As orchestras increasingly program film soundtracks and music by contemporary composers, the excerpts used in auditions are changing, too.
—
Jeremy Reynolds Ross Mantle,
New York Times,
28 Oct. 2026
Blues and ragtime supplied a largely Black musical language that helped American composers break free of European operetta, even as jazz performers then gave them a life beyond the theatre.
The joy of listening to the Cecil Taylor Unit is hearing how any group of musicians could find their bearings within this maelstrom of sound.
—
Levi Dayan,
Pitchfork,
3 Nov. 2026
Keep reading to shop our top gifts for musicians and music enthusiasts at every ability level and budget for birthdays, holidays, graduation gifts and beyond.
Swift reflected on the meaning behind the words Nashville, songwriters and fame.
—
Jessica Nicholson,
Billboard,
27 Oct. 2026
Lee Thomas Miller celebrated the confines of windowless writing rooms and the catharsis that occurs inside, while also vowing to fight technology’s march toward erasing flesh-and-blood-songwriters.
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