From a new essay in the US Spectator by Nicholas Finch, the Louisville Orchestra’s principal cellist, undermining an ill-advised critic in the New York Times:
The fight for equality in America has been long and hard-fought. Sometimes a multi-generational upheaval has been required to undo old notions and myths. But there have been a few times when a new process enabled these changes to happen almost overnight. In the world of classical music, no change was more consequential than the instituting of blind auditions, whereby the musician auditioning for a position is behind a screen, and the only thing a panel can adjudicate is the sound of music….
I am the principal cellist of American ICSOM Orchestra — the Louisville Orchestra, led by our brilliant young music director Teddy Abrams. I have taken countless auditions for other orchestras behind the screen. I have also served on and led audition committees. While the process certainly has its imperfections, I have seen just what a powerful bias-neutralizing force they can be.
In spring 2019, I led an audition for two spots in our cello section. Numerous people I know and love were among the applicants. Could I have been biased in favor of any of them? Of course. Did I have any idea who was who behind the screen? No. We ended up hiring two fantastic cellists, who happen to be female….
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It’s the 9th of Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day of historic disasters.
Kathryn Smith Bowers, director of music education at Webster University for 24 years and an enthusiastic member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, has died after heart surgery.
She composed a body of choral music.
Accused of tax fraud by a political enemy in Milano, Claudio Abbado was charged by prosecutors in 1976 with concealing part of his earnings.
The case bounced from one court to another for the next 44 years.
Opera Australia has called off its digital production of Wagner’s Ring cycle, due this November due to issues related to Covid travel and social distancing.
The plan is to reschedule the show, directed by Chinese-American Chen Shi-Zheng, some time in 2021.
Cancellation was left to the last possible moment.
The company hopes its ticket holders ‘will appreciate the reasons for this decision and are as delighted as we are that we can provide certainty with the rescheduled season in late 2021. We’ll be able to announce those dates in the coming days.’
Among the most pointless Covid-era initiatives we have seen is this new film of the London Mozart Players doing their stuff in an empty mall.
The playing is average, there is no dynamic differentiation, musical balance is poor and the filming is repetitive and limited. You hardly hear any inner parts, especially the violas. All you will remember is the matching masks.
This kind of gesture does music little good.
Atlanta Opera has corraled a dozen international opera singers living in the city into Atlanta Opera Company Players.
The aim, says artistic director Tomer Zvulun, is to rebuild the art from roots up. ‘Saying that these recent months have been devastating to the performing arts world is an understatement. It’s time for The Atlanta Opera to step up and create a program based in our community, that’s all about belonging and giving back. Some of the best international talent in opera lives down the street from The Atlanta Opera, and these artists want to stay home, perform here safely and connect with their community. We have been dreaming of creating a European-style ‘fest model,’ and now the time is right. There are far more world-class artists based in Atlanta and the southeast than these magnificent twelve, and we only wish we could have included them all. Together we plan to present a season full of fantastic collaborations, a sense of community pride and the potential for artistic fireworks.’
The ensemble members are: sopranos Jasmine Habersham and Talise Trevigne; mezzos Jamie Barton (pic), Daniela Mack and Megan Marino; tenors Alek Shrader and Richard Trey Smagur; baritones Michael Mayes and Reginald Smith Jr.; bass-baritone Ryan McKinny; and basses Kevin Burdette and Morris Robinson.
Chrissy Kinsella, Chief Executive, London Music Fund, has come right back at us with some cogent home truths. Go, Chrissy:
The debate about whether learning music makes children ‘smarter’ is one that never seems to reach a conclusion. Numerous studies around the world argue that music does, in fact, improve cognitive function, strengthens neural pathways and contributes to educational attainment, though this Slipped Disc post suggests that new research from Dr Giovanni Sala found that it does not. This is an argument that will never be won, by either side. But we are focusing on the wrong outcome.
Searching for evidence that music supports educational attainment is not an argument for keeping music present in schools. The debate about the positive impact of music in the curriculum is stronger than ever. The DfE have recently suggested that schools remove ‘non-core subjects’ from the curriculum over the next 12 months to allow children to catch up on work that may have been missed during lockdown, a suggestion that was (thankfully) met with horror by education specialists up and down the country. In fact, the Tri Borough Music Hub have created a post-Covid ‘recovery curriculum’ for schools, based around music and singing, to help children get back into structured learning and support their wellbeing.
In arguing whether or not music makes children better at maths or english, we are doing the very essence of music education a huge disservice. Learning a musical instrument, singing, making music with others or alone, provides an enormous sense of joy, recreation and comfort. It allows us to be a part of something bigger than ourselves. It allows an escape from the difficulties of the day. There is enormous research on how much music helps emotional and mental well-being. We have seen first-hand during lockdown just how much the world has turned to the arts in order to get through the anxiety and stress of recent times.
At the London Music Fund, the Mayor of London’s music education charity, we have seen the enormous impact of how music has helped the children that we support since the lockdown began in March. We have heard from them about the fun and relaxation they have gained from being able to continue learning and practising their instrument, and the outlet it has provided. Online music making can not and will never be a replacement for making music with others in person, but at time when we can’t make music in groups, the connection and community that can be found online is enormously important. Children have told us how music has helped them to forget their difficulties during this time, allowing them to switch off from frightening and scary news, to relax from stressful days, or home-learning, to connect with something that reminds them of their friends and ‘normal’ times, to give them some semblance of familiarity and routine. Perhaps, most importantly, they tell us every day that it makes them happy.
Learning an instrument or singing, or even just listening to or experiencing music – live or recorded – allows us to connect with others, to make music and fulfil a fundamental human need to be creative. The additional benefits are wide-reaching and may well include cognitive function, academic attainment, etc, but the experience of learning and doing music for music’s sake – for the sheer joy of music – must never be underestimated.
The Danish composer Bent Fabricius-Bjerre has passed away at a great age.
In 1962 his instrumental composition ‘Omkring et flygel’ was retitled ‘Alley Cat’ and sold a million copies, reaching #2 in the US charts and #1 in Australia.
It’s instantly recognisable.
The theme was used in several films, among them Duets (2000), starring Gwyneth Paltrow, and Imaginary Heroes (2004), starring Sigourney Weaver.
New research suggests that music lessons do not help children improve their other cognitive skills such as reading and maths.
A review of 54 scientific studies involving 7,000 children says learning an instrument provides no boost in other areas of study.
Dr Giovanni Sala, who led the research at Fujita Health University in Japan, said: ‘Our study shows that the common idea that “music makes children smarter” is incorrect.
