Articles: Page 15

The New York Philharmonic’s recent concert in North Korea received enormous publicity from international press. The world was extremely excited about it, and the concert itself was a wonderful success, perhaps opening a door as ping-pong did in China in the 1970s. Only time will tell.
Polyphonic has been very interested in publishing personal reflections from a NY Philharmonic musician who participated in this tour, and we are delighted that Charles Rex, violinist with the NY Philharmonic, has agreed to permit us to publish this essay he wrote about his trip.
Charles is a unique observer of the NY Philharmonic’s trip to Pyongyang because he was part of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic trip to China during the Nixon era. He truly has participated in two epochal symphonies as they serve as ambassadors for peace and the US.

I recently started receiving email messages from ICSOM and ROPA about a new website for the musicians of the Arizona Opera Orchestra, who are in the midst of difficult negotiations with new management. Upon checking out www.AZOOMA.org, I discovered not only an extremely well-done website, with lots of photos, articles, and blog entries, but also some intriguing short videos. A message from Nathan Kahn, AFM negotiator, stated that this was “in my opinion some of the finest orchestra PR work I have seen in my 20 years with the AFM, and worth sharing.” I must agree!
I asked Bruce Hembd to describe the process by which he put together the AZOOMA website, working with the orchestra committee and negotiations committee to craft a public persona for the musicians who play opera in both Tuscon and Phoenix. His article should be most helpful for other player organizations who are contemplating putting up a website of their own.

In the conclusion of her analysis of musician involvement in orchestra governance, Barbara examines examples of worker involvement in governance from the for-profit world: Cleveland-based Lincoln Electric, UK chocolate manufacturer Cadbury, and the DaimlerChrysler/United Auto Workers (UAW) partnership.
Finally, Barbara presents some findings from Jim Collins seminal monograph “Good to Great and the Social Sector,” detailing how the Cleveland Orchestra set and met its goals of excellence.

In Part II of her article, Barbara Nielsen explores the nature of musician involvement in the governance of orchestras. The traditional and more common approach has been for one or two musicians to serve on the board of directors, representing their colleagues. However, a few orchestras in Denver, New Orleans, Tulsa, St. Paul, and New York City have adopted a self-governing, cooperative model of governance. Barbara explains the history behind these cooperative orchestras, and discusses whether musician involvement will make a difference.

Barbara Nielsen has an unusual perspective on the symphonic world, having worked as a professional violinist, held several senior positions with the AFM, and currently works on the “management” side of labor relations at the Metropolitan Opera. She recently completed her Masters in Labor Relations at Cornell, and has graciously permitted Polyphonic to publish an adaptation of her Masters’ thesis – a comprehensive overview of musicians’ involvement in orchestral governance.
Barbara made extensive use of the archives of the Symphony Orchestra Institute’s journal Harmony, located on this website, in researching her thesis.

I met Rebecca Krause-Hardie at a musicians’ luncheon at the League’s 2007 conference in Nashville. After discovering several mutual friends in the horn world, we started talking about how orchestras use technology. Rebecca’s extensive experience in adapting new media to the arts world impressed me enormously, and I urged her to share her knowledge with Polyphonic readers.
Her first contribution is an interview with Bob Lauver, Pittsburgh Symphony hornist, who is producing some very creative videos for the PSO’s blog.

Christopher Stager, a symphonic marketing consultant and a regular contributor to Polyphonic, had been consulting with my orchestra, the Hartford Symphony, for several years, helping our Music Director, Edward Cumming, put together each season’s program and develop a marketing plan for that program.
The relationship between the two men is a solid professional friendship, full of mutual respect, and the passion each has for music is readily apparent. One evening, in Hartford’s Catholic Cathedral where we were rehearsing a Bruckner Symphony, I noticed Chris pacing around the church, looking very excited. When I caught up with him at the break, he couldn’t stop talking about the incredible acoustics in that space, and how perfect it was for Bruckner in so many ways. Edward joined us and they were off, with Chris describing a similar Bruckner concert series in Toledo, and Edward remembering yet another Bruckner performance, and both of them talking so fast I could barely keep up.
I knew then that I had to get the two of them to sit down and record their thoughts on programming an orchestra’s season. And so they did; the results are really intriguing.

I met Mariel at a League seminar, “On the Road to Civic Stature” at the 2007 conference in Nashville. She had a lot to say during the seminar about the community engagement activities ongoing at the Atlanta Symphony. I invited her to contribute an article, explaining in more depth what the ASO is doing with their community engagement programs, and describing how the symphony is partnering with local community organizations.

This is Polyphonic.org’s tribute to those of our colleagues and co-workers who left us in 2007. By its nature it is almost certainly not a complete list. We apologize for any omissions, and will make corrections if you post them in the “Comments” area.
New this year are hyperlinks to additional information; click on the name of the individual to find out more about them.

Orchestra dress codes provide an endless source of conversation and debate among its musicians and management. Yvonne Caruthers offers up some interesting observations in this short overview.