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13 Apr 2011 14:21:32 GMT

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Honolulu Symphony may rise again

12 Apr 2011 13:19:51 GMT

A new group trying to revive the bankrupt Honolulu Symphony has made an initial agreement with unionized orchestra musicians. The Honolulu Symphony Society hasn't held a concert since December of 2009, when it filed for bankruptcy. In December of last year, the symphony converted its bankruptcy to Chapter 7, closing for good and liquidating its assets. Sources familiar with the process said a news conference will be held Tuesday to announce “a collaboration” between unionized musicians and the exploratory committee.
KITV

Pew declines aiding Philly Orchestra

12 Apr 2011 13:19:12 GMT

Even as it gathers pledges for a financial-recovery campaign, the Philadelphia Orchestra can't count on the support of the city's largest foundation - at least for now. The Pew Charitable Trusts has passed on giving money to the orchestra's rehabilitation plan, several sources familiar with the decision say.
Philadelphia Inquirer

AFM reacts to Syracuse Symphony layoffs

12 Apr 2011 13:17:48 GMT

There is yet another sign that symphony orchestras and other arts organizations are still being affected by the economic realities across the country, according to excerpts from a press release issued from the American Federation of Musicians: The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) is disappointed in the decision of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra board of directors to suspend symphony operations. In addition, the board voted to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Salt Lake Tribune

Standing O for DSO

12 Apr 2011 13:17:16 GMT

PBS

Houston Symphony music director search heats up

12 Apr 2011 13:16:45 GMT

CultureMap

Aspen and the American conductor

12 Apr 2011 13:16:08 GMT

Washington Post

Pianist Benjamin Grosvenor signs to Decca

12 Apr 2011 13:15:39 GMT

Gramophone

Composer Daniel Catán has died

12 Apr 2011 13:12:33 GMT

BBC

DSO has pay cuts contract

11 Apr 2011 12:31:35 GMT

The musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have voted to ratify a new contract, ending a bitter six-month labor dispute that threatened the survival of the 118-year-old institution, the union said. The new contract cuts pay by an average of 25 percent, the union said. Under the previous contract, the roughly 80 musicians in the orchestra were paid an average of about $105,000 a year.
Detroit Free Press

Temirkanov: Sounding upbeat

11 Apr 2011 12:31:21 GMT

Some classical music artists, it seems, are available for a limited number of cancellations each year. That's a rap that, for awhile, seemed applicable to Yuri Temirkanov, the inspired Russian conductor who served as Baltimore Symphony Orchestra music director. He canceled several weeks with the BSO during his final season and several more, as music director emeritus. He likewise canceled engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and others during those years. Explanations included schedule conflicts, health issues and "personal reasons." That left some Temirkanov fans in this country wondering and worried. It seems the conductor is in great health.
Baltimore Sun

Grammys cuts awards: classical loses 4

11 Apr 2011 12:29:34 GMT

The Recording Academy announced that they were cutting the number of Grammy awards. For classical music recordings, this means that in lieu of 11 potential Grammys, there will be 7. What we’ve lost: the overall Best Classical Album category; Best Chamber Music Performance (Best Small Ensemble Performance remains), one of the two Instrumental Soloist categories (separate awards used to be given for performances with and without orchestra; now, it will go to the Best Classical Instrumental Soloist, period), and — hallelujah — the Best Classical Crossover Album.
Washington Post

Syracuse Symphony meets with attorney general

11 Apr 2011 12:28:56 GMT

WSYR

A Composer Not Afraid to Mash Things Up

11 Apr 2011 12:27:59 GMT

New York Times

Arts groups join forces to survive tough times

11 Apr 2011 12:27:09 GMT

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Julian Kuerti following his path

11 Apr 2011 12:26:34 GMT

Globe & Mail

Are we ready for Canadian Prime Minister Opera?

11 Apr 2011 12:26:18 GMT

Toronto Star

NYC Opera suspends season

8 Apr 2011 13:37:57 GMT

The New York City Opera has suspended plans for next season as it takes a hard look at its business model, including exploring cheaper alternatives to its current home at Lincoln Center. Charles Wall, the opera's new chairman, said he and the board have embarked on an exhaustive review of its finances and won't schedule future programming until reaching a balanced budget. Its projected deficit for the current season is $5 million. Last season's revenue rebounded to $26.2 million from a low of $6 million during the period in which it went dark. Still, revenue hasn't recovered to fiscal year 2008 levels, when it reached $33 million.
Wall Street Journal

