Latest news with #Chorus
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
The finale after the finale: S.F. Symphony Chorus shines in Verdi's Requiem
Like a baseball game rescheduled after a rainout, there was one more concert on the San Francisco Symphony's season calendar after last week's grand finale with outgoing Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen. The orchestra staged its makeup performance of Verdi's Requiem on Friday, June 20, a concert that was canceled during the Symphony Chorus' strike in September last year. James Gaffigan generously stepped in to conduct the work, which Salonen would have led in the fall. The program is slated to be repeated on Sunday, June 22, at Davies Symphony Hall. After its extraordinary contributions to Salonen's farewell performance of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2, the Chorus showed it was worth every penny of the anonymous $4 million gift made in the months following the strike. The singers came to the fore not just in the 90-minute Requiem, normally programmed by itself, but in a first part that included three choral pieces by Gordon Getty, himself a generous donor to the Symphony (and a co-founder of San Francisco Classical Voice). Getty's works are genial, melodic and accessible, and Gaffigan, a friend of the composer, led them deftly and with evident care. The Intermezzo from Getty's 2017 opera 'Goodbye, Mr. Chips' begins delicately, with spare lines in the marimba giving way to the harp, then acquiring a more definitive melodic profile in the strings. It's a meditative piece that finds an unexpected climax when the choristers interject a school hymn, almost as if overhead from afar. The Chorus also gave fine performances of 'Saint Christopher' (2024), which features effective writing for voices, and 'The Old Man in the Snow' (2020), a more substantial work in several sections that Getty skillfully sets apart with different instrumentation, including a trombone choir, keyboards and mallet percussion. If the performance of the piece as a whole lacked finesse, their contributions were nonetheless stellar. The singing was artful, from the opening 'Requiem aeternam,' with the sound humming in the air through the nasal consonants, to the explosive 'Dies irae' and the stentorian 'Rex tremendae.' The women made a luminous entrance in the 'Lacrimosa' at the line 'Huic ergo parce, Deus' (Therefore spare him, O Lord), and the whole chorus concluded with the fearful declamation and hortatory final fugue of the 'Libera me.' The singers encompassed the range of Verdi's writing in finely balanced sound that pulled emotion from every chord change. Gaffigan's conducting, however, emphasized drive and the titanic climaxes while shorting the Requiem's poetic side. Certainly, this is a public religious work, conceived as a memorial to Italian art — first to the composer Gioachino Rossini and then, when that initial plan fell through, to author Alessandro Manzoni. But it's not only theatrical. This interpretation was driven by inflexible tempos and a sameness to all of the climaxes and fortissimo outbursts that ultimately became wearing. Though the orchestra played well, earning deserved applause, the performance was missing a sense of transcendence and the overarching struggle of mourning and fear giving way to tranquility and acceptance. The soloists — soprano Rachel Willis-Sørenson, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, tenor Mario Chang and bass Morris Robinson — were generally excellent. The notable exception was Chang's effortful 'Ingemisco' prayer, sung without any bloom in the tone and generally unresonant and unconvincing. The violins joined Willis-Sørenson in a moving 'Sed signifer sanctus Michael' (Let the standard-bearer holy Michael), the soprano singing sweetly in one of the score's many standout lyrical moments. If there had been more of those, this Requiem would have been even better.
