Author - Robert Levine

1
Diversity and the theater world
2
Journalist in need of Fisking
3
A different view of orchestra economics
4
NLRB says we can be unionized – for now
5
O sweet mystery of life
6
Of choirs and orchestras
7
For the musician with self-esteem issues
8
Who represents whom – and when?
9
More on the Colorado flap
10
Michael Kaiser was right

Diversity and the theater world

Tom Loughlin, who is chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance at SUNY Fredonia and has considerable performing experience in professional theater, takes on the diversity issue in his world and comes to some conclusions that could fairly be called politically incorrect: According to The Broadway League 2010-11 Demographic Report, the Great White Way[…]

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Journalist in need of Fisking

It’s hard to read most of the arts reporting in this country and not wonder what else the media gets wrong. The latest example of this, an article on the Dallas Symphony’s current situation titled How Long Can The Dallas Symphony Afford To Play In The Red? popped up yesterday: That the symphony is in[…]

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A different view of orchestra economics

In Los Angeles at least, one observer believes it’s all about the parking: Anyone scanning Disney Hall’s debut calendar in the fall of 2003 would have noticed the size of that first season’s schedule, 128 shows in all. That’s a weighty number for a new hall—one might have assumed it was chosen by venue management[…]

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NLRB says we can be unionized – for now

In what may be the last NLRB decision in a long time, a few days ago the Board ruled that musicians in several per-service orchestras were employees and not independent contractors, and thus could force their employer to recognize their union as bargaining agent: The National Labor Relations Board has found that musicians playing for[…]

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O sweet mystery of life

…or one of them at least – is what conductors actually do. I thought it was all about the hair; Justin Davidson thinks it’s more than that: “Knowing the score”—the expression implies mastery, but it doesn’t suggest the sustained and solitary study that’s required to achieve it. There are a few miles of roadway that[…]

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Of choirs and orchestras

There was a story the other day on our local public radio story that got me thinking about one of the key differences between choirs and orchestras: their relationship to the beat: We revisit our conversation with classical choral composer Eric Whitacre, who has just been nominated for a Grammy for his latest CD “Light[…]

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For the musician with self-esteem issues

This study is about visual artists, but I think it should apply to us as well: According to some scientists, even human beings are just trying to make it in the animal kingdom, and everything we do can be traced back to basic survival. Man hunt, man fight, man eat, man… paint? In 2000,Geoffrey Miller[…]

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Who represents whom – and when?

Drew McManus rather raised the profile of the current controversy in Colorado with his post last Friday: Since the Denver Post published an opinion piece written by former Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) board members Heather K. Miller and Bruce Clinton, the field has been abuzz with backchannel discussion over the tone of the letter (in[…]

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More on the Colorado flap

Reactions to the opinion piece written by former Colorado Symphony board members Heather Miller and Bruce Clinton have been quick and generally angry. They fall into three lines of thought; the first was best summarized by Drew McManus at Adaptistration, who wrote: …But the question that should cross your mind at some point while reading[…]

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Michael Kaiser was right

I don’t find myself in agreement with Michael Kaiser very often, but he sure hit the nail on the head when he wrote this a few days ago: It is difficult to see a way out of a chronic deficit, and board members — who are volunteers after all and rarely sign up for a[…]

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