As medici.tv’s Chief Content Officer I spend a lot of time thinking about classical music—and a lot of time on the internet. Here’s my selection of the top five news items you need to see this week if you want to stay in the know.
View author's page
Reading time estimated : 3 min
Jonathan Biss: “Push Your Musical Gods Off Their Pedestals” (NYT)
In the New York Times, pianist Jonathan Biss’s op-ed calls for systemic—and philosophical—change in the classical teaching system: more agency and creativity for students, less unchecked power for teachers. “If we want musicians who engage deeply with the music they play, who approach it with imagination and courage and marry instinct to insight, then we should elevate teachers who acknowledge their own fallibility and who help their students learn to think and listen critically. If we want musicians who reduce their work to a set of rules to be followed, we should elevate teachers who think they can do no wrong and demand that their students think the same.”
The NSO announced its plans for the 2026/27 season (Washington Post)
After a tumultuous year, National Symphony Orchestra, who lost their home venue in the surprise closure of the Kennedy Center (where parts of the ceiling have fallen in during planned renovation work), finally announced their plans for the 2026/27 season: about 60 performances, held at six different venues in the greater Washington area, plus a multi-state US tour in April to California, Indiana, Missouri, Nevada, and Oklahoma. This news comes as a relief, after months of worry that the season wouldn’t be able to happen at all.
Benjamin Poore: “In defense of the program note” (VAN Magazine)
In VAN Magazine, Benjamin Poore traced the history of the program note (which dates back to the mid nineteenth century) and argues that its decline today is counterproductive: “Concert halls and other organizations today are keen to democratize and demystify the music they mount and to make their work welcoming to newcomers. One reaction against the program note might be a—misguided—nervousness around the form of authority and mastery it represents, as if it recalls the high-handed manner of the sommelier. Whatever the motivations, it is bewildering that they would turn away from or diminish one of their most powerful tools for connecting audiences with musical works.”
The BSO reached an agreement to keep playing (NBC Boston)
The Boston Symphony Orchestra narrowly avoided what would have been a historic strike, amidst months of ongoing turmoil surrounding the board’s decision to end Music Director Andris Nelson’s contract.
Great reads: profiles on Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Curtis Stewart, and Lily Friedman
It’s been three weeks since our last round up and a host of fantastic interviews have popped up: Yo-Yo Ma as a guiding light for humanity, Wynton Marsalis on composing his first symphony, Curtis Stewart’s striking “24 American Caprices”, and 95-year-old piano teacher Lily Friedman.
