Anneliese Rothenberger, German Opera Singer, Dies

"Anneliese Rothenberger, an internationally known German soprano who sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the 1960s, died on Monday in Switzerland. As befits a diva, her exact age had long been shrouded in obscurity; she was believed to have been either 83 or 85."

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

Apple Is Said to Face Inquiry About Online Music

"The Justice Department is examining Apple’s tactics in the market for digital music, and its staff members have talked to major music labels and Internet music companies, according to several people briefed on the conversations."

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

Films From the Vault

Lazy woodcutters being mocked. Potential marriage partners being evaluated. Olympic marmots being introduced. Czechoslovakia being historicized. Snow being metamorphized.

Experience a postmodern pastiche of educational flicks at our FREE and daylong Films from the Vault fest. Media Center technicians will be on hand, rolling out wizened 16mm film from our Educational Media Collection bunker and then projecting them in all of their deteriorating analog glory. While we project we will simultaneously digitize all the films for preservation at the UW Libraries.

Wednesday May 26 from 9AM to 5PM in Odegaard Library Room 220. See you then and there.

Music programming includes:

A PROGRAM OF SONGS BY LIGHTNIN' SAM HOPKINS

Noon, 8 min.

Illustrates an informal performance by Lightnin' Sam Hopkins, one of the best-known country blues guitar players alive today. He sings "Baby, Please Don't Go," "Mojo Hand" and "Take Me Back." (Release of University of Washington Press)

DISCOVERING JAZZ

4:05 pm, 22 min.

The history of jazz is traced from its roots in 19th century Black America. The Black American added rhythmic and melodic freedom to the harmony and structure of European music and contributed such techniques as note bending and call and response. Jazz soon became popular throughout the country. Its form progressed from Dixieland and blues through such styles as swing, bop, cool jazz, funky and free improvisation. Old styles of jazz never fade out yet jazz itself keeps changing as new groups contribute their ideas to this uniquely American art form.

For a full schedule, please see the UW Libraries Media Center Blog.

Search for Gerard Schwarz's successor at SSO is a broad-ranging and discreet one

"They're not looking for an exact replica of Gerard Schwarz — and they're not not looking for one.

The search committee charged with finding a new music director for the Seattle Symphony is trying to stay open to every possibility, as they scrutinize the busy roster of guest conductors in town this season and next."

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

Professor turns tables on classical style

"STEPHEN Webber has news for those who believe classical music and hip-hop could never meet. The professor from Berklee College of Music in the US has composed The Stylus Symphony, a full-length piece for turntable and orchestra."

For the full story, please see the Australian.com.

A computer program is writing great, original works of classical music. Will human composers soon be obsolete?

"Composer David Cope has a knack for describing music in the least romantic terms possible. Whenever Mozart heard something, Cope says, "He was able to digest it and store it in his database. He could recombine it with other things so that the output would be hardly recognizable." Mozart has been called many things—plagiarist, potty-mouth, politician—but rarely do you hear him accused of being a computer scientist."

For the full story, please see Slate.com.

Yvonne Loriod, Pianist and Messiaen Muse, Dies at 86

"Yvonne Loriod, the French pianist whose musical exactitude and intensity inspired numerous masterpieces by her husband, the composer Olivier Messiaen, died on Monday at a retirement home in Saint-Denis, on the edge of Paris. She was 86."

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

Piano moving requires balance, patience

"Tom Hutchinson started moving pianos when he was just out of college. He's climbed rotting staircases, suffered bruises and bashed fingers, and delivered everything from beat-up boxes to Baldwins, Steinways and a gilt-trimmed 1840s Erard."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/05/17/DDND1DDRQB.DTL#ixzz0oJZD4r21

"Jazz Loft" Making History

"An exhibit commemorating a little-known part of the New York Jazz scene will soon begin a nationwide tour. Randall Pinkston shows us the second home to some jazz legends."

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Priceless musical instruments are silent victims of Nashville flooding

"As symbolically devastating as the recent flooding in Nashville was to the home of the historic Grand Ole Opry House, the toll on another building little known outside the city's music community may well have a broader, more lasting impact."

For the full story, please see the Los Angeles Times.

Garfield High jazz band takes first place at Essentially Ellington

"Performing in perhaps the strongest field of bands in the event's history, Garfield won the Essentially Ellington high-school jazz-band competition for an unprecedented fourth time Monday night at New York's Lincoln Center."

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

'Amelia' is a profoundly personal, American story

"The waiting is over, Daron Aric Hagen's "Amelia" has achieved liftoff, and it's time for a critic to offer some impressions of the world premiere."

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

Will the Internet Kill Traditional Car Radio?

"THE Internet’s tentacles seem to have no limit, reaching out and strangling CDs, bookstores, newspapers and magazines. Now it has its sights set on the car radio."

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

Gustavo Dudamel: Making Classical Cool In L.A.

"Meet a young man who's managed to make classical music cool in Los Angeles: Gustavo Dudamel. The 29-year-old maestro, also known as "the Dude" and "Gustavo the Great," even has his own iPhone app since taking over as music director at the L.A. Philharmonic."

For the full story, please see npr.org.

At Italy’s Operas, Fat Ladies Are Quiet

"Opera houses across Italy are canceling performances because of sputtering strikes over efforts by the government to reorganize their administration. Musicians, fearful that a result will be cuts in pay, are organizing free concerts in support of themselves and other opera house workers."

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

Fairbanks composer Adams wins $100,000 national award

"Alaska composer John Luther Adams has been named the 2010 winner of the $100,000 Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition. The announcement was made today by the Northwestern University Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music in Evanston, Ill."

Read more: http://www.adn.com/2010/04/29/1255937/fairbanks-composer-adams-wins.html#ixzz0mt65WCim