Milton Babbitt, a Composer Who Gloried in Complexity, Dies at 94

"Milton Babbitt, an influential composer, theorist and teacher who wrote music that was intensely rational and for many listeners impenetrably abstruse, died on Saturday. He was 94 and lived in Princeton, N.J."

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

Learn more about Babbitt's musical life by searching the library catalog.

How Do We Fix Classical Music? Here's What You Told Us.

"Ten days ago, we posed the question: What's broken in classical music, and how do we fix it? We asked you, along with a few prominent musicians, to ponder that question and come up with a few thoughts and crafty ideas. And, heavens to Beethoven, you came up with a lot — hundreds of solutions, criticisms, praises and personal stories."

For the full story, please see NPR.org.

Larry Starr's George Gershwin

"As readers of this blog are aware, I have for some time been proclaiming a "new Gershwin" - in, e.g., the New York Times and the Times Literary Supplement. In Classical Music in America (2005), he ranks with Ives as our most important concert composer (my view of Copland, in that book, irked some reviewers). My book-in-progress is a study of Gershwin and Rouben Mamoulian, the theatrical genius who directed Porgy and Bess. And my latest Gershwin rant takes the form of a review of Larry Starr's superb new George Gershwin (Yale University Press), in the current Times Literary Supplement. Gershwin is no longer patronized as a "pops" composer, as an inspired dilettante. "The new Gershwin is versatile, protean, universal," I write. Here's the full review:"

For the full story, please see Arts Journal.

To read Dr. Starr's new book, please see the library catalog.

Shimon on marimba: Is this the new jazz?

"Shimon the robot is proving four arms are better than two. His extra limbs allow him to create a range of rhythms a human musician would find hard to replicate."

For the full story and video, please see Yahoo News.

Third of home insurers fail to cover downloads, warns Which?

"Music fans are at risk of losing thousands of pounds worth of digital music because their household insurer does not protect downloaded material, according to Which?."

For the full story, please see The Guardian.

The diva of all data: why we should take note of these musical numbers

"Here's a fun game: what was the most performed work of classical music throughout the world last year? Who was the busiest conductor? Which was the most performed opera? And who was the most overpaid diva? At last, answers to all of those questions and more (apart, alas, from the last one) are revealed today by Bachtrack, the classical music listing site."

For the full story, please see The Guardian.

Is the death of the CD looming?

"If you think the musical compact disc is dying or dead, you're probably younger than it is.

"Show me a teenager buying a Susan Boyle album on CD and I'll show you someone buying a gift for their grandparent -- for Christmas," jokes Billboard senior chart manager and analyst Keith Caulfield. "There is definitely an age component to the consumption of music.""

For the full story, please see CNN.com.

Composer's Unpublished Musical Manuscript Discovered at the University of Washington

The premiere will be on May 16, sung by Nataly Wickham, voice student of Tom Harper, and accompanied by School of Music faculty, Rhonda Kline, 7:30 pm at Brechemin Auditorium. $5 all tickets at the door (cash or check).

"A summer project to inventory uncataloged manuscripts in the Music Library resulted in the discovery of a previously unpublished two-page song, Birth, by composer Amy Beach (1867-1944)."

For the full story, please see the University of Washington Libraries e-news.

Fraternity in harmony

"On a typical Tuesday or Thursday evening in the music building, the perfectly harmonious tune of “Brown Eyed Girl” can be heard drifting up the stairs from the basement. The source of the music is the forty men who make up the UW Men’s Glee Club."

For the full story, please see The Daily.

Take a good album apart? Don't be ridiculous

"Since the Beatles signed up with iTunes, you can download individual tracks from their albums. You may start to question the band’s reputation for creative genius, however, should you download the Abbey Road classic, She Came In Through The Bathroom Window. It starts mid-beat with the guitar outro from Polythene Pam and ends with clumsy abruptness before the sublime segue into Golden Slumbers."

For the full story, please see The Telegraph.