DSO back at work

8 Apr 2011 13:37:20 GMT

The 6-month-long Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike could be over when the musicians' bargaining team tallies up the ratification votes. Musicians returned to work for rehearsals, though they hadn't yet voted on ratification of the three-year, $36.3million contract; spokesman Greg Bowens said the bargaining team recommended musicians accept the deal. The DSO is about to enter a fragile period of healing. Music director Leonard Slatkin acknowledged there will be an abundance of challenges ahead for both him and the orchestra.
Detroit News

Symphonies struggle for survival

8 Apr 2011 13:36:04 GMT

Start with the economy, mix in the American public's changing taste in music, overly large concert halls, and union-management struggles -- and you have the challenges of symphony orchestras around the country. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, in the last 25 years paid concert attendance at classical music events had a 20 percent drop between 2002 and 2008. "I really don't see this traditional model of the classical orchestra that is now about 130 years old," David Rubin, a former member of the board of the Syracuse Opera said. "But even then I don't see it's going to last forever because this is simply not a music form that Americans are studying anymore in school, and Americans are not playing piano and violins anymore."
ABC News

San Antonio Symphony received $300K donation

8 Apr 2011 13:35:34 GMT

San Antonio Express

Vienna Phil to play benefit gig for Japan

8 Apr 2011 13:34:57 GMT

Seattle Post Intelligencer

Music director to retire from I Musici

8 Apr 2011 13:34:25 GMT

Montreal Gazette

Royal Philharmonic Society announces awards shortlists

8 Apr 2011 13:33:54 GMT

BBC Music

Fear of orchestras' swan song premature

8 Apr 2011 13:28:27 GMT

Watertown Daily Times

End is near for SSO

7 Apr 2011 13:29:44 GMT

The Syracuse Symphony’s board of trustees will file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, likely next week. Interim Executive Director Paul Brooks expressed the board’s “great sadness” at reaching this decision and its attempts “to find any and every possible means to survive.” He said the board realized it couldn’t support a 77-person, $7 million orchestra on a $5 million budget. The SSO’s $5.5 million debt includes major unfunded pension liability, outstanding accounts payable, bank debt and unfulfilled subscriptions, he said. Jeremy Mastrangelo, an SSO musician who sits on the board, attended the meeting. “In the end, people put up their hands and said ‘We didn’t know how to do it’ and there’s nothing we can do” to raise the money to continue the operation.
Syracuse Post-Standard

New York Phil cancels Cuba trip

7 Apr 2011 13:29:05 GMT

The New York Philharmonic has yet again canceled a proposed trip to Cuba, and this time it may be for keeps. The orchestra was tentatively planning to go in June, but no charter planes big enough to take it were available, said the Philharmonic spokesman, Eric Latzky. In addition, the school year will have ended, making it too difficult to gather children for a planned youth concert, he said. “I think the Philharmonic may go to Cuba some day but certainly not in the foreseeable future,” Latzky said.
New York Times

Cleveland Orchestra's Miami gig a drag

7 Apr 2011 13:27:22 GMT

For three weeks each winter, the Cleveland Orchestra plays a three-program concert series at the Arsht Center, putting on children’s concerts – some offered free for Miami public school students — and engaging in an intense round of master classes, side-by-side performances, recitals and other events at the University of Miami and other institutions. But even with the orchestra’s busy community activities, many local musicians still see the three-week residency as a drag on South Florida’s arts scene—-weakening the incentive for establishing a local orchestra to replace the defunct Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and crowding out the fundraising efforts of local arts organizations.
South Florida Classical Review

Grammys Cut Classical Music Categories

7 Apr 2011 13:26:41 GMT

New York Times

Here comes the YouTube Virtual Choir

7 Apr 2011 13:25:59 GMT

Los Angeles Times

Wim Wenders out of Bayreuth Ring

7 Apr 2011 13:25:29 GMT

Intermezzo

Opera Australia's aggressive expansion plans

7 Apr 2011 13:24:51 GMT

The Australian

At home in Opera House

7 Apr 2011 13:17:17 GMT

Wanganui Chronicle

DSO's next chapter

6 Apr 2011 14:35:58 GMT

So, what comes next for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in the wake of the tentative agreement that promises to end the bitter six-month strike and return the musicians to Orchestra Hall this weekend? Short answer: an extraordinary amount of work. Settling the strike is only the first mountain in a series of treacherous peaks that the financially crippled DSO has to scale on its way to a viable future. With $54 million in real estate debt, $9 million in projected deficits in the next three years, a rapidly shrinking endowment, subscription numbers substantially down and relationships between musicians and management still hostile; the DSO's margin for error remains razor thin.
Detroit Free Press

