July 22, 2024

The CEO of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra resigned after admitting to some glaring errors in judgment. Apparently, his idea of balancing the budget involved billing the orchestra for his luxury club stays while renting out his own apartment.

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In this week’s email:

The big idea: New study looks at the use of extended reality for musicians
Music Business: Agency known for supporting black and Latinx string players’ careers closes
Making news: Lincoln Center Opera about Eric Garner casts spotlight on police violence
Laugh of the week
Around the web: Identify the song, read a random story, learn the most effective way to cut a sandwich, plus more curious internet finds.

CLASSICAL CHARTZ

Weekly selections are based on sales numbers and albums we simply love and think you NEED to hear!

For the complete top 20, tune into Classical Chartz with the New Classical FM’s Mark Wigmore every Saturday from 3-5 pm EST!

THE BIG IDEA

The Future of Music Collaboration: Enter Mixed Reality

A newly published study by Ghent University researchers is shaking up the music world by examining how mixed reality tech impacts musical collaboration. Musicians can now jam together in real-time using 3D avatars, creating a virtual drum circle experience that tests their ability to perform polyrhythmic patterns.

The Experiment Breakdown

Researchers evaluated performance through statistical and regression analyses, focusing on two key areas:

Visual connections: Musicians played without seeing each other, as avatars, and in real life.
Auditory context: The effects of a metronome and accompanying music on performance.

Key Takeaways

Performance: Polyrhythmic auditory cues improved individual performance and sense of control.
Visual Impact: Seeing each other, even as avatars, boosted the participants' shared decision-making and feelings of unity.
Coordination: Visual connections enhanced bodily coordination and coregulation, allowing musicians to better predict and adapt to each other’s actions.

Big Picture

This study not only highlights how mixed reality can enhance musical performance but also underscores its potential applications in broader human behavior and cognitive studies. As tech evolves, so does our understanding of collaboration and coordination in both virtual and real-world settings. — MV

TOUR DE HEADLINES

Orchestral Players at Welsh National Opera Vote in Favor of Strike Action — Members of the Welsh National Opera have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action, protesting proposed employment cuts from full-time to 85% along with a 15% pay reduction. These changes follow funding cuts and economic pressures, threatening the financial viability of musicians and the overall arts ecosystem in Wales. | The Violin Channel

San Francisco Symphony’s Financial Struggles Put Its Chorus At Risk — The San Francisco Symphony Chorus faces potential budget cuts of up to 80%, which members argue would severely impact their program and tarnish the institution’s reputation. Symphony leadership cites financial struggles, including a projected $12.5 million deficit, but chorus members believe the cuts unfairly target their budget, which only constitutes a small fraction of overall expenses. | San Francisco Chronicle

The Brilliant British Composer All But Erased By History — Frank Bridge, often overshadowed by his famous student Benjamin Britten, was a brilliant British composer whose works deserve more recognition. Known for his orchestral masterpiece "The Sea" and impactful compositions influenced by World War I, Bridge's legacy lives on through recordings and Britten's advocacy, yet he remains largely forgotten by history. | The Violin Channel

Yuja Wang Interview: ‘For 15 months I stopped playing piano, just pigged out and watched Netflix — Concert pianist Yuja Wang reflects on her career, revealing she took a 15-month break from playing piano during the pandemic to relax and watch Netflix. Despite her dazzling performances and intricate repertoire, Wang criticizes audiences for their lack of attention and expresses a desire to explore more conducting roles, likening it to "doing it with the condom off." | The Telegraph

Jan Lisiecki Review – Titanic Moments In One Man’s Fight To Free The Prelude — Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki boldly devoted his Wigmore Hall recital entirely to preludes, transitioning seamlessly from Bach to Górecki and concluding with Chopin’s 24 Preludes, Op 28. While his technique dazzled, particularly in dramatic pieces like Rachmaninov’s G minor Prelude, the lack of softer dynamics and overly fierce interpretations occasionally made the performance feel one-dimensional, leading to a partially successful experiment in freeing the prelude. | The Guardian

MUSIC BUSINESS

Agency Known For Supporting Black and Latinx String Players’ Careers Closes

Marianne Sciolino of Sciolino Artist Management announced plans to close her agency. Since 2005, she has supported the development of many racially diverse musicians’ careers.

What’s up: Earlier this month, the Manhattan-based artists’ agency Sciolino Artist Management (SAM) announced in Musical America that it will be winding down its operations. Marianne Sciolino, its founder, has been helping to guide young musicians, composers, and conductors’ careers since 2005, with a particular focus on string players of Black and Latinx racial identities. Sciolino’s clients include the Harlem Quartet, the Rolston String Quartet, the New York Philharmonic principal cellist Carter Brey, the pianist Michael Brown, and others.

Digging deeper: Marianne Sciolino worked on Wall Street before founding Sciolino Artist Management in 2005. Her late husband Chester Lane worked at Symphony Magazine for over four decades and is credited with helping Sciolino develop her passion for classical music.

While Sciolino’s departure from classical music management comes as a blow, she has been helping her clients find new representation. Thus far, Sciolino has helped her clients sign with agencies, including Suòno Artist Management, Monica Felkel Creative Partners, Blu Ocean Arts, Dinan Arts, Arabella Arts, and Epstein Fox Performances. We’re confident her retirement is well-deserved. — SS

MAKING NEWS

Neema Bickersteth and members of the recorded chorus in Movement 1 of The Ritual of Breath Is the Rite to Resist, produced by the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth (Photo by Ben DiFlorio)

Lincoln Center Opera About Eric Garner Casts Spotlight On Police Violence

Jonathan Berger’s new chamber opera, The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist, will premiere at Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City festival. The opera commemorates the ten-year anniversary of Eric Garner’s killing at the hands of police.

The scoop: This summer, the Jonathan Berger chamber opera about Eric Garner, The Ritual of Breath is the Rite to Resist, will be performed at Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City festival. With a libretto by the poet Vivee Francis, the opera highlights social injustices as well as the horrors of police violence. The libretto focuses around the daughter of Eric Garner, Erica, while sharing other stories of Black peoples’ deaths at the hands of police. The scor contains homages to jazz and Marvin Gaye, and is accompanied by drawings and paintings by the artist, Enrico Riley. A 90-person choir will be spread across the stage during the performance.

A bit more: After premieres at Dartmouth College and Stanford University in 2022, the Lincoln Center production will occur in Damrosch Park.

The creators of the piece, who connected as fellow Prix de Rome recipients, hope to spur activism as well as to commemorate the lives of Black people killed at the hands of authorities. Those wishing to engage further are invited to visit the opera’s community rituals website. — SS

GAMES

Nothing says Monday like a mini-crossword .

AROUND THE WEB

📅 On this day: Manuel de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat (El Sombrero de Tres Picos) premieres in 1919.

🖼️ Game: Identify the song, but you only get one track per guess!

📖 Neat: Read a random story.

🥪 Helpful: The most effective method for cutting a sandwich.

🐕 Awww: This lab is rocking a pink cowboy hat.

LAUGH OF THE WEEK

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Today's email was brought to you by Sara "Bagel" Schabas and Michael "Mixed Reality" Vincent.

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