Universal Music Group International, which has prestigious label Deutsche Grammophon, expects that the Korean demand for classical music to grow faster in the coming years on the back of the country’s growing wealth and interest in the genre.“The first thing you need to invest in classical music is a market that is confident of growth. The second thing is an extremely accelerating level of wealth

Seoul Philharmonic signs long-term license agreement with Deutsche GrammophonSeoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s music director Chung Myung-whun said on Thursday the orchestra had inked a long-term license contract with Deutsche Grammophon.“It’s been six years since I took the helm of the SPO. Signing a contract with the world’s top classical music record label Deutsche Grammophon is a big step,” Chung

German violinist to hold recital on May 3 in SeoulGerman violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is coming to Seoul for the first time in three years to hold a recital on May 3 at the Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall. The Grammy Award winner’s upcoming concert is part of her Asia 2011 tour, taking place from April to May, to celebrate the 35th anniversary of her debut as a soloist in 1976 at the Lucerne Fest

South Korean singer Rain currently ranks first on the 2011 TIME 100 poll of the “Most Influential People in the World,” raising expectations that he might steal the top slot when the final results come out on April 14.The online voting started on Monday when Rain attracted some 47,600 votes, outpacing runner up Chris Colfer, the American actor of “Glee” fame, by 20,000 votes, illustrating Rain’s h

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) ― Just feet from a methadone clinic at a grimy crossroads in Portland, transit officials and police are hoping a touch of class will chase off vagrants, vandals and ne’er-do-wells that loiter near a busy transit stop.Since November, the regional transit department has approved the playing of classical music in an effort to ward off the kind of crimes that happen when people j

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― A website that sold Beatles songs online for 25 cents apiece before they became legally available has agreed to pay record companies nearly $1 million to settle a federal lawsuit.U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton Tucker signed off on the settlement between BlueBeat.com and music companies EMI Group PLC, Capitol Records and Virgin Records America on Friday. The judge ruled in

LOS ANGELES ― If the music to the Season 9, Episode 5 installment of Fox’s animated sitcom “Family Guy” had a relaxed feel, maybe it was because of the 104-degree mineral water.Glenn Morrissette helped orchestrate the score after a leisurely soak last October in the natural hot springs in the tiny northwestern Wyoming town of Thermopolis.Morrissette did his work from his recording studio on wheels

Late composer Yun I-sang’s birthplace holds concerts, master classes, lecturesTONGYEONG ― When the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra abruptly canceled its opening concert for the Tongyeong International Music Festival due to fear of radiation from Japan spreading to Korea, TIMF artistic director Alexander Liebreich said he was quite surprised and could not understand the decision.Despite the short noti

WARSAW (AFP) ― Six letters written by 19th century composer and pianist Frederic Chopin, thought to have been lost since World War II, were Thursday revealed by the Polish museum dedicated to the musical icon.Warsaw’s Chopin Museum said that it spent almost a decade trying to obtain the letters and dozens of other documents related to the composer after getting wind of them in 2003.The paper trial

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― A song by a California teenager that has been mercilessly panned by music critics has topped 30 million views on YouTube and rocketed up Apple’s iTunes charts.“Friday,” sung by 13-year-old Rebecca Black, was uploaded to YouTube last month by Ark Music Factory, a Los Angeles-based company that was hired by the girl’s parents to produce the song for their daughter.“It’s Friday, Fr

LOS ANGELES ― When pop stars Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Nelly Furtado and 50 Cent recently said they’d renounced millions of dollars they’d received for performing for members of Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi’s family, they drew attention to a growing and controversial cultural phenomenon: celebrity artists being hired by rich, powerful and sometimes disreputable clients to play at private or semi-