Who says orchestras have no sense of humor? On April 1, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra announced that its musicians were ditching tuxes and gowns in favor of bib overalls by the Detroit-based Carhartt firm. Other April Fool’s Day spoofs included an April 1 story in Cleveland’s Plain Dealer reporting that Richard Waugh, a Cleveland Orchestra violist who stands 6 feet 8 inches tall, had been drafted to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers pro-basketball team. The University of Michigan announced a new policy banning cell phones in its concert hall and installing pay phones. In New York City, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre announced a reality television series, Desperate Measures, in which composers vie to be the next big name in new music, featuring Speed Composing and “composer confessionals.” On April 1, Classics Today reviewed a new recording of The Who’s Tommy featuring the Berlin Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, with Ben Heppner and Roger Daltrey “morphed into a single vocal entity for ‘Pinball Wizard.’” And finally, a new “recording” of Beyoncé piano transcriptions demonstrated that even Alfred Brendel wasn’t immune.
