Blog: Page 4

I’m pleased to report that I plan to attend our first rehearsal next Saturday morning, September 26th, and expect to receive a paycheck in early October. The Hartford Symphony musicians had a rally on the steps of the state capitol in Hartford at noon on September 9th. AFM representatives from New England and New York locals […]

As I suspected, there are two radically different schools of thought regarding the Great Carnegie Hall Governance War. The first is expressed well by Norman Lebrecht, who wrote: When Ronald Perelman took over as chairman from Sandy Weill in February, he announced he wanted changes – more rock music and contemporary culture, less of the […]

Added to the age-old question – “how do you get to Carnegie Hall?” – may be a new one: “how do you run Carnegie Hall?” It look as if the answer might turn out to be “don’t serve on the board of directors.” Two days ago the Wall Street Journal reported on a dispute between […]

It was with great pleasure that I read the news that the Portland Symphony in Maine has named Carolyn Nishon as their new Executive Director. Carolyn has been with the PSO since 2008, serving in a variety of positions, most recently as General Manager. Carolyn replaces Lisa Dixon, who had been in the position since […]

September 15, 2015 – 8PM Eastern Nick Finzer, Composer, arranger, trombonist Description: Are you thinking about recording and releasing your own recording? You won’t want to miss this hangout with trombonist and music entrepreneur Nick Finzer. Get Nick’s tips on how to successfully navigate the process of recording and releasing your own recording: ideas for funding […]

I saw an article on a colleague’s Facebook page last night and had to share it. A story in the Chicago Maroon, the student newspaper of the University of Chicago, describes the long ordeal of violinist Alison Dalton, whose vision suddenly deteriorated while on tour with the CSO in Hong Kong. She was later described as having Bull’s Eye […]

Whatever airline horror story you have about lost or mishandled luggage, I’m pretty sure Robert Black can top it. Robert, as many of you around here know, is a brilliant, nationally recognized double bass player and teacher. He is perhaps best known for being a founding member of the avant-garde music ensemble, the Bang on a […]

Facebook brought me the news this morning that George Cleve died yesterday. I knew he’d had health issues for a long time, but this hit me like a brick anyway. I first worked for George in 1974 upon my return from studying at a rather strange school in Switzerland known as the Institute for Advanced […]

Polyphonic thought it would be interesting to take a look at the lives of “typical” members of regional orchestras, where the orchestra doesn’t pay a living wage. Obviously there is no such thing as a “typical” regional orchestra musician – we all do different things to make ends meet and earn enough to pay the […]

Monday morning at 9 AM, three members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra sat before microphones and tried to explain to their community why the HSO is in such trouble. I was one of those three. And none of us were truly able to explain why we are where we are. The radio program was courtesy of […]