Jane Little, record holder as the Atlanta Symphony’s longest-serving bassist and Guinness World Records inductee, died last Sunday at 87. The musician collapsed onstage during a performance by the orchestra, playing bass until the very last moments of her life.
Normally a classical musician wouldn't be equated with world records, but one member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has defied expectation. Bassist Jane Little, 87, has now been inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for longest professional tenure with a single orchestra.
While some high contenders in the mainstream battled it out last night for a much-desired Grammy, some of the other winners were unintentionally swept under the rug. For the classical genre, though, some artists made out quite well. They included the St. Louis and Seattle symphonies, Pierre Boulez, Jason Vieaux and more.
In the days following the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's collective bargaining agreement, the company kicked off the season with a performance of Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5 and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, led by ASO music director Robert Spano.
After a frontline conflict between musicians and management, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has found common ground and effectively ended the current lockout. Over the last two days, the agreement was ratified by the membership of the ASO Players' Union and approved by the Woodruff Arts Governing Board.
As of late, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has had a lot on its plate. With negotiations still in the works, musicians and demonstrators alike took to the picket line, which was outside the Susan Boyle concert-- of which the singer crossed to perform.
A dark cloud continues to loom over the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
The fight between the heads at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and its musicians has been viciously ongoing. For the parent organization, their next move targets the kids as they suspend the Atlanta Symphony Youth Orchestra and its auditions this season.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has started a significant downturn amid negotiations between musicians and management. In response to the negative comments regarding the lockout, the ASO shut down the "comments" section on the website.
The status of orchestras across the nation seem to remain steeped in perpetual turmoil. The Metropolitan Opera avoided a lockout, but now the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Saturday night deadline passed without a new contract agreement. This could mean a lockout to could ensue.
Performing symphonies have had their fair share of debacles this year--and The Metropolitan Opera's problems, while having been solved for now, may have marched to the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's doorstep.
If you're going to give a community Christmas concert, why not five? And if you're going to do it out in the community, why not take the music to five different places? Why not, indeed? The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra see no reason why not and so have done just that.