Author: Mike Rush

“If scenes from Pixar’s ‘Soul’ look and feel like a real New York City classroom—they should—a Queens music teacher helped school the filmmakers on the details,” writes Michael Elsen-Rooney in Thursday’s (12/31) New York Daily News. “Peter Archer, a band teacher for more than 30 years at Middle School 74 in Bayside, Queens, served as a consultant on the movie, which has Jamie Foxx voicing Joe Gardner, a middle-aged teacher and musician. Archer, 58, helped pinpoint everything from the aesthetic of a middle school band classroom to the emotional tug of balancing a passion for music and a love of teaching. ‘The movie starts in my classroom at school … it’s a modification, but yes, it’s my room,’ said Archer, an accomplished trumpet player and full-time teacher…. In the new film, which began streaming on Disney Plus on Christmas Day, Foxx’s character grapples with his purpose after a brush with the afterlife.… The collaboration with Archer started with a surprise phone call … in 2018…. The longtime teacher’s … life experiences dovetailed almost perfectly with Pixar’s new hero…. The final version of the film includes several clips of Gardner’s work with students in the montage of memories.”

“The Grammy Awards are being postponed until March 14 due to coronavirus-related concerns,” writes Jem Aswad in Tuesday’s (1/5) Variety. “ ‘After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our host and artists scheduled to appear, we are rescheduling the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards to be broadcast Sunday, March 14, 2021,’ a statement reads.” The statement was signed by officials and producers of the Grammy Awards event and telecast. “The show, which is scheduled to be hosted by ‘The Daily Show’s’ Trevor Noah, was originally scheduled for January 31st. The move is not entirely unexpected…. For months, the Grammys have been contending with the countless complications involved in staging a major awards show that ordinarily has an audience of 18,000-plus people…. The initial general plan was to hold the event at its longtime home of the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with either a limited or no audience [and later for] the show [to] be held ‘in and around Downtown Los Angeles,’ opening the possibility that performances could be staged from multiple venues in that area.” Click here to see The Hub’s announcement of the 2021 classical and orchestral nominees.

Colorado’s Boulder Philharmonic has been partnering with Head Start, the national preschool pro-gram, and early-education provider Integral Steps to bring its Early Explorers music education pro-gram into area preschool classrooms. This fall, the Early Explorers Program went to classrooms at Boulder County Head Start’s preschool program for low income and underserved communities, with the orchestra’s music-education partner Integral Steps. The six-week curriculum covering orchestral music, singing, and dancing included a visit by a member of the Boulder Philharmonic percussion section who performed and answered questions. Additional sessions took place at Head Start’s weekly outdoor classes at the Dagny Center in Lafayette. Music, movement, and active listening are included in the curriculum, which highlighted Stravinsky’s Firebird. The Early Explorers program, now in its second school year, is funded in part by a $30,000 grant from the League of American Orchestras’ Futures Fund.

“The Amsterdam Concertgebouw has announced that [conductor] Fabio Luisi has been forced to cancel his Christmas Matinee concert with the orchestra having tested positive for Covid-19, requiring him to quarantine for ten days,” writes Susan Elliott in Friday’s (12/18) Musical America (subscription required). “Klaus Mäkelä, 24, … will step in for Luisi. The program has been changed as well, to Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony and Debussy’s La mer. The Christmas Matinee is broadcast by AVROTROS on 25 December via Dutch national radio station NPO Radio 4 (at 2 p.m. CET) and on television via NPO2 (at 3 p.m. CET). Outside the Netherlands, the concert is streamed on 26 December through https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/en/watch-listen. Queries as to Luisi’s health have not yet been answered either by the Dallas Symphony, of which he is music director, or the Concertgebouw.”

