Collaborative Piano Blog readers are known to be some of the most discerning of musicians, so the call goes out: which classical music and music education blogs are worth reading?
Leave a comment below.
Showing posts with label Classical Music Blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classical Music Blogs. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Ask the Readers: Which Classical Music/Music Ed Blogs Are Worth Reading?
Collaborative Piano Blog readers are known to be some of the most discerning of musicians, so the call goes out: which classical music and music education blogs are worth reading?
Leave a comment below.
Monday, August 01, 2011
The Top 30 Classical Music Blogs for August 2011
Sunday, July 03, 2011
The Top 30 Classical Music Blogs for July 2011
Ranking made by Wikio
Friday, June 03, 2011
The Top 30 Classical Music Blogs for June 2011
Here is the latest instalment in Wikio's classical music blog rankings and I'm glad to see CPB move up three places to #10. Elaine Fine's Thematic Catalog is an interesting addition to the list, and debuts at #19. That means that Elaine now has two blogs in the top 30, the other being Musical Assumptions at #9. Erica Sipes' blog continues its ascent, moving up from #20 to #14 in only its second month on the list. If you notice any other interesting movements or hidden gems, tell us about it in the comments...
Ranking made by Wikio
Ranking made by Wikio
Monday, May 02, 2011
The Top 30 Classical Music Blogs for May 2011
Here are the latest rankings of the top classical music blogs, courtesy of Wikio.Most of the usual suspects return to the rankings this month, and although I'm pleased to see CPB moving up 3 spots to 13th spot, it's a welcome surprise to see Erica Sipes' blog charging up the standings to 20th place. Ranking made by Wikio
Friday, April 01, 2011
The Top 30 Classical Music Blogs - April 2011
Wikio's listing of the top classical music blogs for April 2011 is out, and CPB falls 4 places to #16, which is understandable in the busiest month of the year. Ironically, this has been the blog's best month ever for traffic, with 9,922 onsite viewers viewing 19,182 pages and ~1300 subscribers viewing 14,396 articles via RSS feed.
I'm also glad to see some of my favorite blogs on the list, including Sandow, Adaptistration, Musical Assumptions, Chamber Music Today, Stark Raving Cello, and Africlassical.
Ranking made by Wikio
I'm also glad to see some of my favorite blogs on the list, including Sandow, Adaptistration, Musical Assumptions, Chamber Music Today, Stark Raving Cello, and Africlassical.
Ranking made by Wikio
Saturday, February 05, 2011
The Top 20 Classical Music Blogs for February 2011
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| Image by pebbles and stones |
1. Clef Notes Classical music and theater in Baltimore
2. Nico Muhly The official website of the New York-based composer Nico Muhly
3. Intermezzo Opera and concerts in London and beyond
4. Sequenza21/ The Contemporary Classical Music Community
5. Opera Chic I'm a young American woman in Milan...and you're not. I go to La Scala a lot...and you don't.
6. The Opera Tattler Reviews of Performances and their Audiences.
7. Adaptistration Drew McManus on the orchestra business
8. Sandow Greg Sandow on the future of classical music
9. PostClassic Kyle Gann on Music After the Fact...
10. The Collaborative Piano Blog The piano in ensemble. The piano in real life.
11. ionarts Something other than politics in Washington, D.C.
12. oboeinsight reed on!
13. Opera Today
14. Michael Huebner's Blog & Column
15. Andrew Patner: The View from Here Reflections, reviews, and reports from the Chicago-based author, broadcaster, journalist, and arts critic
16. Musical Assumptions Music is a mystery for people who play it, write it, listen to it, and write about it. The only thing I can really do when I try to say something about music is assume.
17. Proper Discord Trouble With Classical Music
18. Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog Double bass news, stories, downloads, podcasts, and more!
