Archive - July 2015

1
Remembering Vic Firth
2
The HSO: The Conversation Continues
3
Grand Rapids Symphony’s Music for Health Program
4
Baltimore’s Adult Camp
5
Saving the Hartford Symphony
6
Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society Turns 200
7
Lincoln Portrait and the Fourth of July
8
The End of Work?
9
Some thoughts on Hartford
10
Optimism in Omaha

Remembering Vic Firth

I grew up in the Boston area; Vic Firth’s name was revered as one of the most prominent “BSO men” in the area. Anastasia Tsioulcas of NPR has put together a lovely tribute to him as both a percussionist and an entrepreneur. Click here to read the remembrance at NPR’s Deceptive Cadence, complete with photos and[…]

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The HSO: The Conversation Continues

In a previous post (“Saving the Hartford Symphony,” July 9), I offered a few observations about the situation at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Briefly, the situation is that the management, which is now essentially the Bushnell under an agreement struck 16 months ago, is proposing significant reductions in the number of services offered to many[…]

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Grand Rapids Symphony’s Music for Health Program

Nathan Kahn  of the AFM’s Symphony Services Division has been telling me about the wonderful music wellness program designed by Grand Rapids violinist Diane McElfish Helle, and I plan to find out more and write an article about their work. Today I noticed that Paul Austin, former ROPA Vice President and Grand Rapids hornist, had[…]

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Baltimore’s Adult Camp

NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon had an interesting piece this past weekend about the Baltimore Symphony’s Academy Week, which was held June 21 to 27th. Amateur musicians spend a week rehearsing with BSO players, and attending sectionals and private lessons. The week culminates in a public performance of the participants and BSO musicians[…]

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Saving the Hartford Symphony

As you may have noticed, tensions between the management and the musicians of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra have been heating up as the two sides try to agree on a new contract. Management, which basically now means the Bushnell [Center for the Performing Arts] under an administrative arrangement put in place a little more than[…]

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Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society Turns 200

Claiming to be the oldest continuously performing orchestra in America, the Handel and Haydn Society celebrates 200 years this year. The Society gave the American premiere performances of Verdi’s Requiem in 1878 and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in 1879. The Society was created at the conclusion of the War of 1812, giving a performance of[…]

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Lincoln Portrait and the Fourth of July

Copland’s Lincoln Portrait is not terribly popular with orchestra musicians, mostly (I suspect) as a result of over-exposure to bad performances. It invariably gets scheduled on pops programs and outdoor concerts, usually with the lowest-ranking staff conductor who’s in town at the time, and generally with narrators chosen more for who they are rather than[…]

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The End of Work?

A fascinating article was published recently in The Atlantic, which takes a look into the future and considers the possibility that machines could continue to replace more and more of the modern workforce (or reduce the amount of time workers need to work).  It also considers the impacts on leisure time, the arts, and artists.[…]

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Some thoughts on Hartford

The Hartford Symphony has been in the news recently, and not in the way that orchestras want to be: Behind the two-year dispute between the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and the musicians union over a new labor agreement is the symphony’s effort to remake itself to appeal to changing audiences and tastes. The orchestra says it’s[…]

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Optimism in Omaha

An article came out a couple of weeks ago on Omaha.com with some positive news from the Omaha Symphony.  Attendance during the Symphony’s 2014-15 season was record setting, and even subscription packages to multiple concerts are on the rise. Pretty exciting.  Of course, the question is why. Why are more people coming to the symphony[…]

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