Otago Daily Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
Loss of copper network in rural areas decried
The owner of a remote Maniototo farm and distillery is calling a move to deregulate copper networks in rural New Zealand "farcical" and potentially dangerous, but a Chorus boss warns today's copper is less reliable than people think. Lammermoor Distillery — based on a 5200ha property in the Paerau valley — has a landline listed on its website, but how the company continues to connect with customers is up for debate as decision-makers in Wellington decide on a policy that would enable Chorus to withdraw remaining copper services around the country. Susan Elliot, of Lammermoor Distillery, said it did not make sense to take the copper network away in areas where fibre was not available to replace it. "Taking the copper away from us is a health and safety issue. "The whole thing is farcical. They really don't give a stuff about the farmer." She said she had lived in the valley for 40 years and had never felt more isolated than she did now. "It's just another nail in the coffin for rural New Zealand." A little further up the road, Matakanui farmer and district councillor Tracy Paterson said cellphone coverage could be "quite sketchy" in her neck of the woods, even with flagged network improvements. Ms Paterson said any loss of the copper network would impact some more than others. "Connectivity for a lot of elderly people in the community is probably quite a big concern, while younger people are quite happy to go out and source different things that are available." The simultaneous shutdown of 3G as copper withdrawal conversations were under way required proactive planning, she said. "I know that for us at the moment, we're looking at the drop down of 3G, and it's going to be a big issue for some of our software that we use, and we're going to have to do a whole lot of upgrades for that. "So there's quite a few things to do with connectivity that are going to be a bit of a nuisance." Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith is due to make a decision by the end of the year on the future of the copper network in rural New Zealand, off the back of a recommendation by the Commerce Commission that was consulted on earlier this year. Anna Mitchell, of Chorus, responsible for retiring the copper network, called it "end of life technology" used by fewer than 107,000 New Zealand households — of which fewer than 1000 were in Central Otago. Of the 75,000 households around the country still on copper and located outside of the coverage of the fibre network, about 850 were in Central Otago, but other options, including fixed wireless broadband from major mobile providers, regional Wireless Internet Service Providers, and satellite solutions, could keep them connected, she said. "Today, more people are choosing faster, more reliable technologies ... with the majority of rural New Zealanders already having made the switch to an alternative technology to copper." Other options could often be cheaper and more reliable and did not have to mean the death of the landline, Ms Mitchell said. Anyone still using the copper network would be notified before any change to it was made in their area, and "given plenty of time to transition", she said.
RNZ News
09-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Possible phase-out of copper networks could be dangerous, remote residents say
Copper electrical power cable wire. Photo: 123RF Alarm bells are ringing for some households in remote parts of the country if Chorus phases out its copper network to replace with fibre instead. The Commerce Commission has closed submissions on a draft recommendation to deregulate the copper network from rural areas, like it has in urban areas. The Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith is due to make a decision by the end of the year. But if it goes ahead, people in rural or remote areas say it will cut off their lifeline as they don't have access to other options to communicate or get help in an emergency. Robyn lives in Lake Rotoiti near Rotorua. Her household relies on the copper network for its internet connection. In the bay where Robyn lives, there's no phone signal and their copper landline has been removed so Robyn has to make calls on WI-FI. Her street relies on the copper network for its internet connection, but if heaps of people are online at the same time, it often is overloaded. "If you moved here and tried to get a connection you won't be able to. They keep putting more on so every night at peak hour our internet goes down which means our phones go down. "Then they're telling us they're going to take the copper away but they're not putting fibre here, we've got no cell-phone coverage, and we can't get satellite either as we're in between two hills." If the copper network is de-regulated, Robyn will have no way to call emergency services. "That's actually dangerous cause I have some health issues and if my husband's not here and there's someone [not] with me, I've got no ability to call emergency services." Chorus has to keep the copper network in rural areas, but it has asked the government if it can be freed from that like it has in urban areas. The Commerce Commission agrees and has drafted a report that it has been taking submissions on. Submissions have now closed. A Taupo resident - who doesn't want to be named - lives 10 kilometres away from the town centre and relies on the-copper network-for-her-landline-and-internet connection. There's no phone signal where she lives. If the copper network is taken out earlier, she felt she would have little options to stay connected. "What these providers want to do is they provide all these really good services and fibre and super-fibre; they provide it to where all the big populations are because it's worth their while but they're not providing it according to any need." One solution that has been put forward is Starlink - a portable kit that's designed to provide high-speed internet for anywhere. But the Taupo resident is worried about the reliability of Starlink, especially if there's bad weather. Craig Young from the Technology Users Association New Zealand said for