Archive - 2014

1
How important are the views of wealthy donors?
2
Is tenure good for musicians?
3
Another reason to love Milwaukee
4
Hot not
5
Change; as in “have we”?
6
Armistice Day
7
The Struggle of Harmony and Invention
8
Playing for Alzheimer’s Patients
9
Polly Kahn Describes Community Outreach
10
We’re Going to Brag (But Just a Little)

How important are the views of wealthy donors?

A recent kerfluffle in academia over an academic appointment made – and then unmade – by the University of Illinois to an academic who was accused of anti-Semitic tweets has raised the question of just how much influence big donors have over matters that traditionally were in the sole purview of the faculty and academic[…]

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Is tenure good for musicians?

An interest in the law inclines me to surf amongst the legal waves on the Internet, leading to the occasional odd discovery relevant to my day job. This post from the blog Lawyers, Guns and Money caught my eye: Recently Kyle Graham, a professor on the tenure track at Santa Clara Law School, announced on[…]

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Another reason to love Milwaukee

Milwaukee has long been known as the most German city in the United States, and with cause. German immigrants and their descendants were the dominant ethnic group for much of Milwaukee’s history. The last full-time office staff of Local 8, who retired several decades ago, was a gentleman by the name of Al Goetz who[…]

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Hot not

OK, Buzzfeed‘s not the most… respectable… source for articles about our business. But this one (which is complete with pictures) demands some pushback: 18 Classical Composers, Ranked By Hotness Players gonna play 18. Wilhelm Richard “Velvet Cap” Wagner Here we see Wagner reclining on a basket of flowers, all like, “You can ride my Valkyrie,[…]

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Change; as in “have we”?

There was a wonderful review on Slate recently of a book by legendary San Francisco photographer Fred Lyon. The book is called San Francisco: Portrait of a City 1940-1960, and the review included a number of pictures from the book. I grew up south of San Francisco on the campus of Stanford University. My family[…]

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Armistice Day

Yesterday was Veterans Day in the United States. But, in Great Britain, Canada, most of the Commonwealth countries, and several European nations, it’s known by an older name – Armistice Day. And originally it commemorated the end of World War I at 11:00 AM on November 11, 1918. Veterans Day is taken seriously in the[…]

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The Struggle of Harmony and Invention

The concert was a joy from start to finish. Aisslinn is not just a gifted Baroque violinist playing with true style and power, but a great performer and communicator whose energy and passion for the music set the audience alight

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Playing for Alzheimer’s Patients

I’m playing in the “Symphony in the Schools” program this year with the Hartford Symphony, and we recently had several professional days where each of the seven ensembles performed for the others. We also spent some time talking about the program with our new Education Director; we play in senior centers and assisted living facilities,[…]

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Polly Kahn Describes Community Outreach

Polly Kahn recently stepped down from her position as Vice President and Leadership Development  at the League of American Orchestras after 14 years of devoted service. (She hasn’t left the orchestra field, however; I’m certain we will all benefit from her vision and wisdom in the future.) Polly was immersed in training individuals to make[…]

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We’re Going to Brag (But Just a Little)

So—most of you reading this know that Polyphonic.org is an initiative of the Institute for Music Leadership at the Eastman School of Music, and some of you also know that our site is funded by Paul R. Judy, a philanthropist and former CEO of A. G. Becker, an investment banking firm. But, only a small[…]

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