What orchestras can learn from YouTube

6 Apr 2011 14:35:07 GMT

These days, when symphony orchestras make national news, the topic is usually not a happy one. Yet one group has received a very different kind of coverage: the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. This experiment has generated unprecedented buzz and excitement. True, when considering professional orchestras and the YouTube version, we're not comparing apples with apples. Nonetheless, struggling orchestras can—and should—learn valuable lessons from YouTube about what it may require to remain viable and relevant in the 21st Century.
Watching the Watchers

Classical is the new crimefighter

6 Apr 2011 14:33:34 GMT

With all sorts of the funding cuts hitting orchestras during the recent recession, there is still one aspect of classical music that local governments find valuable -- the music's unfailing ability to disperse loitering teenagers from public areas. There are different schools of thought on what makes classical music such an effective crime deterrent.
Los Angeles Times

Stradivari Dealer in Jail

6 Apr 2011 14:33:01 GMT

Star-Ledger

Bayreuth loses Ring director in 3-D row

6 Apr 2011 14:32:20 GMT

Slipped Disc

Music Education for All

6 Apr 2011 14:31:43 GMT

Jessica Music

Keep Going, Keep Going, Even at the Met

6 Apr 2011 14:31:02 GMT

New York Times

A Tribute to Ernest Fleischmann

6 Apr 2011 14:29:20 GMT

Los Angeles Times

DSO reach deal

5 Apr 2011 14:23:13 GMT

The musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, who have been striking since October, reached a tentative agreement with management this past weekend and agreed to return to work. The 80 members of the DSO will vote on a new labor contract, said Greg Bowens, a spokesman for the union. The union's bargaining committee has recommended the musicians vote for the new agreement. Union officials met with managers for 27 hours to hammer out a contract. Bowens declined to describe the details of the agreement that will put up for vote this week. "It's been a challenge for everybody, but now it's in the hands of the members," he said.
Detroit Free Press

Berlin Phil in 3D

5 Apr 2011 14:22:33 GMT

Sir Simon Rattle is bringing the Berlin Philharmonic to British theaters on film -- but with a twist, it will be in 3D.The technology "aims to give cinema goers the sensation of not only sitting in the front rows but right among the orchestra, offering close-ups of the virtuoso players." The performances are also seen as a way to win over a new audience and spread classical music at a time when the Arts Council is cutting back on grants.
USA Today

Apology from SSO chief draws angry replies

5 Apr 2011 14:21:21 GMT

Paul Brooks, interim executive director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, posted a message on Facebook early Monday evening that explains why the season was canceled and ends with an apology. Brooks details the financial situation, then add: "On behalf of the SSO, we deeply regret this decision and offer an apology to the people in our community. We appreciate the support you have shown over the years for the Symphony and especially in recent months as we fought together to keep the organization in operation." But so far, the people responding to his message are angry and refusing to accept Brooks' apology.
Syracuse Post-Standard

First American to lead Syrian orchestra

5 Apr 2011 14:20:53 GMT

Daily Pilot

The Dude Is a Dad

5 Apr 2011 14:20:21 GMT

Los Angeles Times

Syracuse Opera set despite Symphony issues

5 Apr 2011 14:19:48 GMT

WSTM-TV

Leonard Cohen Wins Glenn Gould Prize

5 Apr 2011 14:17:15 GMT

Toronto Star

Dino Anagnost, Who Led Little Orchestra Society, Dies

5 Apr 2011 14:11:49 GMT

New York Times

Behind the SSO curtain

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra has been living payroll to payroll, relying on the generosity of a handful of wealthy donors and repeatedly asking the musicians for pay cuts. The sacrifices of both the players and donors have kept a $7 million symphony playing even as its audience and donor base shrank. Internal records and interviews with musicians, managers and donors in recent days show a behind-the-scenes drama that could eventually reshape the future of the symphony. It could affect the number of musicians and the kind of music they play.
Syracuse Post-Standard

DSO, musicians to return to bargaining

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

Musicians and management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra headed back to the bargaining table for their first face-to-face negotiations in six weeks. The meeting is an encouraging sign that the two sides may have narrowed their differences to the point that a settlement in the bitter six-month strike is in sight. But given the topsy-turvy plot twists and rancor of the epic dispute, no one should be popping champagne corks just yet.
Detroit Free Press

Miami Beach gives $15M to NWS

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

Miami Beach has released $15 million in a city grant to the New World Symphony, but investigators are still reviewing allegations the city demanded free tickets to shows in exchange for the money. Symphony President Howard Herring said in a statement that the city did not require tickets for the money. In exchange for the grant, the New World Symphony agreed to give public benefits, including school outreach and free concerts in the park, known as Wallcasts — but not hundreds of free tickets for city officials.
Miami Herald