some people, the network was their lifeline. "It's Telehealth, it's health and safety, being able to call for ambulances if there's an accident. "It is about mental health, we know from situations like Cyclone Gabrielle when people can't connect or be connected, mental health suffers as well, it's not just about physical health. "There's all sorts of impacts if you can't make those connections, let alone it's very hard to actually live and work these days as so much is done online." Young said affordability of other methods of connection was also a problem. Starlink's residential plan costs $159 per month. He said people who work from home would also be affected by the potential changes. "It's not just remote rural that has an issue, but it's anywhere that can't get a decent wireless connection. "Pushing fibre further is one possibility and so it has to be a programme where not just Chorus look at, but also the National Government to make sure no one is left behind." Young said Aotearoa didn't have universal service obligations like Australia, so a service didn't have to be installed if there wasn't one already. Starlink can be vulnerable to bad weather but it's still in its infancy. Young said over the next few years more satellite providers were likely to come into the market. "If the deregulation is left until later in the decade, and Chorus have said they do really want to switch the network off by 2030, and I think all of us have some sympathy with them that the network is getting older and less and less people on it. "But what we need to make sure is that people have other viable, cost-effective options to be able to connect and particularly, in times of emergency." Mark Hooper from Federated Farmers. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin Mark Hooper from Federated Farmers said he'd like to see more government investment in rural infrastructure. He said there had been anxiety around the deregulation of the copper network. "We need to look at the whole infrastructure model, the current government has made infrastructure investment a priority and there's a lot of talk about roads and bridges and other aspects that are desperately needed. "But I think just as a part of that process we need to make sure we don't lose sight of having a permanent investment in a good fibre network and reaching to as far into rural communities as practical." Submissions from the report will be finalised for Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith by the end of the year. He'll then decide whether to go ahead with it. Chorus general manager Anna Mitchell responsible for its copper retirement programme said fewer than 100,000 New Zealanders were using the copper network. She said for 97 percent of people remaining on the copper network, there were three alternatives available. "A geostationary satellite option, low earth orbit satellite [like] a service like Starlink as well as a fixed colour service. So, all New Zealanders are covered by something and for 97 percent they have multiple options." She said people can opt for Starlink's residential light service which is $79 or the full plan of $159. There were misconceptions the copper network was particularly reliable, she said. "We saw in Cyclone Gabrielle services were eight times more faulty on copper than fibre, 10 times more likely in the Auckland floods to go under than fibre. "If we get a major weather event with copper, we can have entire services washed out that can't be restored for weeks. "Part of this is putting in perspective. If you have a satellite service with an uninterruptible power supply, you can actually be far more resilient on a service like that than you would be on the copper network." The copper network would not be shut off overnight, she said. "We're working through this over the next four or five years and we've been engaging with the government with stakeholders we're working to find those solutions and to make sure that people are comfortable switching." Chorus general manager Anna Mitchell. Photo: Supplied She said 80,000 households were outside of the fibre network. "Chorus has been really strong and advocating that we need to extend fibre further, we have put in a bid to the infrastructure priorities pipeline." Head of Telecommunications at the Commerce Commission Rachael Coyle said the draft decision on copper deregulation was based on data, legal and economic reasoning, but they understood that it didn't fully address some of the concerns rural consumers had raised. "While we're limited by the legislation in terms of how we can address these concerns, we believe rural copper consumers deserve the same level of protection and consideration that urban consumers received during the urban copper withdrawal process. "Technological advances mean most rural consumers can now access multiple alternative technologies that are often more reliable and affordable than copper. Rural consumers continue to move off copper and onto cheaper and better performing alternatives in large numbers." She acknowledged technology change could be difficult for consumers. "Not all consumers will get their first choice of technology and provider, which also happened in urban areas during copper withdrawal. "We're making sure that our final decision considers the needs of these consumers and supports them through any possible changes." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-06-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Copper network rollback could leave communities disconnected
technology rural 39 minutes ago There are alarm bells ringing for some households in remote parts of the country as Chorus looks to phase out the use of its copper network to replace with fibre. The copper network is what we need for old-school landlines and broadband internet. But the commerce commission is looking to wind it back, it has closed submissions on a draft recommendation to stop copper from being used in urban and rural areas. The Media and Communications Minister is due to make a decision by the end of the year. If it goes ahead though some people left without copper won't have access to get help in an emergency or stay connected. Bella Craig reports.
