Blog

George: A tribute

Just about one year ago, I wrote an entry to this blog in which I praised the continuing acuteness, love of life, intellectual curiosity, and wonderful humor of my friend George—aged 99. To me, he was a real-life hero. My … Continue reading

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Best line of the century

The situation in Louisville continues to make for colorful reporting. Today’s development was that the Music Director of the Kentucky Opera, Joe Mechavich, is bowing out of this week’s production of Merry Widow because the company hired replacement musicians instead of the musicians of the Louisville Orchestra: …“Given these circumstances, I am unable to continue[…]

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Why there are no solo viola careers

The major function of Twitter appears to be enabling people to write things that, after 24 hours or so of reflection, they probably would rather not have written. Case in point is an outpouring of frustration on the part of the violist Jennifer Stumm, who wrote on her Twitter feed last week: Bigwig last night:[…]

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Being a Successful Entrepreneur— There Is No One Model for Entrepreneurs—Gain Experience First

If you have read my book, Lessons From a Street-Wise Professor, think back to Chapter 9: “Five Non-Linear Career Journeys.”  These are stories of very successful entrepreneurial musicians.  I chose to include them because they represent five different areas of the music business, but I had a secondary reason as well.  They all have reached […]

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What a good board looks like

It’s axiomatic in the non-profit sector that, more than any other single factor, it’s the quality of the board of directors that determines whether institutions succeed or not. Of course, it’s axiomatic that the way to make money in the market is to buy low and sell high. That doesn’t mean it’s helpful advice. But,[…]

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“You’ve Cott Mail”

One of the listservs to which I belong is Thomas Cott’s, “You’ve Cott Mail.”  As Cott says, “It’s a free service for professionals in the arts,” and he sends it most weekdays. I’m interested in it because it doesn’t just cover music, and we musicians can learn from our brethren in other areas of the […]

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Being a Successful Entrepreneur— Don’t Be Embarrassed about Making Money

My previous blog referenced Grammy-winning composer Maria Schneider. In talking with her further, she had an interesting take on the stereotypical starving artist.  She theorizes that part of the reason record companies are able to make huge profits while the artists often make so little is because many musicians have the idea that being a […]

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Of models old, new, and broken

There’s been lots of chatter in the arts blogosphere the past few days over “the model,” most prominently in the email publication You’ve Cott Mail for January 11, which cited a number of online commentaries on the subject, including a very good one from Drew McManus at Adaptistration. But the commentaries invariably miss crucial points[…]

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Let’s make a commercial!

My orchestra did, and it was kinda fun: When Joshua Phillips signed on this season as a French horn player in the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, he had no idea the job description included taking a snowball to the head. “I was trying to do what I was told,” he explained. The instructions were coming not[…]

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1
George: A tribute
2
Best line of the century
3
Why there are no solo viola careers
4
Being a Successful Entrepreneur— There Is No One Model for Entrepreneurs—Gain Experience First
5
What a good board looks like
6
“You’ve Cott Mail”
7
Being a Successful Entrepreneur— Don’t Be Embarrassed about Making Money
8
2011 Best Reads from the Savvy Musician
9
Of models old, new, and broken
10
Let’s make a commercial!