Music

Arts & Culture

Where are the Black musicians in the country's largest orchestras?

Jeff Lunden

In 2014, a study found that only 1.4% of orchestra musicians were Black. In 2022, it's hard to know if that number is better or worse.
Lizzo played James Madison's crystal flute onstage in D.C., proving history rocks

Rachel Treisman

The Library of Congress had invited Lizzo to check out its flute collection during her tour stop. On Tuesday, she played a few notes on the historic instrument, twerked and declared history cool.
International

How a whiskey-fueled meeting in 1949 led to Berlin's famed techno scene

Bobby Allyn

All-night clubs in the German capital have long drawn "techno tourists." That might never have happened had a hotelier failed to negotiate the end of the city's curfew following World War II.
Pianist Chad Lawson seeks to heal in new album

Olivia Hampton

Pianist and composer Chad Lawson releases a double album recorded at Abbey Road, joined on some tracks by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, violinist Esther Yoo and cellist/composer Peter Gregson.
Local

San Diego weekend arts events: Design and dance across the region

Julia Dixon Evans

This weekend in the arts: San Diego Design Week; Trolley Dances; San Diego Ballet's "Signature Moves"; The Rosin Box Project's "Barre Crawl"; paper theaters at La Jolla Historical Society; and a Billie Holiday play at Oceanside Theatre Company.
Arts & Culture

Musicians are back on the road, but every day is a gamble

Nastia Voynovskaya

For bands on tour, one positive COVID-19 test can spell disaster. With audiences increasingly unmasked and institutional support drying up, safety is left mostly to the artists themselves.
Arts & Culture

The uneasy confessions of Alex G

Hazel Cills

As a songwriter, Alex Giannascoli has long taken a mutating, playfully distorted approach. But on his new album, full of songs about morality, he astutely focuses every magic trick in his discography.
The 'El Tiny' Questionnaire: Carin León

Fi O'Reilly Sánchez

The Mexican artist answers our "El Tiny" questionnaire, and tells us about why he thinks art is the "blood of everyday life."
Local

San Diego weekend arts events: Alexis Smith, zines, funk and kickball

Julia Dixon Evans

This weekend in the arts: Alexis Smith at MCASD La Jolla; San Diego Zine Fest; Ceelo Green plays James Brown at the Shell; the juried youth exhibition at MOPA; Sidro Saturdays in San Ysidro; and Disco Riot's "Choreo and Kickball."
International

Struggling with its past, Germany's 1,000-year-old choir admits girls for the 1st time

Rob Schmitz

Since its founding over 1,000 years ago, this Catholic music school and song group in Regensburg, Germany, has been boys only. Until now.