Blog: Page 10

One of the oddities of an orchestral career is the lack of control that we have over what we play. A consequencesof that odd fact is that, towards the end of a career, it’s possible to state with some certainty that one will have played a work for the last time. I’ve been musing on […]

The League of American Orchestras recently opened registration for their 2015 Conference to be held May 27-29, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio.  They are offering free conference registrations to “musicians from League member orchestras only – cannot have any administrative or conducting responsibilities at your orchestra.” View the full conference schedule here.

Paris has a new, state-of-the-art concert hall, something the French have been waiting for since they dispatched Louis XVI in 1793, thus making possible government- funded arts venues for the people.

Bill Zuckerman, founder of www.musicschoolcentral.com, has written a recap of the January 15, 2015 Chamber Music America pre-conference workshop “How to Succeed in a Changing Musical World,” presented by the Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research at the Eastman School of Music.  You can read Bill’s article here. The pre-conference day included: a keynote […]

As musicians we often believe that we do one thing, and only one thing, really well. The reality is that musical training provides a wide range of transferable skills that are unmatched by any other discipline. Critical thinking, listening, problem solving, cognitive and physical sharpness, poise, discipline, teamwork and leadership are all present in any […]

El Sistema USA and Play On, Philly! hosted a national El Sistema symposium at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia this past week. A pre-symposium gathering, on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, January 8 & 9, gave attendees a tour of the Play On, Philly! nucleo site and a detailed description of their programs and […]

On Thursday, January 8, 2015, the Los Angeles Philharmonic announced the creation of the National Take a Stand Festival, an initiative to create a unified national platform for El Sistema-inspired programs throughout the US. The initiative will bring world-renowned conductors, guest artists and teachers to students in El Sistema programs around the country. The National […]

We have probably all come across that word BITCOIN and not given it much thought. Or perhaps we have. It’s pretty interesting as a modern financial phenomenon. My take on it is that it was created as a reaction against government and centralized monetary structures as a result of the financial collapse in 2008. It […]

The folks at soundnotion.tv hosted a discussion with Drew McManus and myself on the subject of substitute pay and how it was handled in last year’s Minnesota Orchestra settlement. The discussion was moderated (very well, I thought) by David MacDonald and Sam Merciers. It can be watched on YouTube here. I felt the discussion covered […]

There was an unusual amount of feedback on my post last week about the pay disparity between full-time musicians and subs in Minnesota and how that might have come about. Some of the feedback confirmed my suspicions that the root of the problem was a “new model” mindset on the part of some board members. […]