Category: music

Jeremy Reynolds, responding to New York Times chief critic Anthony Tommasini’s argument that U.S. orchestras will never become more racially balanced without affirmative action, points out that “blind auditions aren’t really blind.” What’s more, as Pittsburgh Symphony bassist Jeffrey Grubbs (who is Black) tells Reynolds, the real problem is the makeup of the student body at music schools: “I don’t know that diversity hiring would change things much, as my impression is the highest caliber Black musicians out there are getting jobs. There just aren’t very many of them.” – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A statement released jointly by the musicians and management said, “We recognize the challenges presented to the ISO by the pandemic and unforeseen economic. For those reasons, the 2020-21 indoor season will not go as planned.” Next summer’s outdoor concert series, Symphony on the Prairie, remains on the schedule. – Indianapolis Star

According to the Canadian Independent Venue Coalition, which has launched an online campaign to support Canadian venues, without government support, more than 90 per cent of independent venues are at risk of shutting down forever. – CBC

Many New Orleans artists make at least 50 percent, and some as many as 75 to 100 percent, of their income during festival seasons. “New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Essence Music Festival, Voodoo Festival, those big events provide a big source of income and opportunity for our artists,” she says. “They sell at the festival, yes, but they make contacts that might give them commissions for the rest of the year.” But now, of course, there are no festivals, and tourist attractions like jazz bars have all gone dark. – Slate

The new season will include in-person Masterworks concerts at the Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center in September, October and November. The capacity of the Carpenter Theatre will be reduced from 1,800 to fewer than 400 to allow 6 feet of distance between seats. – Richmond Times-Dispatch

Martha Gonzalez sings with the band Quetzal and has a new memoir out as well. When the band was nominated for (and won) a Grammy, “Quetzal never showed up to the pre-Grammy gala. Instead, they did the most Quetzal thing ever: They opened the doors to the Breed Street Shul in Boyle Heights, invited every band from East L.A. that had ever been nominated for a Grammy and threw a concert. Who needs a Grammy when you have community?” – Los Angeles Times

The BBC isn’t mincing words about the money: “The amount available for grassroots music, worth 1/700th of the total relief package, will go to venues at ‘severe risk of insolvency’ and can be spent on ongoing costs like rent, utilities, maintenance contracts and other bills.” – BBC

Jörg Widmann is a composer, clarinettist, and conductor of the Irish Chamber Orchestra. What did the musician and conductor to do during lockdown? “I always wanted to have some months off, when I could compose without interruption. Now I’ve had several months, and I could hardly work. Isn’t that strange?” (He’s working again, and happy about it.) – Irish Times

German scientists are planning to equip 4,000 pop music fans with tracking gadgets and bottles of fluorescent disinfectant to get a clearer picture of how Covid-19 could be prevented from spreading at large indoor concerts. – The Guardian