Scoop
09-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Australian warship takes rural fixed wireless broadband offline
Australian warship disrupts wireless networks, Spark warns cloud adoption is stalling, Chorus updates its outage map, and 2degrees teams with Datacom. Plus: Freeview adds HD, and telcos react to proposed right-to-repair laws. Primo spots FWB outage as HMAS Canberra passes Taranaki Primo managing director Matthew Harrison says a visiting Australian warship took a number of his company's fixed wireless broadband access points offline as it passed down the Taranaki coast. In a LinkedIn post Harrison writes: 'This morning, an Australian warship took out many 5GHz wireless networks across parts of New Zealand. From around 2am, we started seeing our 5GHz APs drop off the Primo network – DFS hits firing off all down the coastal area of Taranaki as the ship's radar swept the area.' DFS or Dynamic Frequency Selection is a way 5GHz WiFi devices can increase their performance by using unlicensed frequencies. Military radar systems use the same frequencies and, as Harrison reveals, this can override civilian applications. Primo is a broadband provider servicing the Taranaki region. It operates fixed wireless broadband networks and has some fibre. 'We've never seen anything like it here before' Harrison says other wireless ISPs were affected. He says Inspire Net Limited in the Manawatū and TPNet NZ in Nelson also reported outages. He says this wasn't a mere blip: 'It was full-scale, military-grade radar triggering built-in safety protocols designed to protect airspace… and it rolled across our network in sync with the ship's movement.' The incident underlines the need for New Zealand Radio Spectrum Management to speed up the release of frequencies in the 6 GHz band. Spark says cloud adoption stalling thanks to security, skills concerns New Zealand cloud adoption may be surging ahead, but Spark warns businesses' ability to make best use of the technology often fails to keep up. Spark's State of Cloud 2025 report surveyed 400 IT decision makers. It found many organisations are not investing in the governance oversight and technical skills needed to make the most of cloud technology. The report found the majority (70 percent) of New Zealand businesses believe cloud is 'critical to their future strategy and growth'. Yet only a third (34 percent) have well-established processes and infrastructure in place. Spark makes a credible sales pitch for cloud services: 'Businesses that fail to prioritise cloud as part of their core strategy may struggle to keep pace with competitors who are already leveraging cloud for scalability, agility, cost optimisation, and are therefore more able to respond quickly to market demands and emerging trends.' It goes on to say that cloud is essential for AI and other emerging technologies. However, two thirds (67 percent) of those surveyed say their cloud infrastructure could be better leveraged. One in ten say their current cloud setup is inefficient and hinders business goals. Mark Beder, Spark's enterprise and government customer director, says there's a danger that organisations treat cloud as an IT issue. He says: 'New Zealand businesses risk being unable to scale innovation and realise ROI from advanced technologies. It's time to bring cloud into the boardroom and recognise it as the next competitive edge for businesses.' Chorus upgrades outage map Chorus says its Internet Outage map is now smarter and clearer after a series of upgrades. Dan Kelly, the company's general manager of access, says its an important tool to update customers: 'On the rare occasion there is an outage, we also know how important it is to customers to know we're aware of the fault and are working to fix it. Ensuring everyone can rely on their internet connections is our top priority.' The improvements include a clearer and more precise view of outage areas so customers can immediately see if they are affected. Customers can now dig deeper for more detailed outage information. This includes live status updates, an explanation of the issue and details on what's being done to fix it. There are also estimates of the time and date services will be restored. In normal times, maps get around 1000 views a day. Kelly says this rises fast when there is a major disruption. 'During Cyclone Gabrielle, the outage map saw a sharp increase in usage, with 43,583 views in just one week.' You can see the map for yourself at: 2degrees, Datacom pair to chase enterprise accounts Datacom managing director Justin Gray and 2degrees chief business officer Andrew Fairgray. A 'preferred supplier' partnership between 2degrees and Datacom will see the two companies formalise an arrangement previously used to offer enterprise and government customers a one-stop shop. Together they can offer an entire technology suite covering IT, networking, cloud, cybersecurity and mobile. For Datacom, the deal means being able to offer customers a more complete range of services. The company's managing director Justin Gray says mobile, a 2degrees speciality, is now a key part of contract discussions. Gray goes on to say the partnership opens the door to new opportunities: 'It's simple, but smart, and I am confident it will help us both win business… A preferred mobile and IT services partnership between Datacom and 2degrees represents the coming together of two organisations that share a mutual goal'. Freeview adds high-definition TV for satellite users Freeview says it now offers high-definition television on its satellite service. The company says this is possible because it has upgraded its satellite TV technology to DVB-S2, a second generation broadcast standard with more bandwidth. Broadcasters have to update their transmission systems to make use of HD. Freeview GM Leon Mead says TVNZ was the first to upgrade to HD. At the time of writing TVNZ 2 and Duke offer HD nationwide while TVNZ 1 offers HD in Northland and Auckland. Elsewhere it offers improved picture quality. In other news… Spark in line for $47m windfall from Hutchison takeover The NZ Herald's Chris Keall writes about a transaction in Australia which could reap Spark a much needed cash injection. However the story goes on to say Spark may be able to do better if it doesn't take the offer currently on the table. At Reseller News, Rob O'Neill dives deep into responses to the Green Party's right-to-repair legislation. While the idea is well-intentioned, it could have far-reaching effects and cause more problems than it solves. IDC has cut its forecast for worldwide phone shipment growth from 2.3 percent earlier this year to 0.6 percent, which is effectively a flat market. It puts the blame on economic headwinds and notes the continued uncertainty from the US over tariffs is not helping. The Download Weekly is supported by Chorus New Zealand. Australian warship takes rural fixed wireless broadband offline was first posted at
