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What's Detroit about?

Anne Midgette writes (or, more fairly, implies) in the Washington Post that the Detroit negotiations center on …a proposal that involves not only a hefty salary cut, but a formal redefinition of the job of an orchestral musician, making outreach, teaching, and chamber concerts a part of the deal. As Stryker points out, most musicians[…]

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And now for something completely different…

The bad news arrived on such a regular basis this summer that it was a shock to see two bits of very good news arrive last week with a day or so. The first item was news of a startlingly successful fundraising campaign by the board of the New Jersey Symphony. The NJSO is an[…]

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Internal disconnects

Orchestras are different in lots of ways from most institutions in our society. But there are commonalities. One was brought home to me today when I read a blog post by a UC Berkeley prof on the tension between academics and university administrators: …university administrators and ordinary academics have totally different ideas of what counts[…]

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Another take on gender discrimination

Strings magazine has an article on gender discrimination in its most recent issue that’s worth a look. While the writer, Rory Williams, focuses on the ongoing saga of how many women have really been hired by the Vienna Philharmonic, there is also quite a bit on the situation in the US as well: The latest[…]

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Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln…

… how was your summer? While not as bad as Mrs. Lincoln’s, the summer was a downer for the orchestra industry. I’ve long suspected that orchestras were trailing indicators for the health of the economy as a whole, which is to say that orchestras get sicker and get well later in an economic downturn than[…]

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Daddy, what's an 8(d) notice?

The short answer is that it’s something that’s about to bite the Detroit Symphony management very hard. The long answer follows after the jump.

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Bloggers On Vacation

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Let the Music Do the Talking

By Ashley Garofalo I recently encountered an article by Andrew Dubber of Birmingham City University addressing a fundamental approach to marketing music in today’s industry.  He calls it, “Hear/Like/Buy.” It’s the way of the world for music media consumption these days.  Those in the market to buy are seeking music which they can add to[…]

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Opening Up The Flood Gates

This week I wrote a transcription of Saint-Saëns’ “The Swan” for tenor saxophone and piano.   After finishing the piece, I turned to YouTube to listen to various interpretations of the work.   I listened to a few cello & piano versions and then moved on to a couple of solo piano recordings, including one of Rachmaninoff[…]

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Polyphonic On Campus: Coming This Fall

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1
What's Detroit about?
2
And now for something completely different…
3
Internal disconnects
4
Another take on gender discrimination
5
Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln…
6
Daddy, what's an 8(d) notice?
7
Bloggers On Vacation
8
Let the Music Do the Talking
9
Opening Up The Flood Gates
10
Polyphonic On Campus: Coming This Fall