jam Session Sound—and Look—Good
Wired
You know those videos of musicians rocking out from their living rooms, laid out in a grid? Here’s how they’re made.
Lawrence Power commissions new music to perform in empty venues
The Strad
The violist has commissioned ten composers to write pieces for him to premiere in and on top of empty venues.
This Is How Much More Money Artists Earn From Bandcamp Compared to Streaming Services
Pitchfork: Marc Hogan
Since the coronavirus pandemic put the live music industry on pause, Bandcamp has waived its usual 10 to 15 percent share of revenues for two full days to support the artists on the platform. May 1 was the second of these Bandcamp Days, which have already helped direct a total of $11.4 million toward musicians.
OFF THE BEATEN TRAIL
Musical Representation of the Current State of the World [WTF]
The Violin Channel
Czech musical artist Petr Valek’s musical representation of the current state of the world …
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