BRITTEN THEMATIC CATALOGUE PROJECT - USER SUBMITTED INCIPIT RECORDINGS

Are you interested in recording extracts from some of Britten's
unpublished childhood works?

The Britten Thematic Catalogue [Beta version] now includes the ability
for users to submit recordings of typeset incipits, presented within the
catalog, to the project in order to be considered for inclusion in the
final published version of the resource, due for release in 2013.

If you are interested in submitting a recording to the project, please
go to www.brittenproject.org and click on the 'Britten Incipit Recording
Project' icon on the left of the homepage. Please then browse the list
of incipits required and follow the recording and submission
instructions presented. The list of required incipits will be constantly
updated so please check back on occasion to view updates. If no incpits
are present for your instrument or ensemble, please feel free to email
Jonathan Manton (j.manton@brittenproject.org) to enquire as to
availability of other extracts.

Region's best opera voices compete in Seattle on Sunday

"Hear up-and-coming operatic voices at the Metropolitan Opera National Council regional auditions, to be held at Meany Hall on Sunday."

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

Academic Minute: The Touring Pianist

"In today's Academic Minute, Duncan Cumming of the State University of New York at Albany discusses the unforeseen difficulties faced by a touring concert pianist."

For the full story, please see Inside Higher Ed.

UW trombonist, DX Arts, involved in concert at Town Hall

"Stuart Dempster, a trombonist and professor emeritus of the School of Music, teams with keyboardist David Gamper and accordionist Pauline Oliveros for a special appearance at Seattle's Town Hall on Saturday, Jan. 15."

For the full story, please see UW Today.

Talkin’ ’Bout i(Pod) Generation

"The iPod (and, by extension, iTunes) not only revolutionized the world’s listening habits early in the last decade, expanding the sheer variety of music people listen to; it also changed the manner in which people think of and hear music. It’s true that not everyone has an iPod (or an iPhone or an MP3 player of some sort), but virtually everyone understands its significance. The device holds music that fits in your pocket, offering you an easy way to listen to vastly different things, even a way to juxtapose and to mash-up music or sounds that would normally seem as far apart as a Formula One racecar and a pony."

For the full story, please see San Francisco Classical Voice.

Meet the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011

"Your votes are in. The professionals have had their say. And now, 101 people from more than 30 countries around the world are heading to Sydney Opera House to perform together in March as the YouTube Symphony Orchestra 2011."

For the full article, please see the YouTube blog.

How Mozart got his groove back

"Mozart: the image on a million Salzburg chocolates, the music at the end of a million call centre phones. One of Time magazine’s top 10 cultural figures of the millennium, Mozart probably has more CDs in the catalogue than any other classical composer, and from today is about to fill the airwaves as Radio 3 launches its complete broadcast of every note he wrote in his short life."

For the full story, please see the Telegraph.

KWJZ's smooth jazz format meets abrupt end

"Seattle fans of smooth jazz were confused last week when they dialed their favorite radio station, KWJZ 98.9 FM, and heard Dave Matthews and the Kings of Leon. At 3 p.m. Dec. 27, the station changed its format to modern adult contemporary. The station does not yet have new call letters but for now is being called The New Click 98.9 FM."

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

Milk Duds And Dudamel: The L.A. Philharmonic Hits The Multiplexes

"Sunday, Jan. 9, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and its crowd-pleasing conductor Gustavo Dudamel, will be coming to a movie theater near you."

For the full story, please see NPR.org.

Hip-Hop and Copyright Law in the Classroom

For the full story, see The Chronicle of Higher Education.

A real-life 'Mr. Holland's Opus' for Barry University

"As the sounds of La Pampeana No. 1, Rhapsody for Violin and Piano wafted through the sanctuary at Brickell's First Presbyterian Church Thursday afternoon, many an eye moistened and lip quivered.

They were there to celebrate the life of college professor and classical music master Thomas D. Moore.

``The reality is,'' said Moore, ``that I will be dead in a matter of days.''

For the full story, please see the Palm Beach Post.