Music Journal - February 08

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Editorial - COMETH THE HOUR
The arts world is heaving with conflicting currents as the New Year unfolds. On the one hand are the Arts Council’s drastic financial shufflings, which may fatally wound the Early Music Network, City of London Sinfonia and London Mozart Players. On the other is Sir Brian McMaster’s freshly-minted report on supporting excellence in the arts. Sir Brian is a wise fellow, and his report is splendidly thoughtful: his recommendations echo many of the ISM’s own ideas. Inevitably, there are the usual truisms about art and artists; and we suspect that Sir Brian himself wouldn’t claim to be advancing a host of vastly original prescriptions. In itself, that doesn’t matter: despite what our legislators tell us, ‘new’ is not always synonymous with ‘good’, and old ideas can often be the best. So if endless repetition of an argument, with the odd variation, is the only way to persuade politicians to do the sensible thing, then so be it…  more

Feature - ‘KEYBOARDS ARE NAFF!’ — DISCUSS by Nancy Litten
Little did I think, decades ago as a piano scholar at the RAM, that I should ever be extolling electronic keyboards! I shunned pop music; I had avoided learning how to jive and twist; Elvis, Cliff and the Beatles had passed me by. The glorious world of classical music had me enthralled. I considered myself a well-rounded musician, eager to explore works from every era, be it Byrd or Birtwistle. I enjoyed the exhilaration of orchestral playing as a violinist, sang, and dabbled in composing, arranging and conducting. A few years later however, stressed by the noisy antics of my warring toddlers, I made a discovery… more

Feature - SIBELIUS 5 & NEUTRATRON PHOTOSCORE ULTIMATE by Tony Cliff
Every two years or so, the hard-working team at Sibelius software release a new version with exciting new features, and the new Sibelius 5 is certainly a major advance. Similarly, Neuratron’s music scanning program is under continuous development: the latest full edition, called Photoscore Ultimate, offers many great improvements… more

Conferences and Seminars

CPD
A round up of professional development opportunities. more