FEATURE
27 Artists and Executives on the Importance of Voting in the 2020 Election
Billboard
Billboard asked artists and executives about the importance of voting this year. From Halsey to DJ Khaled, Nelly, Phillipa Soo, Mary Chapin Carpenter and more, here’s what everyone had to say.
Rock the Vote: How the Music Industry Built a Youth Voting Movement
Pitchfork: Hilary Hughes
Over the last 30 years, the nonprofit has registered 12 million voters (and counting) via its platform and played a significant role in the election of two presidents. They couldn’t have done it without the pop, rock, and rap stars who were willing to use their fame for a cause.
Joe Biden and the Arts: No R.B.G. but a Loyal Promoter of Culture
NY Times: Graham Bowley
The former vice president has been an intermittent consumer of the arts, but cultural leaders credit him as a key source of government financial support.
RESEARCH AND OPINION
How did music evolve? Harvard study reveals a surprising theory. No, it’s not a sexual mating call
Fast Company: Arianne Cohen
Musical anthropologists have been missing a beat this whole time.
Women have made great strides in classical music. So why do imbalances persist?
The Dallas Morning News: Tim Diovanni
The Dallas Symphony’s second annual Women in Classical Music Symposium addresses this question Nov. 8 – 11.
An Interview with Alex Ross about Wagner
an-US: Jeffrey Arlo Brown
“Ross recognizes, and reshapes, the world of Wagnerism as it is, for good and for bad, and makes room for the inadequacy of all our cultural criticism.” Jefrey Arlo Brown recently talked to Ross about his new book.
He Helped Create Lollapalooza. Now He Wants to Save Live Music.
The New York Times: Ben Sisario
Many small venues where artists get their start are in peril. Marc Geiger, a longtime music executive, is starting a venture he hopes lives up to its name: SaveLive.
The State of the Music Industry in 2020
Haulix Daily: James Shotwell
Most of 2020 has been a disaster, but the ever-resilient music industry is finding a way to continue growing in spite of the global pandemic.
“Meet the Professor” With University of Michigan’s Danielle Belen
The Violin Channel
In this episode, Pasha Sabouri sits down with University of Michigan ’s Danielle Belen to discuss the best approach for successfully auditioning and maximizing scholarships.
What does it take to pull off a drive-in dance show? L.A. Dance Project explains
LA Times: Makeda Easter
As the pandemic stretches toward year’s end, dance companies have been forced to experiment and to move beyond virtual shows as a means of resuscitating the art of live performance. Some have found an unexpected lifeline not on the stage but in a parking lot.
Why is Utah a Hotbed for Dance?
Salt Lake: Heather Hayes
That dance would take root in Utah’s desert soil and become a wellspring for the art form has long baffled industry insiders.
NATIONAL
A New DAWN on Broadway
NPR News: Cardiff Garcia
…money has run out. And one industry in particular says if it’s going to survive the pandemic, it will need more financial help from the federal government: The arts and culture industry.
Colburn School & Sphinx Organization Announce Partnership
The Violin Channel
Designed as a long-term collaborative partnership, the two organizations will explore opportunities to engage, develop, and empower young artists of color.
Berklee School of Music Appoints First Female President
The Violin Channel
The Boston-based contemporary music school announced Erica Muhl as its new president, effective July 2021.
The San Francisco Symphony Plunges Into a New World
The New York Times: Joshua Barone
The virtual premiere of Nico Muhly’s “Throughline,” Esa-Pekka Salonen’s first presentation as music director, is testing the limits of pandemic music-making.
Seven Dance Stars Take On a Daring ‘Rite of Spring’
NY Times: Gia Kourlas
The choreographer Molissa Fenley revives her 1988 solo — an urgent feat of endurance — for a new generation at the Joyce Theater.
He Helped Create Lollapalooza. Now He Wants to Save Live Music.
NY Times: Ben Sisario
Many small venues where artists get their start are in peril. Marc Geiger, a longtime music executive, is starting a venture he hopes lives up to its name: SaveLive.
