A Student’s Life: The College Audition Survival Guide
It’s the beginning of February, and for aspiring young musicians across the country, that can only mean one thing: college audition season has arrived at last.
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The iTunes Abyss
One morning over winter break, I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed when I came across a blog post by Norman Lebrecht, whom I am a subscriber of (although I don’t always agree with what he has to say). Its subject was the current rankings of classical music recordings in the U.S., and how cellist Alisa[…]
Read MoreClassical Music is Off the Deathbed, Downgraded to Stable Condition
I've been disappointed by things that the current regime at Severance Hall has done and not done, but their outreach…
Has the cultural tide turned in the favor of classical music? If you live in Cleveland, your answer might actually be yes. According to a press release issued on January 14th, the Cleveland Orchestra generated a whopping 2.8 million dollars in revenue in November and December alone, representing a 47% increase from the same period[…]
Read MoreThe Importance of Listening to Background Music
There’s something about being a musician that makes it impossible to resist analyzing whatever music you might be hearing at a given moment, whether it’s a live performance of a well-known symphony or an annoying jingle issuing from the ceiling speakers of a hotel elevator. Usually, these instinctive “analyzations” tend to result in little intellectual[…]
Read MoreThe New Music School Compliment Pages: Effective or Just Plain Silly?
On a recent evening, I was browsing my Facebook newsfeed when my attention was drawn to a most curious update: one of my acquaintances, who is a student at Juilliard, had just become “friends” with “Juilliard Compliments.” Intrigued (and wondering whether the profile actually belonged to an unfortunate individual whose parents had a fondness for[…]
Read MoreLessons FROM Carols: What Christmas Music Can Teach Us About Popular and Classical Music
It’s inescapable this time of year: the sweet strains of “Away in a Manger,” the jazzy rhythms of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” or the majestic chorus of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” As the holidays draw nearer, celebrations abound, and four-thirty sunsets turn into nights of moonlit snow, the sounds of Christmas music become so[…]
Read More“The Audience is Getting Older”: Myth or Reality?
I have just seen this post and it is August 2014. i agree , something more needs to be done…
It was a quiet spring evening at the New England Conservatory of Music, and I found myself sitting alone in the school’s small cafeteria, immersed in contents of my computer screen. The weekly meeting of the school newspaper staff had just adjourned, and as a co-editor, it was my job to type up the minutes,[…]
Read MorePopular Music and the Middle School Cafeteria
Last Sunday, an ongoing debate within the classical music world picked up steam when the New York Times focused its Sunday dialogue on a letter to the editor from former Metropolitan Opera violinist Les Dreyer. Its subject was one that we musicians are all too familiar with: whether or not classical music is “dying.” While[…]
Read MoreThe Trials and Perils of “Mr. Cello”
It was just after dawn on a cold December morning, and I found myself standing in the United Airlines check-in line at Boston’s Logan Airport, firmly grasping the worn handle of my cello case. By all indications, it looked as though my air travel experience was going to be a pleasant one; the weather was[…]
Read MoreTurning the Page on the Era of Sheet Music
It was the finale of the Illinois Music Educators Association‘s 2007 All-District Orchestra concert. I, a naive seventeen-year-old at the time, had experienced the good fortune of being placed assistant principal, and was immensely enjoying the program, leading the section in selections from Tchaikovsky’s “Pathetique” and Howard Hanson’s little-known “Merry Mount Suite.” Now, the pinnacle[…]
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Hi Drew, Thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and informative response! I am very appreciative of…