The Guardian Unlimited published an article on 8/20/06 about how the Vienna Symphonic Library, a new software package designed to reproduce the sound of acoustic instruments, is capable of mimicking “human musicians in the performance of greats such as Bach, Beethoven and Mozart so convincingly that a casual listener to Classic FM would be unable to tell the difference”. At first, I was intrigued but after hearing a file of the music myself I think it’s just hyped-up hogwash, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun with all of it…
How Bill H. R. 4 Is Going To Help The Orchestra Business
According to CNN, President Bush is expected to sign bill H.R. 4 into law today designed to buttress America’s pension system. For the orchestra business, this new legislation promises to eliminate one of the more contentious issues surrounding collective bargaining agreement negotiations at many large budget organizations…
Classical Connections
Edmonton Symphony music director and pianist Bill “The Classical Music Guy” Eddins, snuck in his latest Podcast right before I left for vacation. Entitled Watch The Birdie, it’s an installment with a heartwarming special dedication…
A Cultural Casualty From The Foiled Airline Plot
Although the planned terrorist activity was thwarted by authorities in London last week, that doesn’t mean the event didn’t successfully inadvertently strike a blow to the orchestra business. In particular, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (OSL) had to cancel its scheduled performances at the Edinburgh International Festival and BBC Proms this week. Of course, canceled tours are always cause for disappointment, but due to OSL’s unique operational structure, the cancellation has deeper consequences…
Hometown Plug
Although I don’t typically plug websites, I want to point out a Chicago based classical music cooperative blog, chicagoclassicalmusic.org…