Following the dramatic cuts to the ANU School of Music, in news just to hand, the Head of School Professor Adrian Walter has been instructed to take extended leave, returning to work only if he agrees to implement the changes announced last week.
http://citynews.com.au/2012/news/music-school-chief-told-to-take-leave/
Bowerbird Collective’s newest project, Songs of Disappearance is a collaboration with BirdLife Australia and nature recordist David Stewart, the result of which is an album of pure birdsong sung by 53 of some of our most threatened species. The recording celebrates the incredible diversity of the Australian soundscape, and highlights the cost of inaction. Be…
…… in news from the US, the Philadelphia Orchestra which shocked the music world by filing for bankruptcy last year aims to revive itself after court approval of its financial plans: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/bankruptcy-court-gives-blessing-to-philadelphia-orchestra-reorganization/ ……. on the flip side, the Seattle Opera is forced to slash its programme for 2012-2013: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/27/budget-woes-prompt-cuts-at-seattle-opera/
The first of three complete ‘Ring’ cycles, directed by Robert Lepage and staged by The Met this spring, is over. The NY Times has its say: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/arts/music/robert-lepages-first-complete-ring-concludes-at-met.html?_r=1&ref=arts
As Australian opera faces a national review, Opera Queensland’s artistic director Lindy Hume eyeballs the challenges facing the art form and how it has adapted, both in Australia and overseas. “…it’s not just the companies in flux, but audience appetites and art itself. This is a rare opportunity for a rethink. The best outcome would be a blueprint…
Sound Recordist Chris Watson has spent a year immersed in the countryside around Benjamin Britten’s home in Suffolk, recording and listening to the birdsongs which inspired the composer. Watson has incorporated these songs with the music of Britten to create a unique new piece called In Britten’s Footsteps which will premiere this February. Watson says “The spatial aspect of…
The Bernstein Letters, (Yale University Press, 2013) is a selected collection of the letters of Leonard Bernstein, many of them previously unpublished. Curated by British scholar and writer Nigel Simeone, the book offers new insights into the charismatic conductor and composer through both to as well as from his glittering circle of friends, amongst them, Aaron…