Seventy years later, Prokofiev's 'Music for Athletes' gets its premiere

"During Stalin's Great Terror, propaganda was inextricable from artists' lives. When Soviet officials organized an athletics spectacle in 1939 to mobilize youth, complete with 30,000 "physical culturists," Sergei Prokofiev composed music for the event. But when the event's choreographer, Vsevolod Meyerhold, vanished before the premiere, "Music for Athletes" went unheard. Tonight marks its first performance."

For the full story, please see nj.com.

Critics split on Wainwright's move from pop to opera

"Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright says opera saved his life more than once, and he has begun to pay it back with his first full-length work Prima Donna which premiered in Manchester earlier this month."

For the full story, please see canada.com.
Photo by Ella Mullins.

They’ve Got Those Old, Hard-to-Find Blues

"JOHN HENEGHAN tugged a large shellac disc from its brown paper sleeve, placed it on a turntable and gently nudged a needle into place. Behind him, in the corner of his East Village apartment, sat 16 wooden crates, each filled with meticulously cataloged 78-r.p.m. records. The coarse, crackling voice of the blues singer Charley Patton, performing “High Water Everywhere Part 1,” his startling account of the 1927 Mississippi River flood, rose from the speakers, raw and unruly. The record is worth about $8,000."

For the full story, please see the New York Times.

The UW Music Library has a collection of 78's. For more information, please see the Offenbacher Mozart Collection.

Vinyl LPs haven't lost their groove

"Everywhere you turn, traditional media are dying. Yet against all odds, a cumbersome, fussy and pricey method of consuming recorded music isn’t just surviving — it’s thriving."

For the full story, please see the Star-Telegram.

Photo by DGHdeeo.

New York Philharmonic May Perform in Cuba

"The New York Philharmonic, hoping to notch another exotic destination in its touring history, said on Thursday it had been invited to perform in Cuba and was seriously considering such a visit."

For the full story, please see the New York Times.

Kindle the Muse: Sheet Music Now Available for Download

"FreeHand Systems has announced that its Novato Music Press catalog, which includes thousands of classical, traditional and American music titles, is now available on Kindle. This marks the first time that a comprehensive collection of sheet music is being offered for this exciting new medium."

For the full story, please see Amazon's blog.

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Announces Grants: Washington State Arts Supported!

"This past year saw bailouts for our nose-diving auto makers and for the country's largest financial institutions. Where is the booster for the arts, an industry that produces 30,000 local jobs?"

For the full story, please see the Seattle PI.