19. The Stark Raving Cello Blog The mostly cello, sometimes raving blog of Emily Wright
20. A Beast in a Jungle Greetings from the Barbary Coast!
Friday, December 03, 2010
The Top 20 Classical Music Blogs for December 2010
Here are the top 20 classical music blogs for the month of December, as ranked by the folks at Wikio:
Ranking made by Wikio
Ranking made by Wikio
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
The Top 20 Classical Music Blogs for November 2010
Here are the top 20 classical music blogs for November 2010, courtesy of Wikio's blog-ranking algorithm:
complete classical music listings made available by Wikio. The November rankings should be up on the Wikio site in a couple of days.
complete classical music listings made available by Wikio. The November rankings should be up on the Wikio site in a couple of days.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Wikio's Top 20 Classical Music Blogs for October 2010
Ranking made by Wikio
(Down to 14th this month...must....blog.....harder....)
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The Fall Collaborative Arts Reading List
I can't tell you how important it is for the collaborative piano field to have a healthy and productive blogosphere that expands the range and scope of information available not only to pianists but to the entire classical music and music teaching communities. I hope that the links below will put you in touch with some very important, worthwhile, and entertaining personalities from the top blogs in the profession formerly known as piano accompanying.Billie Whittaker's Good Company is always an informative read, with essential information about the nature of freelance work in the field (as well as job listings from time to time). If you're looking to get a head start on next summer, check out What are you doing next summer? for useful summer festival contact info. One of my personal favorite posts is Billie's Many Roles of Collaborative Pianists infographic.
Kennith Freeman continues to write eloquently about his experiences and views in the profession in Collaborations. A good place to start is his series Music and Worship parts one, two, and three. He also frequently writes about teaching: take a look at When a student hits a proverbial wall, Keeping students motivated, and My continued adventures in teaching note reading.
I also recently discovered Geraldine Boyer-Cussac's Geraldine in a Bottle. How to get paid covers the basics of the invoicing process, and Should you ever play for free? looks at some realistic questions to consider when we're asked to donate our time. If you aspire to be a musical director, take a look at these two articles: What it takes to be a music director and 3 ways a music director matters. Geraldine also talks about the scope of what a performing pianist can accomplish with 19 jobs for pianists.
Gretchen Saathoff's Gretchen's Pianos is another essential site to bookmark. Two recent articles on collaboration include What rehearsal playing is NOT and The "sensitive" accompanist. Gretchen also published an ebook this summer, which I'll be writing about in greater detail in a few days...
(Image via JoshSemans on Flickr)
Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Get Your Ensemble Fix from Chamber Music Today
If you're interested in keeping up with the latest and best chamber music articles, look no further than Chamber Music Today, a new site from Jerry Bowles of Sequenza 21/ (read more about the announcement here). I'm also glad to announce that the Collaborative Piano Blog will also be syndicated on Chamber Music Today. Just another day in the life of the classical music blogosphere...
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Wikio's Top 20 Classical Music Blogs for September 2010
Back in the good old days of the classical music blogosphere, many of us engaged in blog ranking projects, most notably those by Classical Convert, Musical Perceptions, and Sounds and Fury (I also created a list of top RSS feeds). The problem with creating these sorts of lists is that 1) the compilation process was extremely labor-intensive and 2) the criteria for ranking blogs is always changing. Fortunately, social media companies such as Wikio and Invesp are more than willing to fill the void with their own blog-ranking algorithms. Earlier this week, I was contacted by Wikio, and without further ado, am pleased to announce their latest rankings of classical music blogs for September 2010:
You can view the full list of classical music blog rankings here, although the updated version won't appear for a few days. Also check out Wikio's FAQs regarding how they rank blogs.
(Thanks, Fabien!)
Ranking made by Wikio
You can view the full list of classical music blog rankings here, although the updated version won't appear for a few days. Also check out Wikio's FAQs regarding how they rank blogs.
(Thanks, Fabien!)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Speedlinking - 20 May 2009
Here is the latest batch of interesting links I've found and mentioned on Twitter:
- Exhausted at this time of year? Minervity suggests 10 Ways to Stay Creative While Exhausted.
- If you're in New York City this summer, you might want to check out the Metropolitan Opera's Summer Recital Series at various outdoor locations throughout the five boroughs.
- The recession is hitting some U.S. communities harder than others. Take a look at the AP Economic Stress Index to see how your area is faring.
