The Chiara Quartet has decided to end working together as of September 2018.  They've been performing together for 18 years.

More on their plans can be found here.

The Houston Grand Opera is reporting that their basement is completely flooded, and their web site is down until further notice.

No official word that we are aware of from the Houston Symphony.  Their season opener isn't until September 9, though it appears that they have something on the schedule for later this week.  We'll being you more as we learn.

You can read about the Grand Opera here.

The Symphony website is up and running, complete with a suggested Hurricane Harvey playlist.  Their site can be found here.

Robots, it seems, are taking over--or will take over--many jobs people do today.  I never thought one of them would be conducting an orchestra.  But on Sept 12, robot YuMi will conduct the Lucca Philharmonic and tenor Andrea Bocelli.

The whole story is here.

Founded in 1937, the American Boychoir School is closing.  The school has been experiencing declining enrollment and financial difficulties.

The official letter from the Chairman of the Board can be read here.

Abbey Simon was injured in a car accident a year ago, and thought he might never play again.  His hands were shattered and his wrist broken.

He returned to the stage last week in Houston to perform at the International Piano Festival which he helped begin.

A local report can be found here.

Conductor Raymond Leppard turns 90 today!  

No news on any kind of celebration, so there's a link to his bio here.

Sony has announced that it will begin pressing vinyl after a 30 year hiatus.

The type of music they'll be releasing is unknown at this time.

There's a report here.

Based on a report by Drew McManus, as reported by Norman Lebrecht:

Here’s the top ten list of earners for the 2014/15 season (evidently more current information is as of yet unavailable):

1 Chicago Symphony: $2,776,869 (Riccardo Muti)
2 San Francisco Symphony: $2,715,815 (Michae Tilson Thomas)
3 Dallas Symphony: $2,657,139 (Jaap Van Zweden)
4 Los Angeles Philharmonic: $1,906,100 (Gustavo Dudamel)
5 New York Philharmonic: $1,672,450 (Alan Gilbert)
6 Cleveland Orchestra: $1,248,711 (Franz Welser-Möst)
7 Philadelphia Orchestra: $1,110,000 (Yannick Nézet-Séguin)
8 Saint Louis Symphony: $1,042,644 (David Robertson)
9 Baltimore Symphony: $1,015,937 (Marin Alsop)
10 Detroit Symphony: $828,591 (Leonard Slatkin)

The Santa Barbara Chamber Orchestra has been struggling financially, and has decided to place the upcoming season on hold while they work toward sustainability.

Ticket sales per concert have raised around $10,000 to 12,000, while the cost of presenting each concert can run as high as $60,000.

More information is available on their web site which you can find here.