Blog

The Lakota Music Project

Yesterday the South Dakota Symphony played its Lakota Music Project at Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer, SD in the Black Hills. http://crazyhorsememorial.org/info/‘lakota-music-project’-highlights-native-americans’-day-at-crazy-horse/ It was Native American Day in South Dakota (Governor George Mickelson renamed Columbus Day in the 1990, part of his Common Ground initiative). The Lakota Music Project has been over five years in[…]

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Actions have consequences

… as Sarah Chang has just been sharply reminded. My personal definition of “grown-up” is someone who not only understands that actions have consequences but doesn’t complain about the fact. Very, very few people pass that test consistently. But one of the times it is most often forgotten in our industry is during labor disputes.[…]

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A bad excuse to get out of a tough dilemma

Sarah Chang has canceled her Detroit recital scheduled for Monday, according to the Detroit Free Press: Some of the e-mails Chang told DSO management she received through her Web site, www.sarahchang.com, crossed the line from expressing displeasure to physical threats and career intimidation. Chang’s Los Angeles-based manager Jenny Vogel declined comment. DSO president Anne Parsons[…]

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Sarah's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad dilemma

Orchestra strikes always cause collateral damage, from lost work for stage hands to lost income for restaurants. The strike in Detroit looks to hurt someone aside from the usual suspects, though. The DSO was supposed to have its opening concerts of the season this weekend with soloist Sarah Chang. Of course the concerts are off[…]

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Why don't orchestras promote from within?

Over the course of more years than I care to remember I’ve heard lots and lots of auditions. But it was brought home to me again the other day, at another audition, that I’ve only ever heard one audition that resulted in a section musician winning a permanent titled position in their own orchestra. It[…]

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Bad cases make bad models

The NY Times has a story on what appears to be the inevitable strike in Detroit scheduled to start Monday: The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has weathered decades of strikes, deficits, criticism over its racial makeup, mediocre concert homes, cuts in state aid and canceled tours. It has always bounced back, rescuing and restoring its beautiful[…]

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America's other professional orchestras

When asked about the difference between American and European orchestras, most observers would first point to the fact that American orchestras receive comparatively little government funding. A segment on NPR’s All Things Considered yesterday reminds us that there is actually quite a lot of government funding of large-ensemble performance in the US – and how[…]

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What happened in Vegas…

is now online! To be more precise, an analysis of what happened at the AFM Convention in June has been published in Union Democracy Review, the newsletter of the Association for Union Democracy, and can be read here. Also at that address are links to articles on some of the issues that dominated the Convention.[…]

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Baltimore and Alsop Might Be On To Something

In my February 1, 2010 blog I wrote about the Baltimore Symphony’s plans for a  fantasy camp, (my words) for adults, and how the amateur musicians would be working with the pros of the orchestra.  It is the brainchild of Marin Alsop and apparently it has legs.  Two hundred fifty amateur musicians, now called “Rusty[…]

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Detroit implements

While not unexpected, this is not good news: Eleventh hour talks on Friday to head off a work stoppage at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra failed to settle a rancorous labor dispute between management and musicians…No further negotiating sessions are scheduled and DSO President Anne Parsons said Friday afternoon that management is now implementing the terms[…]

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1
The Lakota Music Project
2
Actions have consequences
3
A bad excuse to get out of a tough dilemma
4
Sarah's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad dilemma
5
Why don't orchestras promote from within?
6
Bad cases make bad models
7
America's other professional orchestras
8
What happened in Vegas…
9
Baltimore and Alsop Might Be On To Something
10
Detroit implements