Local and Industry News

Marilynn Wick has bought the Wick Theatre for $5 million. Wick took over the closed and bankrupt venue formerly known as the Caldwell Theatre in 2013, with an option to buy. Wick is now embarking on a $5 million fundraising campaign, a program to double the subscriber base, and is creating a children's theater to launch in 2017. She is also constructing an orchestra pit in the theater with the intent of having live music for most of the shows next season, and eventually live music for all shows.

A new study from the University of Washington shows that music may help babies learn language. The study, by postdoctoral researcher Christina Zhao, showed that music training for babies as young as nine months old improves their ability to notice when rhythms of speech change, which is an important skill for learning to talk. A previous study has shown that six-year olds' ability to perceive rhythm is strongly linked to grammar skills.
 
The Curtis Institute of Music has received $55 million from Nina Baroness von Maltzahn. Maltzhan is currently chair of the board of directors. The gift is the largest single gift the school has received since its founding. The gift will support the school's endowment and its touring activities.

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 ASCAP has agreed to pay $1.75 million to settle federal antitrust charges. ASCAP was accused of including exclusivity provisions making ASCAP an exclusive licensor in some of its agreements. Those provisions violate Department of Justice regulations that give songwriters and publishers the right to independently license their music to anyone.
 
According to Midia Research and reports by the RIAA and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, music downloads are soon to be replaced by the subscription model. Streaming revenue now equals download revenue and is predicted to equal ten times download revenue by 2020.

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Nashville Symphony musicians have ratified a two-year financial reopener. Wages for the final two years of the agreement will increase by 4.5 percent (for next season) and by 5.3 percent (for the 2017-18 season.)
 
The Southwest Florida Symphony Endowment Foundation has received a bequest of $75,000 from the estate of Reginald "Jerry" Havill. Havill, a generous patron and chair sponsor, passed away last September. The Endowment fund is worth $2.75 million and the Symphony's goal is to increase the endowment to $5 million by 2020.
 
The Memphis Symphony and the University of Memphis have announced a partnership. The orchestra will be rebranded as "The Memphis Symphony Orchestra in Residence at the University of Memphis." The orchestra's office will relocate to the U of M campus and the orchestra will perform a "full season" of music in the University's $40 million music center, which is scheduled to be completed in 2019.
 
The city of San Antonio and a group of stakeholders have pledged renewed support for the San Antonio Symphony. As a condition of the support, the Symphony will be required to end the practice of "borrowing" advance ticket sale revenue to cover current expenses and will be required to reduce the costs of guest performers. The Symphony is expected to balance its accounts by the end of the 2017-18 season.
 
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