- Best of luck to NY-based singer and teacher Susan Eichhorn-Young on the launch of her new blog Once More With Feeling.
- Local American Idol-like competitions with a classical twist might just be one of the ways to build new audiences interested in what we do. Greg Sandow looks at the possibilities in Classical idol -- scalable.
- Yay! The arts are once again front and center in the U.S., thanks to spokespeople such as Michelle Obama.
- Who's your muse? Do you even have one? Lee Siegel in WSJ looks at the declining roles of muses in the arts.
- We're #10! Invesp Consulting's blogrank service now lists the Collaborative Piano Blog in tenth spot on its list of the top 25 classical music blogs.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Singer/Vlogger
An exciting new blog discovery this evening: professional auditionee, featuring Alecia Batson in her quest for employment in the opera world. In addition to writing her blog (which gets special kudos for being one of the best-looking and tricked-out Blogspot blogs around), Alecia also produces a vlog on YouTube that details more of her stories. Here is the latest episode, entitled Discovery/Admission:
Professional auditionee takes its place on the list of classical music blogs towards the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.
Professional auditionee takes its place on the list of classical music blogs towards the bottom of the right-hand sidebar.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Toronto's Newest Classical Music (and Coffee) Blog
With the pending reorganization of CBC Radio 2 programs and a possible lack of exposure for classical musicians in Canada this September, the importance of utilizing new media to market the arts is becoming more important than ever.
Nick Coulter is one of Toronto's best-known percussionists, who this week launched What? - A blog about coffee, culture, and other random detritus using the relatively new Posterous platform. What? is only in its first few days but promises to deliver a lively account of the percussion life in Toronto, as well as some great pics and observations of some awesome high-end coffee prep. Best of luck to Nick and welcome to the blogosphere!
Nick Coulter is one of Toronto's best-known percussionists, who this week launched What? - A blog about coffee, culture, and other random detritus using the relatively new Posterous platform. What? is only in its first few days but promises to deliver a lively account of the percussion life in Toronto, as well as some great pics and observations of some awesome high-end coffee prep. Best of luck to Nick and welcome to the blogosphere!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
#16
That's the ranking of the Collaborative Piano Blog in the latest edition of Scott Spiegelberg's classical music blog rankings based on Technorati authority, which measures the number of inbound blog links--a measure of blog popularity, although not without controversy, as the comments show on Scott's posting.
And what have I been up to in the last few weeks? After an intense but pleasurable week examining in Hamilton for RCME, Wendy and I travelled to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for (nearly) two weeks in the sun. Our stay at the Riu Palace Punta Cana was mostly uneventful, except for a few unexpected adventures related to airline delays, a relentless campaign to get a room with working AC upon our arrival, and a white-knuckle taxi ride through Bavaro to the airport on the last day. Other than that, we spent most of our time at the pool, getting getting baked in the Caribbean sun, reading, and exploring the art of the tropical cocktail. All in all, it was a great way to unwind after a busy but successful year.
A great gadget that Wendy got me for my 40th birthday (June 28th), was an iPod Touch, which allowed me to keep up with email and Facebook for two weeks through the hotel's wifi. Now that we're back, it's business as usual at the Collaborative Piano Blog, and in the coming weeks look for updates to the Degree Programs listings, more additions to the Core Repertoire project, as well as the launching of the Collaborative Piano Forums 08 on July 21.
And what have I been up to in the last few weeks? After an intense but pleasurable week examining in Hamilton for RCME, Wendy and I travelled to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic for (nearly) two weeks in the sun. Our stay at the Riu Palace Punta Cana was mostly uneventful, except for a few unexpected adventures related to airline delays, a relentless campaign to get a room with working AC upon our arrival, and a white-knuckle taxi ride through Bavaro to the airport on the last day. Other than that, we spent most of our time at the pool, getting getting baked in the Caribbean sun, reading, and exploring the art of the tropical cocktail. All in all, it was a great way to unwind after a busy but successful year.