“Arts-focused nonprofits were largely forced to close their doors for several months in 2020, gradually reopening with occupancy limits and new safety regulations,” writes Marla Miller in Sunday’s (12/20) West Michigan Business News (Grand Rapids). “Arts leaders responded by moving programs and concerts to a virtual format…. West Michigan Symphony … moved concerts online. The live performances are recorded at the Frauenthal Theater, and subscribers and paid ticket holders receive an access code to watch for a limited time…. The symphony will continue with the virtual format until it is safe to gather indoors for live concerts—something president and CEO Andy Buelow hopes resumes later this spring or by fall. But … ‘We’re looking at this at an opportunity to operate in some new ways going forward,’ Buelow said, noting he received an email from a patron in Arizona who watched ‘Home for the Holidays’ online because they go south for the winter…. The symphony scaled back its orchestra ensembles and reduced other expenses…. ‘We weathered 2019-20 just fine, but 2020-21 is going to be harder,’ … he said. ‘The longer this drags on, the more challenging it becomes.’ ” Also covered are several other West Michigan-based nonprofit organizations.

“Sakurako Fisher … stepped down as the Symphony’s board president, after eight years, on Dec. 9,” writes Joshua Kosman in Tuesday’s (12/22) San Francisco Chronicle. “Her tireless work ethic, her deep involvement in every aspect of the Symphony’s operation, and her eagerness to challenge comfortable truisms about how things should be done—all these add up to the portrait of a leader who, at 61, has taken a forceful role in moving the Symphony forward…. ‘She has a way of respecting an organization’s legacy and the contributions people have made, while at the same time pushing people to think differently about the future,’ says CEO Mark C. Hanson…. The array of organizational challenges Fisher has confronted [include] finding a successor to Michael Tilson Thomas … a search that culminated in the 2018 hiring of Esa-Pekka Salonen…. Perhaps her most determined energy has been spent in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion, where Fisher has been a key player…. Investment banker Debbie McCoy, who joined the board two years ago, said Fisher’s commitment to progress on that front had helped persuade her to get involved…. Fisher will remain on the board after passing the baton to her successor, Priscilla Geeslin.”

“The Kansas City Symphony announced Thursday it will start off the new year with a scaled-down return to its home stage in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts,” writes Laura Spencer in Thursday’s (12/17) KCUR radio (Kansas City, MO). “Concerts scheduled from January through March 2021 will take place with a smaller-than-usual orchestra, distanced and with masks on…. Music Director Michael Stern is slated to conduct 10 concerts…. And conductor Jack Everly will lead two concerts in the Pops series…. Programming for April, May and June is expected to be announced in late February. The Symphony worked with a team from the University of Kansas Health System to put new protocols in place. Attendance at Helzberg Hall will be limited to … fewer than 300 people…. During the pandemic … the organization invested in a new digital platform, MySymphonySeat.org, so viewers can watch performances from home…. Kansas City, Missouri’s emergency order limiting gatherings to a maximum of 10 persons remains in effect until Jan. 16. The symphony’s new concerts are slated to start on Jan. 17. ‘It’s my hope that the order is not extended, but if it is extended, we will adapt,’ executive director Danny Beckley said.”

“Its December concert was canceled, but Wichita Symphony Orchestra still wants to provide holiday entertainment,” writes David Burke in Sunday’s (12/20) Wichita Eagle (KS). “It’s doing so in several different ways: a string quartet concert on KPTS, the world premiere of a piece devoted to a Wichita landmark, and Zoom recitals featuring several of the symphony’s performers. ‘At Home for the Holidays with the Wichita Symphony’ will air on KPTS … Christmas Eve and … Christmas Day… A string quartet of concertmaster Holly Mulcahy, assistant concertmaster Timothy Jones, principal violist Catherine Consiglio and principal cellist Leonid Shukaev will perform the 30-minute program, recorded before the canceled Dec. 6 concert…. The quartet was filmed without an audience, but Mulcahy said, … ‘The cameramen after some of the pieces couldn’t stop applauding.’ ” Also covered are the orchestra’s December world premiere of George S. Clinton’s Prairie Reminiscence for string orchestra, streamed on the Wichita Symphony’s Facebook page; and weekly Zoom recitals run by Mulcahy and marketing manager Arleigh McCormick. The Zoom recitals were “also a springboard for connections such as Music Director Daniel Hege’s online introduction to composer Wang Jie, whose piece was played by the symphony in its October concert.”