How Steve Jobs Changed The Way We Listen

"We listen to music in the 21st century in a profoundly different way than we did in the 20th century. And, though Apple didn't invent the portable music player, the vision of Steve Jobs (a music geek himself) and his company of designers and engineers changed our listening landscape dramatically in 2001 with iTunes and the iPod. Some of those ways are wonderful: Portability of huge libraries, shuffling, quick access to millions of songs, and custom playlists are a few of the upsides. For some, shuffling may be a bittersweet downside, like compressed sound files or isolated listening, but I think the good far outweighs the bad."

For the full story, please see NPR.org.

Rick Steves gives $1M to arts in Edmonds

"Rick Steves, the Edmonds-based travel writer and public broadcasting host, donated $1 million to the Edmonds Center for the Arts on Thursday.

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

The Summer Opera Drinking Puzzler

"We're all told it's important to stay hydrated with plenty of water — not only in the summer heat, but throughout the year.

However, no one in the opera world seems to have gotten the message. Because when characters in opera raise a glass to their lips, they're almost always quaffing alcohol of one kind or another. Yes, there's the occasional teetotaler or poison drinker, but mostly people in opera are boozing it up. Not a good way to stay hydrated."

For the full story, please see NPR.org.

Actually Useful Research About Younger Jazz Audiences

"There's a new study out on the jazz audience. And for once, it actually contains some pertinent information about younger jazz concertgoers — the demographic much bandied-about the last time there was significant data about live jazz crowds, and the one necessarily responsible for the future proliferation of jazz performances."

For the full story, please see NPR.org.

A Village Person Tests the Copyright Law

"The prefab, gaudily costumed 1970s group the Village People and its big hit “Y.M.C.A.” are enduring symbols of the disco era. But now this campy and eternally popular song has become the centerpiece of what could be a significant test of copyright law."

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

Revered maestro Vilem Sokol gave his love of music to all

"He was born in a log cabin in Pennsylvania, but his favorite place became the conductor's podium.

Vilem Sokol, who died Friday of cancer in Seattle at age 96, was the beloved godfather of the city's classical music and an internationally prominent conductor, professor and violist.

As longtime music director of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra and its Marrowstone Music Festival (1960-1988), and music professor at the University of Washington (1948-1985), Mr. Sokol shaped more than four decades of young talent, inspiring generations of students and listeners."

For the full story, please see the Seattle Times.

Listen to Sokol's recordings at the UW Music Library.

Naxos Music Library Adds Entire EMI Classics Catalog

"the complete EMI Classics catalog is now available to every Naxos Music Library and Naxos Music Library - Jazz institutional subscriber! This vast catalog of recordings includes EMI Classics, Virgin Classics, and Blue Note Records.

Today, more than 225 albums are be available in NML with the remainder of the 7200 album catalog available by the end of 2011. More details will be available shortly."

Check out our Music Library Naxos subscription at: http://www.lib.washington.edu/music/streamaudio.html

John Williams Lets His Muses Carry Him Along

"It would be hard to live in America and not know some of John Williams’s music. After six decades of working in Hollywood, much of that time in collaboration with the director Steven Spielberg, he has produced an opus — 121 film scores, a symphony, a dozen concertos and other symphonic works — that would intimidate many composers. He has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globes, five Emmys and 21 Grammys. He wrote the music for all the Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies and the first three Harry Potter films. He was the one who wrote the fearsome two-note motif from “Jaws,” and the famous five-note intergalactic message he composed for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” At 79, he is still going strong and recently finished scores for two more Spielberg movies, “The Adventures of Tin Tin” and “War Horse."

For the full story, please see New York Times.

Dance Notation for the iPad? There’s an App for That

"When Reed College in Oregon invited faculty members last fall to submit app ideas for the iPad tablet, Hannah J. Kosstrin immediately thought of what she knew best—dance."

For the full story, please see The Chronicle.

Why Do We Sit At Jazz Concerts?

"I've been thinking about this for some time, even before Anthony Dean-Harris of Nextbop wrote it. It's about how there should be more standing-only jazz shows. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it makes some good points."

For the full story, please see NPR.org.

A Faint Sound at a Concert, but Impossible to Ignore

"This was supposed to be a short review of the free concert at Avery Fisher Hall on Saturday evening previewing the Mostly Mozart Festival, which opens officially on Tuesday. And I can tell you some of what happened there."

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

Musician seeks support to solve serious problems with SGAE

"Santiago Auserón, the former frontman of Spanish band Radio Futura, is trying to find support from fellow musicians to address the situation of SGAE, the copyright-management organization that was plunged into chaos when police raided the headquarters and arrested nine of its leaders on embezzlement charges."

For the full story, please see elpais.com.