Tag Archives: current news

Recent News

Chicago Blues Museum Planned for 2019

Slated to open in 2019 near Millennium Park, the Chicago Blues Experience will tell the story Chicago’s blues story and celebrate the pioneering artists and the generations of musicians who have been influenced by the blues and continue to carry on its traditions. The 50,000-square-foot facility will feature state-of-the-art interactive technology that takes visitors on an eye-opening, immersive journey into the past, present, and future of the blues. Exhibitions, memorabilia, a live music venue, and restaurants will reinforce the history and culture from which the blues emerged.

Through community outreach efforts, the Chicago Blues Experience Foundation will provide positive experiences for youth through music education and immersion, creating sustainable and enriching activities for young people. The foundation’s overall objective is to use the blues and all popular music genres as an educational gateway to inspire and cultivate creativity, critical thinking, and self-expression.

Recent News

British-Iranian Composer Explores Border Issues

Following President Donald Trump’s January 27 executive order for his first travel ban, composer Soosan Lolavar was banned from re-entering the US. Lolavar was born and raised in London, but has dual citizenship as her father is Iranian. She had been a student of Iranian music at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University.

After England’s foreign secretary Boris Johnson secured special dispensation for dual nationals, she was allowed to return to the US in time for the March premiere of her opera ID, Please. Lolavar says the story, which takes place in an unnamed country, was inspired by Trump’s hateful rhetoric during the 2016 primaries. It follows the story of a border agent interrogating an assortment of passengers.

Though she did attend the premiere, she says she is torn about coming back to the country due to the solidarity she feels for friends and family who cannot cross the border.

 

Recent News

Simon Tours in Support of Biodiversity

After considering retirement last year, Paul Simon of Local 802 (New York City) has announced that he will hit the road again for a 17-city tour to benefit the Half-Earth Project, an initiative of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. The singer says that he feels that actively supporting biodiversity through performing his music makes him feel like he’s making a “greater contribution than just putting more money in my pocket, or becoming more famous,” both of which he says he doesn’t need.

In Wilson’s book Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life he proposes an achievable plan to save our imperiled biosphere: devote half the surface of the Earth to nature. Simon assures fans that his concerts will be music based saying they won’t be lectured to, though the book may be available.

Stranger To Stranger, Simon’s most recent solo album, was his first number-one hit on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums and Americana/Folk Albums charts.

 

Recent News

AFM Members to Receive Honorary Degrees

Berklee College of Music has announced that AFM members Lucinda Williams of Local 433 (Austin, TX) and Todd Rundgren of Local 802 (New York City) will be honored with honorary doctor of music degrees at this year’s May commencement. The will be recognized for their achievements and influences in music and contributions to American and international culture along with other recipients. Berklee students will salute the honorees by performing music associated with their careers in a commencement eve celebration on May 12.

 

Recent News

Foreign SXSW Musicians Denied Entry

Some foreign musicians attempting to enter the US to perform at South by Southwest (SXSW) have been turned away, and in certain cases even arrested and detained overnight after attempting to use the wrong type of entry visa. Performers arriving to tour in the US typically enter using a P-1 or P-2 “performance” visas. However, the musicians turned away thought they were legally allowed to perform in unpaid “showcase” events using a B-1 tourist visas.

Visa information on the SXSW website states: “Foreign artists entering the US to perform both at SXSW and at any other public performance, whether for compensation or not, must obtain work visas. In general, these work visas will be either an O or P visa, depending on the specific situation. Citizens of 38 countries may be eligible to register under ESTA and enter the US under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), or apply for a B visa instead … We encourage you to be very careful when using the VWP Program to perform at SXSW, the guidelines to do so are very strict.”

 

Recent News

Anti-Piracy System Makes Strides in UK

In one year the UK-based PRS for Music’s Anti-Piracy System (MAPS) has made great strides against piracy. The collection society claims it has located 5 million infringing URLs and removed more than 80% of reported links, as well as sending 136,000 takedown notices to websites linking to or hosting music illegally. The system allows users to track and request takedowns of unlicensed materials.

Recent News

Teen Takes Stage with the Boss

One lucky Australian teen got to share the stage with the Boss at a Brisbane, Australia, concert. During the concert, Nathan Testa’s sign: “Missed school, in the s—, now can I play ‘Growin’ Up’ with you?” caught the singer’s eye. Bruce Springsteen, a member of Locals 399 (Asbury Park, NJ) and 47 (Los Angeles, CA), asked Testa if he knew the guitar part and invited him up on stage.

Springsteen even took a moment to give the aspiring musician some advice: “When I was your age, I bought my first guitar, and I realized, it wasn’t how well you played it, but how good you looked doing it. So go in front of the mirror trying out different poses.”

Recent News

Keith Lockhart Honored with Commonwealth Award

Boston Pops Orchestra Conductor and Local 9-535 (Boston, MA) member Keith Lockhart was received the 2017 Commonwealth Achievement Award. Presented every two years by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Commonwealth Awards shine a spotlight on the extraordinary contributions made by the arts, sciences, and humanities to education, economic vitality, and quality of life in communities across the state. The Achievement Award is for an individual or cultural organization whose creative achievements have uniquely enriched life in Massachusetts. In 2015, Lockhart celebrated his 20th year conducting Boston Pops Orchestra. Lockhart was recognized “for his extraordinary stewardship of ‘America’s Orchestra’ and his generous civic spirit. He has done remarkable charity work at Children’s and Spaulding Hospitals in spite of his hectic schedule. Lockhart is also principal conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra and artistic advisor and principal conductor of the Brevard Music Center summer institute and festival.

Recent News

Musical Brain Scans

Mark Doidge of Toronto, Ontario, creates three-dimensional “movies” of brain activity from a clinical electroencephalogram (EEG), which he calls “portaits” of your mind. When he uses music to stimulate brain activity these works of art become displays of fireworks, bursting with color. Subjects observed while listening to music experience changes to alpha and delta waves, plus profound changes in the frontal area, he reports. To read more about Doidge’s studies of the brain and see the colorful images visit: https://www.steinway.com/news/features/cerebral-seeing-sound.

Recent News

Music Improves Reaction Times

A study from the University of Montreal published in Brain and Cognition showed that musical training leads to faster reactions times. In the study, 16 musicians who played piano, violin, percussion, and cello and had started learning as children were compared to 19 nonmusicians. The subjects clicked a mouse every time they sensed a vibration or noise. The musicians performed an average of 30% better than those not trained in music.

Study lead author Simon Landry says the results suggest long-term musical training reduces simple nonmusical auditory, tactile, and multisensory reaction times. Possible implications are that musicians make better drivers and that musical training later in life could benefit older people whose reaction times naturally tend to get slower.