Category: music

The 54-year-old bass-baritone fractured his ankle this week while in Bilbao to perform in a different production of Dutchman; he has returned home to Wales for surgery. The March 2 opening would have been his first Met appearance in eight years. – The New York Times

“If you’re one of the millions of people to re-embrace vinyl records, it’s worth knowing where they come from and how they’re made.” (It ain’t pretty.) – The Guardian

Before joining the VSO, Angela Elster was senior vice-president of research and education at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where she played a key role in opening the TELUS Centre for Performing Arts and Learning and founded the Learning Through the Arts program. At the VSO, she piloted the Day of Music celebration that welcomed over 14,000 people to 100 free performances, forged the Indigenous Council, and launched a new focus on health and wellness programming at the organization. – Georgia Straight

“230 small and medium-sized venues in England and Wales will see a 50% reduction in business rates, a fee which is charged to most non-domestic properties. It should save each venue an average of £7,500 a year, according to the Independent Venues Trust – a charity which aims to protect and improve UK grassroots music venues – and make it more likely that acts still have small, sweaty spaces to hone their craft.” – BBC

The Dudamel/L.A. Phil recording of Andrew Norman’s Sustain took Best Orchestral Performance, with Caroline Shaw’s Orange by the Attacca Quartet winning Best Chamber/Small Ensemble Performance and the Houston Chamber Choir’s all-Duruflé disc receiving Best Choral Performance honors. Best Opera Recording was the Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s release of Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, Joyce DiDonato’s Songplay took Best Classical Solo Vocal Album, Nicola Benedetti’s rendition of Wynton Marsalis’s Violin Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra won Best Classical Instrumental Solo, and the Best Contemporary Classical Composition was Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto. – Classical Music (UK)

For music fans, tracking such a harrowing volley of allegations and denials feels equal parts absurd and sad (especially arriving, as it has, in the midst of a Presidential impeachment trial that mirrors its rhythms). The debacle at the Academy distracts, in a dispiriting way, from the artists being honored. – The New Yorker

At CES 2020, Samsung introduced Neon, an AI-based companion that is being developed to be indistinguishable from a human companion. AI models are composing at a pretty high level right now. It won’t be long before most production music (background music, music for breaks in and out of segments, and other utility music) will be fully produced by AI. We’re only moments away from synthetic artists and superstars. We’re only a few months (maybe a year or two) away from completely artificial artists (not virtual, artificial — see Neon above). – Shelly Palmer

Tuomas Hiltunen, the former top administrator at the Barenboim-Said Foundation who came to Fort Worth Opera after Darren Woods was fired in 2017, resigned last week, saying only that he and the company’s Board of Trustees had “different visions of the direction and goals of the company.” The Board’s announcement cited Hiltunen’s reduction in expenditures and said, “As we move forward, our top priority is, and always has been, ensuring that the financial health of the company is secure for decades to come.” – KERA (Dallas)

Keys was not playing the “sweep this mess under carpet for the awards show” game: “I’t’s a new decade,’ she said. ‘It’s time for newness. And we refuse the negative energy. We refuse the old systems. You feel me on that?’ … ‘We want to be respected and safe in our diversity,’ Keys continued. ‘We want to be shifting to realness and inclusivity.'” – The New York Times