Blog: Page 16

The spring issue of Symphony magazine explores how orchestras are varying what they present to concert-goers. Messing with the Model by Senior Editor Chester Lane explores new ideas from several orchestras across the country. I was somewhat surprised and quite pleased to see my own Hartford Symphony Orchestra prominently displayed in this article! The Chicago […]

In the spring issue of Symphony magazine, Don Rosenberg, former music critic of the The Cleveland Plain Dealer and the newly-appointed editor of The Magazine of Early Music America wrote a very interesting overview of the “Spring for Music” (S4M) Festival, that presented its final week of concerts this past May at Carnegie Hall, contrasting […]

I don’t generally get maudlin over luggage. But after the final bows of Boston Symphony Orchestra’s Asia tour in May, I locked my wardrobe trunk and gave it an affectionate pat. This tour may well have been the brass-clad behemoth’s swansong. Built like fortresses, BSO’s 25 trunks could last forever. Lined up backstage like dominoes, […]

The recent death of Lorin Maazel caused me to remember an article I wrote for Harmony in 2001 about the role of the Music Director, in part because his selection as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic was discussed in the article. Maazel was, with Bernstein, one of the very first Americans to be […]

Happy Summer, friends! Are you interested in writing a guest blog post for Polyphonic.org?  During the month of August, we are planning to publish a series of guest blog posts, and we want YOU to be included!  Simply send us your blog post (2000 words or less) on any music-related topic by August 1, 2014, […]

I was recently notified about an upcoming webinar being put on by APAP (Association of Performing Arts Presenters) called “The Classical Music ‘Cool’ Factor.”  It includes the following discussion topics: Show today’s audiences the importance of classical music Make contemporary repertoire meaningful Learn from past successes and challenges I thought about it, and it raised […]

At Polyphonic we always look forward to receiving one of Peter Sachon’s articles. This one is from 18 months ago and in it Peter gives us good “food for thought” around orchestral programming. It’s worth revisiting again as an Editor’s Choice.  Click here to read Peter Sachon’s “Separate but Equal.”  

(Received in my Oggle email inbox; I can’t vouch for its veracity.) The Long (Conn.) Wagner Festival announces its campaign on PrickStarter to fund an exciting new production of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, and we need your help! This innovative production will be done with a virtual conductor (MaestroData – patent pending) and fully animated CGI […]

League of American Orchestras Announces 2013-14 ASCAP Awards For Adventurous Programming The League of American Orchestras’ annual conference is taking place in Seattle this week. The League has announced the winners of this year’s ASCAP awards for adventurous programming. Their press release also includes some interesting statistics about past winners. 27 Orchestras Honored 27 American […]

In this week’s edition of The New Yorker (paywalled, unfortunately) is a fascinating piece by Alex Ross on Iván Fischer, the Hungarian conductor and founder of the Budapest Festival Orchestra. While the piece focuses largely on his unhappiness with the current rightward lurch of Hungarian politics, Ross also reports on Fischer’s views on the orchestra […]