Mostly dead is slightly alive

Syracuse University officials fed a miracle pill to the city's dead Symphony, and they say that with love and care, it may revive soon.  Read the latest here.  Meanwhile, troubles began in Montreal, and New York City Opera eliminated the position of Music Director.  How can an opera company thrive without one?

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra announced acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman will perform with the RPO and Arild Remmereit on Sunday, January 22nd.  Mr. Perlman last appeared in Rochester six years ago.

Fall concert series information is trickling out.  Interestingly, the first major event of the Eastman’s 2011-2012 concert season features traditional Shona mbira music of Zimbabwe. 

On Friday, October 28^th, Houghton College will present a Russian chorus that morphed after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  State Symphony Capella of Russia emerged from the fragments of the old USSR State Chamber Choir and the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR Ministry of Culture.  The singing ensemble is, reportedly, quite good.

Thinkers meet this week in Rochester (August 11- 14) for the biennial meeting of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition. More than 200 scholars and speakers will compare notes on a number of topics including perfect pitch, muscle movement, and emotional responses to music.  Dan Levitin, author of the best-selling This is Your Brain on Music, will give a talk, and some sessions at the Eastman School are open to the public. Click here for details.

We’ve seen several strange twists this summer.  Alec Baldwin, host of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's radio concerts and classical music’s most prominent celebrity enthusiast, announced he’s thinking about running for mayor of New York.  Popular American composer Eric Whitacre, who outraged some with an essay on the superiority of British choirs, told a friend he’s moving to London.  And an orange dress worn by Chinese pianist Yuja Wang in LA sparked a conflagration of debate about women and music and clothes. 

You’ll be happy to know your hosts at Classical 91.5 look this good every day.  Every day! Really!