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Some revisionist history from the AFM

An article in the August 2014 International Musician got me thinking about Electronic Media Guarantees and their history: …[former ICSOM chairman Brad] Buckley recalled that the earliest instance of what was then called a “recording guarantee” came into existence decades ago with the Philadelphia Orchestra, during the tenure of Music Director Eugene Ormandy. The maestro[…]

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Simply Sitting Better: Looking At the Pelvis

This is the first post in our August Guest Blog Series!  Kayleigh Miller is a fantastic young violist who is dedicated to musician health.  Check out her website at www.musicianshealthcollective.com. If you follow health and movement blogs, you may have read recent headlines such as “sitting is the new smoking” and “the dangers of sitting.” […]

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Moving Forward

As musicians it is quite natural for us to occasionally question our career decisions, but what if we are thrown a curve ball and something unexpected gets in the way of our well-ordered plans?  This is, in fact, what the author of this Editor’s Choice article faced at an early point in her career. How[…]

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Experimenting with the Concert Experience: How Orchestras Are Being Creative

The spring issue of Symphony magazine explores how orchestras are varying what they present to concert-goers. Messing with the Model by Senior Editor Chester Lane explores new ideas from several orchestras across the country. I was somewhat surprised and quite pleased to see my own Hartford Symphony Orchestra prominently displayed in this article! The Chicago[…]

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Donald Rosenberg’s Take on “Spring for Music”

In the spring issue of Symphony magazine, Don Rosenberg, former music critic of the The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the newly-appointed editor of The Magazine of Early Music America wrote a very interesting overview of the “Spring for Music” (S4M) Festival, that presented its final week of concerts this past May at Carnegie Hall, contrasting[…]

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Well-Traveled Baggage: A Seasoned Violinist Gets Sentimental about his BSO Experience

I don’t generally get maudlin over luggage. But after the final bows of Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Asia tour in May, I locked my wardrobe trunk and gave it an affectionate pat. This tour may well have been the brass-clad behemoth’s swansong. Built like fortresses, BSO’s 25 trunks could last forever. Lined up backstage like dominoes,[…]

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Dominant and Tonic: Rethinking the Role of the Music Director

The recent death of Lorin Maazel caused me to remember an article I wrote for Harmony in 2001 about the role of the Music Director, in part because his selection as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic was discussed in the article. Maazel was, with Bernstein, one of the very first Americans to be[…]

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Call for Guest Blog Posts!

Happy Summer, friends! Are you interested in writing a guest blog post for Polyphonic.org?  During the month of August, we are planning to publish a series of guest blog posts, and we want YOU to be included!  Simply send us your blog post (2000 words or less) on any music-related topic by August 1, 2014,[…]

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Can We Sell Classical Music By Making it “Cool”?

I was recently notified about an upcoming webinar being put on by APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters) called “The Classical Music ‘Cool’ Factor.”  It includes the following discussion topics: Show today’s audiences the importance of classical music Make contemporary repertoire meaningful Learn from past successes and challenges I thought about it, and it raised[…]

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Separate But Equal

At Polyphonic we always look forward to receiving one of Peter Sachon’s articles. This one is from 18 months ago and in it Peter gives us good “food for thought” around orchestral programming. It’s worth revisiting again as an Editor’s Choice.  Click here to read Peter Sachon’s “Separate but Equal.”  

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1
Some revisionist history from the AFM
2
Simply Sitting Better: Looking At the Pelvis
3
Moving Forward
4
Experimenting with the Concert Experience: How Orchestras Are Being Creative
5
Donald Rosenberg’s Take on “Spring for Music”
6
Well-Traveled Baggage: A Seasoned Violinist Gets Sentimental about his BSO Experience
7
Dominant and Tonic: Rethinking the Role of the Music Director
8
Call for Guest Blog Posts!
9
Can We Sell Classical Music By Making it “Cool”?
10
Separate But Equal