Dmitri Hvorostovsky skydives ...

Seriously, dude? Yes, seriosuly, dude. Last December, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky jumped out of an airplane to the dulcet tones of Steven Tyler. He posted his jump to his Facebook account (login, but not parachute, required to view).

Bryn Terfel? Roberto Alagna? Matthew Polenzani? The gauntlet has been thrown down, gentlemen. Do you want Karita Mattilla or Renee Fleming to beat you to it?

Fleming and Hvorostovsky on Great Performances this week

Renée Fleming & Dmitri Hvorostovsky: A Musical Odyssey in St. Petersburg will air on PBS' Great Performances this week. Boston's WGBH will give the performance it's first airing this Thursday at 8pm (repeat airings to follow, check WGBH listings).

Which classical musicians are on Twitter/Facebook and what are they doing?

Amanda Ameer, via her ArtsJournal blog, Life's a Pitch, has taken a look at selected classical musician's approach - or perhaps their publicist's approach - to both Twitter and Facebook, with minor mentions of wikipedia. The list includes several people you may have seen on a Celebrity Series of Boston stage in the  past, such as Sarah Chang, Hilary Hahn, Renée Fleming, Lang Lang, Maya Beiser, and Yuja Wang. Lady Gaga is included on the list, I assume for the sake of comparison.

Check out the complete post, Doin' What Comes Naturally.

UPDATE:

Here, in no particular order and for no particular reason, is a short list of other classical musician types that Tweet. I am not endorsing these accounts, and I can't verify if they are who the names claim (hint: referring to themselves in the third person says publicist to me, not that there is anything wrong with that); I bring them to you in the name of science ...

@eighthblackbird
@evanziporyn
@SteveReich
@DawnUpshaw
@GustavoDudamel
@MaestroMaazel
@silkroadproject
@GilShaham
@DavidKrakauer
@thomas_hampson
@simonrattle