Category - Miscellaneous

1
What Happens Backstage Stays Backstage
2
Musicians to the ice floes, please
3
Always the Last One Out
4
Tab dump 11/22/09
5
When the excellent becomes the enemy of everything
6
Not quite as nice as endowing them, but still…
7
This actually might work for Bach
8
A webcast worth watching
9
A Coup-de-Festival
10
Tab dump 11/18/2009

What Happens Backstage Stays Backstage

Well, except for the parts I’m going to tell you!  No names of course.  LOL. Seriously, performers have to be able to trust orchestra librarians to handle backstage situations with professionalism, courtesy, discretion, and, above all else, help when they need something.  It wouldn’t be right to betray that trust, so I won’t — the[…]

Read More

Musicians to the ice floes, please

If one single factor underlies the turmoil at the New Hampshire Music Festival in the minds of the musicians and the external support group SOON, it appears to be the fear that Festival management intends to replace the orchestra with another group; a NYC-based orchestra called The Knights. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the fears have[…]

Read More

Always the Last One Out

It’s just the way things are.  The orchestra librarian is the last one out of the building. Although the percussionists and stage hands might try to dispute this claim, they don’t stand a chance.  Oh yes, they obviously have their fair share of packing up after performances (it is how I got to know my[…]

Read More

Tab dump 11/22/09

Orchestras, like Google, can make money out of Internet searches – just not as much. Conductors can blog too. Conductors can also do bad and illegal things. So can some managers. Michael Hovnanian did not enjoy his very large Midwestern orchestra’s week with Christoph von Dohnányi. It’s possible to write a concerto for just about[…]

Read More

When the excellent becomes the enemy of everything

While doing some research on the New Hampshire Music Festival situation, I came across a blog post by Henry Fogel that I found both interesting on its merits and quite relevant to what’s been going on at the NHMF. Back in May on his blog on the ArtsJournal site, Henry wrote about becoming Festival Director[…]

Read More

Not quite as nice as endowing them, but still…

A local insurance company has recently bought chairs for the musicians of the Winnepeg Symphony: Thanks to long-time corporate sponsor Wawanesa Insurance, the Winnipeg Symphony proudly introduced new orchestra chairs earlier this season. “These chairs were specially designed for each WSO musician, taking into account their respective height and ergo-dynamic requirements. We went the extra[…]

Read More

This actually might work for Bach

I’m thinking last movement of the C major sonata, not the Chaconne, of course. (Hat tip to BBB Charles Noble):

Read More

A webcast worth watching

Tomorrow (Friday, Nov. 20), the NEA is sponsoring a meeting on Artists in the Workforce. It will be webcast live at 9 AM EST. The info page on the NEA website is here.

Read More

A Coup-de-Festival

A friend of mine alerted me last week to a recent series of events at the New Hampshire Music Festival. I’ve been trying to make sense of what I’ve read in news articles, on the Festival musicians’ website, and from a outside organization of dissident supporters called SOON (Save Our Orchestra Now). The only adequate[…]

Read More

Tab dump 11/18/2009

I think the principal violist should sit to the conductor’s immediate left. Mozart’s life in 5 seconds, as seen by Hollywood. Lots of people still want to be opera stars. I’m glad one orchestra recognizes that technology might make the audition process better (and greener). Norman thinks that the Met is a wuss. He doesn’[…]

Read More