A great gadget that Wendy got me for my 40th birthday (June 28th), was an iPod Touch, which allowed me to keep up with email and Facebook for two weeks through the hotel's wifi. Now that we're back, it's business as usual at the Collaborative Piano Blog, and in the coming weeks look for updates to the Degree Programs listings, more additions to the Core Repertoire project, as well as the launching of the Collaborative Piano Forums 08 on July 21.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Scanning the Dial and the Future of Classical Music Radio
A hearty welcome to the classical blogosphere's newest site--Scanning The Dial, written by Mike Janssen and Marty Ronish, which joins the already strong lineup of cultural blogs on Inside The Arts. Scanning The Dial will look at the changing world and uncertain future of classical music radio:
Best of luck to Mike and Marty!
What does the future hold for classical music on the radio? And in an era of iPods, XM and Web streaming, how much does radio still matter? We aim to find out.
Best of luck to Mike and Marty!
Monday, February 04, 2008
Classical Music Bloggers are Macs, Traditional Media are PCs
I had an interesting conversation at a house concert in Toronto just over a year ago. A man I was talking to that evening bemoaned the fact that Toronto only has one opera company. Excuse me? Only one opera company? Exasperated, I asked him what made him come to that conclusion, to which he replied that from listening to the radio and reading the Toronto papers, the only opera company he ever heard about was the Canadian Opera Company and wished that there were others. Still stupefied, I informed him that he was completely mistaken and that there were in fact over a dozen companies in town (in fact, there are at least 17 in the Greater Toronto area at present). He still didn't believe me. To give the papers their due, writers who work for the Globe and Mail, National Post, and Toronto Star do mention the smaller opera companies from time to time and review their work, but on an occasional basis compared to their regular coverage of large organizations such as the Toronto Symphony and Canadian Opera Company. (It must also be mentioned that The WholeNote Magazine does chronicle the entire classical scene in Toronto to its farthest reaches, although this type of magazine is a rarity in North America.)
You find a similar situation with radio stations and television, although classical radio generally has a much better record of broadcasting a wide variety of artists and works, with special kudos given to the CBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, numerous European radio services and NPR stations. Still, radio's scope is limited to classical artists that are recorded, and by its nature usually ignore segments of the classical music world that aren't represented by recordings. Classical music is featured even less on television, given the economic realities of the medium (although cameo appearances often work in the format, such as my recent interview for CBC television). And what always looms over radio and television coverage is the ever-present specter of cutbacks and cancellations.
But how does one measure success and prominence in the classical world? Shall we celebrate only a few prominent soloists and ensembles, or chronicle the masses of music educators, orchestral musicians, chamber players, soloists, university students, amateurs, professionals, and administrators that make up the bulk of the classical music world and toil in the mines far from the star-making gaze of newspapers, television, and radio stations.
But take a look at a few classical music blogs and you'll find a completely different scene, with plenty of composers, artists, companies you've never heard of, new and exciting projects, a sophisticated level of discourse, and an exciting community far from the stuffiness classical music is supposed to embody. Part of the promise of classical music blogging lies in the following limitation of traditional media:
Except for a few major newspapers, traditional news media only report on a very small segment of the classical music scene, targeted towards the media outlet's demographic, and fit into the space alloted by editors and producers.
Classical music blogs have no such restrictions, are only limited by the vision of their authors, and aren't subject to restrictions of space and economics. They are not limited by utilizing a sole medium (words), since a classical music blogger can easily expand the range of the medium through offering podcasts, online downloads, traditional books, ebooks, or even radio programs in addition to their core blog. In fact, there are huge chunks of the classical music world and its stories that literally never got their due until these types of blogs came along:
I'll be the first to admit that no media outlet is ever completely neutral--every single writer has their agenda, their issues, and plays favorites. But the classical music blogosphere seems to have a more interesting cast of players, a wider scope of activities, no publication deadlines, creates their own demographics and rules, sets their own agenda, and does it with a passion that is bringing in a surprisingly large number of new readers every month (click on the Sitemeter stats of a few blogs in case you disagree).