Springfield Symphony maestro renews contract

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

MSNBC

The hard work behind innate intuition

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

MSNBC

How the arts world is embracing 3D cinema

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

MSNBC

Violin dealer arrested for fraud

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

MSNBC

Father of 5 Browns Goes to Jail

4 Apr 2011 12:28:40 GMT

MSNBC

Muti returns

31 Mar 2011 14:13:33 GMT

After being injured in a fall during a rehearsal last month, Chicago Symphony Orchestra music director Riccardo Muti has managed to pack more into seven weeks of recovery than most people might. That’s especially the case considering that Muti underwent facial and jaw reconstruction and had a pacemaker implanted. “It was a kind of destiny — that this happened in Chicago, a city with both such advanced doctors but also such caring ones, that I did not lose any teeth, that I did not feel any physical pain, that I did not injure an eye or my skull,” said a rested-looking Muti, 69, in an interview.
Chicago Sun-Times

Met Opera Japan tour in jeopardy

31 Mar 2011 14:12:40 GMT

The Metropolitan Opera is debating whether to proceed with its scheduled Japanese tour in June, an ambitious trip that was several years in the planning and would be the Met’s first to that country since 2006. Peter Gelb, the Met’s general manager, met with union representatives about safety concerns and issued a statement to the entire company that described the tour as being “in jeopardy at this time.”
New York Times

R.I.P. Festival of Orchestras

31 Mar 2011 14:11:28 GMT

After 27 years of bringing the world’s classical musicians to Central Florida, the Festival of Orchestras has ceased operations. The organization, which has sold more than 250,000 tickets to more than 100 concerts, is the victim of the economic downturn and venue-scheduling difficulties, said executive director Susan Carey. Leaders of other classical-music organizations saluted the tenure of the festival but said its mission of presenting out-of-town groups likely worked against it in tough times. The Festival of Orchestra’s board of directors voted last week to stop programming, rather than go into debt.
Orlando Sentinel

Rochester Phil will honor Syracuse symphony tix

31 Mar 2011 14:10:58 GMT

Democrat & Chronicle

Sony signs the Emerson String Quartet

31 Mar 2011 14:10:24 GMT

Gramophone

Groups learn fate of cash from UK Arts Council

31 Mar 2011 14:09:17 GMT

Chronicle Live

Tacoma Arts Commission funds nine arts groups

31 Mar 2011 14:08:43 GMT

Tacoma News Tribune

Mehta: Music can heal people after weeks of disaster

31 Mar 2011 14:02:36 GMT

eTaiwan News

SSO suspends operations

30 Mar 2011 14:25:49 GMT

The Syracuse Symphony Orchestra’s board of trustees voted to suspend operations because of a shortage of funds. The orchestra’s 18 full and part-time staffers and 61 core and 14 contract musicians will be laid off. Interim Executive Director Paul Brooks said the SSO was without funds to continue operations because it fell short of its March fundraising goal of $445,000, failed to receive $1.3 million in concessions from the musicians for the 2011-12 season and had $5.5 million debt as the major reasons for the suspension. The SSO has a budget of $6.9 million for 2010-11.
Syracuse Post-Standard

Progress in DSO strike? One side says yes

30 Mar 2011 14:25:01 GMT

In a statement, Detroit Symphony Orchestra board chair Stanley Frankel responded that the negotiating teams and attorneys from both sides and community mediators have been meeting via phone and email every day for weeks. “We’re happy to report that substantial progress has been earned this way,” he said. “We are convinced a settlement is within reach and that all energies in these next few days must be dedicated to achieving that goal including, when the time is right, meeting face to face.”
Detroit Free Press

Juilliard buys a Fazioli piano

30 Mar 2011 14:23:29 GMT

The Juilliard School, long an all-Steinway institution, is breaking with tradition and buying a non-Steinway piano. The Fazioli piano, worth six figures, has been on loan since October on spec. The reviews were good, but the politics of piano sales is fierce and according to sources, there was pressure on Juilliard to remain an all-Steinway school, as it has been since 1924.
Globe and Mail

Muti eager to prove he's healthy

30 Mar 2011 14:22:59 GMT

WGN-TV

American Music Center and Meet The Composer to merge

30 Mar 2011 14:22:28 GMT

NewMusicBox

New Symphony hall ups the culture in South Beach

30 Mar 2011 14:21:52 GMT

Globe and Mail

Composer Lee Hoiby Dies

30 Mar 2011 14:21:12 GMT

New York Times

Acclaimed Welsh tenor Robert Tear has died

30 Mar 2011 14:20:53 GMT

BBC Music