Archive - 2012

1
Norman doesn’t get negotiations
2
Boston Symphony Orchestra Partners with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra
3
On the fungibility of musicians
4
Musician’s Health Issues — A Reminder to Take Care of Yourself
5
Dress for Success
6
Musicians as managers
7
Why Music Is Important: The Experience
8
Send Yourself a Text to Come in at Letter C
9
On governance
10
You Want Younger Audiences? Time to Start Listening!

Norman doesn’t get negotiations

It’s not surprising that Norman Lebrecht was right on top of the Chicago Symphony strike. It’s also not surprising that much of what he wrote missed the point or was simply wrong: Chicago is where the present inflationary cycle started when Henry Fogel, the former manager, caved in to a union demand for a $104,000[…]

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Boston Symphony Orchestra Partners with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra

I received an email on Friday from the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (formerly known as GBYSO) announcing a partnership with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Saturday, September 22, was opening night at the BSO, and their Chairman, Ted Kelly, formally announced the partnership during the gala season opening night dinner. And BYSO cellists joined BSO cellists,[…]

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On the fungibility of musicians

One of the uglier memes being spread by the proponents of the Great Attempted Orchestral Downsizing of 2012 is that cutting the pay of musicians won’t damage the quality of the orchestra because everyone is replaceable. A recent post by Chicago lawyer Kevin Moen summarizes it perfectly: Perhaps most disturbing, however, is the response from[…]

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Musician’s Health Issues — A Reminder to Take Care of Yourself

If you have an interest or concerns about musician’s health issues, you will want to check out this Special Report from Musical America. It covers topics ranging from injury prevention, (with Polyphonic.org frequent contributor, Janet Horvath, prominently represented), to health care plans for performing musicians. Here’s a sampling of “chapters.” Musician, Protect Thyself: A Few […]

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Dress for Success

The Baltimore Symphony under Marin Alsop has really been trying to change things up in the orchestra world.  A couple of years ago I wrote about plans for an orchestra  fantasy camp, (my words) for adults, and how the amateur musicians would be working with the pros of the orchestra. Apparently it has been a[…]

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Musicians as managers

My orchestra managed to startle a fair number of people the other day: In a surprising development, principal trumpeter Mark Niehaus has been named the new president and executive director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the MSO announced Wednesday. Niehaus succeeds MaryEllen Gleason, who has resigned after two seasons as the MSO’s executive to pursue[…]

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Why Music Is Important: The Experience

Do you ever buy CDs or download music used in movies? Great scores like Out of Africa, Harry Potter, Chariots of Fire, the Batman series?

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Send Yourself a Text to Come in at Letter C

I subscribe to various list-servs, and one of them is orchestra-l. It’s for musicians who are members of ICSOM orchestras (International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians). Lately there has been a lot of back and forth about musicians using electronic devices in rehearsals when they aren’t playing. Here is a sample. “Bonjour! — I […]

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On governance

Recent news about the negotiations in Atlanta, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Indianapolis have caused a great deal of discussion amongst orchestra musicians. Some online discussion got me to thinking about the role of governance in all of this, and how at least three of these situations are directly related to governance issues and misconceptions.

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You Want Younger Audiences? Time to Start Listening!

Shoshana Fanizza is the founder of Audience Development Specialists (ADS for short). It’s a company that provides services to help organizations and individuals learn how to apply audience development to their art. Find ADS here. As is the usual case now-a-days, she has a blog, and last June I stumbled across what I thought was […]

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