The impact of classical music blogging is still being created and I still feel that nobody has yet chronicled what the medium can actually do, but 2008 already feels like the year in which classical music bloggers are starting to get their cred. So load up your Bloglines, Google Reader, or NewsGator account with your favorites, get connected to a part of the music world that's actually growing, and hopefully you'll enjoy what you hear.
You find a similar situation with radio stations and television, although classical radio generally has a much better record of broadcasting a wide variety of artists and works, with special kudos given to the CBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, numerous European radio services and NPR stations. Still, radio's scope is limited to classical artists that are recorded, and by its nature usually ignore segments of the classical music world that aren't represented by recordings. Classical music is featured even less on television, given the economic realities of the medium (although cameo appearances often work in the format, such as my recent interview for CBC television). And what always looms over radio and television coverage is the ever-present specter of cutbacks and cancellations.
But how does one measure success and prominence in the classical world? Shall we celebrate only a few prominent soloists and ensembles, or chronicle the masses of music educators, orchestral musicians, chamber players, soloists, university students, amateurs, professionals, and administrators that make up the bulk of the classical music world and toil in the mines far from the star-making gaze of newspapers, television, and radio stations.
But take a look at a few classical music blogs and you'll find a completely different scene, with plenty of composers, artists, companies you've never heard of, new and exciting projects, a sophisticated level of discourse, and an exciting community far from the stuffiness classical music is supposed to embody. Part of the promise of classical music blogging lies in the following limitation of traditional media:
Except for a few major newspapers, traditional news media only report on a very small segment of the classical music scene, targeted towards the media outlet's demographic, and fit into the space alloted by editors and producers.
Classical music blogs have no such restrictions, are only limited by the vision of their authors, and aren't subject to restrictions of space and economics. They are not limited by utilizing a sole medium (words), since a classical music blogger can easily expand the range of the medium through offering podcasts, online downloads, traditional books, ebooks, or even radio programs in addition to their core blog. In fact, there are huge chunks of the classical music world and its stories that literally never got their due until these types of blogs came along:
- Africlassical - the major contributions to the classical music world from the African diaspora.
- The Concert - written by soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird, and follows her career from graduate school to the Met and beyond.
- Opera Chic - the scandal-filled world of the opera scene and its larger-than-life players.
- On an Overgrown Path - the nooks and crannies of a wondrously diverse classical music culture
- Wolf Trap Opera - the inner workings of a vibrant opera company chronicled from the drawing board until opening night.
- Oboeinsight and Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog - instrumental niches that are usually not given their due, but in fact yield a vast wealth of insight into the art and industry of classical music (in addition to being uber-cool places to hang out).
I'll be the first to admit that no media outlet is ever completely neutral--every single writer has their agenda, their issues, and plays favorites. But the classical music blogosphere seems to have a more interesting cast of players, a wider scope of activities, no publication deadlines, creates their own demographics and rules, sets their own agenda, and does it with a passion that is bringing in a surprisingly large number of new readers every month (click on the Sitemeter stats of a few blogs in case you disagree).
The impact of classical music blogging is still being created and I still feel that nobody has yet chronicled what the medium can actually do, but 2008 already feels like the year in which classical music bloggers are starting to get their cred. So load up your Bloglines, Google Reader, or NewsGator account with your favorites, get connected to a part of the music world that's actually growing, and hopefully you'll enjoy what you hear.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Discovering and Working with New Media in the Arts
If you're confused about the changing landscape of media outlets in the arts, you're not alone. Drew McManus of Adaptistration is currently writing a series entitled How To Connect With New Media. Part 1 attempts to define what new media is and how to identify new media sources (of which CPB is one). This series will be required reading for anyone in the arts that is looking to publicize artists, events, or products and wondering how it can be properly done.
Although Drew`s series is probably the first of its kind in the arts, there are already guides on how to approach bloggers, the most comprehensive being Darren Rowse`s article on ProBlogger entitled How to Pitch to Bloggers - 21 Tips.
Although Drew`s series is probably the first of its kind in the arts, there are already guides on how to approach bloggers, the most comprehensive being Darren Rowse`s article on ProBlogger entitled How to Pitch to Bloggers - 21 Tips.
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