Blog

About that Strad vs modern violin study thingy…

My colleague Frank Almond did a very thorough take-down of the whole thing here: “These instruments were loaned with the stipulation that they remain in the condition in which we received them (precluding any tonal adjustments or even changing the strings), and that their identities remain confidential. All strings appeared to be in good condition.”[…]

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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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Being a Successful Entrepreneur — Don't Dilute Your Product in Order To Make Money

Some musicians feel that they must dumb-down their music in order to be “successful.” I once had a conversation with Maria Schneider in which she made an interesting observation: many musicians who are focused solely on making money underestimate their audiences.  She commented that some musicians seem to think that if they write or present […]

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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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Invisible Musicians

At the end of this blog is a letter to the editor that was published in the December 13 Louisville 
Courier-Journal. In it the writer laments the absence of an orchestra at this year’s Nutcracker performance. The tone of her letter is typical of what I had read in the past when ballets have opted […]

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My 2012 Professional Resolutions

As I contemplate the new year, 2012, these are my professional resolutions.I will:

1. Get involved politically, making donations as I can to the political candidates I support. Too often I’ve promised to do this, but haven’t. This year, as it appear…

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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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1
About that Strad vs modern violin study thingy…
2
Diversity and the theater world
3
Being a Successful Entrepreneur — Don't Dilute Your Product in Order To Make Money
4
Journalist in need of Fisking
5
A different view of orchestra economics
6
NLRB says we can be unionized – for now
7
O sweet mystery of life
8
Invisible Musicians
9
My 2012 Professional Resolutions
10
Of choirs and orchestras