Chicago Symphony Orchestra Announces Cancellations
The Violin Channel
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, concert programs originally scheduled to take place from January 7 through March 30, 2021, have been canceled.
City Ballet Won’t Return to the Stage Until September
NY Times: Peter Libbey
The company announced the cancellation of its winter and spring seasons, but also declared its intention to return at full strength in the fall.
RIAA Obtains Subpoenas Targeting 40 YouTube-Ripping Platforms & Pirate Sites
Torrent Freak: Any Maxwell
The RIAA is ramping up the pressure on a wide range of platforms allegedly involved in music piracy.
INTERNATIONAL
Anne-Sophie Mutter calls on German government to help musicians
The Strad
‘And if that is not the case,’ Mutter said, ‘then we have to take to the streets.’
France and Germany Lock Down as Second Coronavirus Wave Grows
NY Times: Matina Stevis-Gridneff
The new steps are the toughest since the spring and follow added restrictions in Spain and Italy aimed at curbing the spread of the virus and easing the strain on hospitals.
Vienna State Opera Now Requiring Face Masks
The Violin Channel
Due to an increase in COVID-19 cases in Austria, the Vienna State Opera updated its guidelines to mandate mask wearing while in the concert hall.
Virus cases spike at Milan’s La Scala, Naples’ San Carlo
AP: Colleen Barry
The number of performers at Milan’s famed La Scala opera house who have tested positive for the coronavirus has risen to 21, even as the theater was forced to close due to new government restrictions aimed at curbing the virus’ resurgence.
Brussels shuts down cultural events for three weeks in response to surge in COVID cases
The Strad
All cultural centres, theatres, cinemas, museums and galleries will be shut until 19 November in order to slow the spread of Coronavirus.
Philharmonie Zuidnederland Appoints New Chief Conductor
The Violin Channel
The Southern Netherlands Philharmonic, in Holland, today appointed British conductor and composer, Duncan Ward, as its new chief conductor, effective September 2021.
Concertgebouw Orchestra Appoints Honorary Guest Conductor
The Violin Channel
The Dutch orchestra announces Iván Fischer as its honorary guest conductor, effective from the 2021–22 season.
Fanny Mendelssohn Advancement Award Announced
The Violin Channel
French-Dutch violist Sào Soulez Larivière received the €10,000 prize for his unique program.
Ilya Gringolts and Ilan Volkov create organization to match performers and composers
The Strad
I&I foundation aims to commission 20 new works a year, starting from 2021.
‘The way I am is an outrage’: the Indigenous Brazilian musicians taking back a burning country
The Guardian: Beatriz Miranda
A vibrant underground of rap, metal, folk and more is thriving among Brazil’s embattled tribes, who are standing up to Bolsonaro’s environment policies.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
How J Balvin Made His Trippy, Eye-Popping Halloween Concert in Fortnite
NY Times: Ben Sisario
The video game has become a music venue as the pandemic continues to keep live shows off the road. The Latin pop star put his own colorful spin on the experience.
Optimizing Opera’s Future with New Technology
JB Mowdy
San Diego Opera has partnered with Microsoft to bring together professionals from theater companies, tech companies, and prominent university engineering and theater programs for a two-day hackathon to discover new ways for technology to be used in theater.
17 Players in Five States, Composing Over the Internet
NY Times: Seth Colter Walls
Alarm Will Sound used multiple videoconferencing tools to master the ambiguities of Tyshawn Sorey’s “Autoschediasms.”
As arts organizations move their events online, here’s how it worked out for one Seattle group
The Seattle Times: Melinda Bargreen
As the pandemic continues and live concerts are all but impossible, classical music organizations have moved their seasons online — with widely varying paywalls and content.
OFF THE BEATEN TRAIL
“Rococo Variations” for Orchestra and … Electric Guitar
The Violin Channel
Ethan Winer performing Tchaikovksy’s ‘Variations on a Rococo Theme’ for Orchestra and Fender Telecaster electric guitar.
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