Community Engagement: Page 2

In the Fall issue of Symphony magazine, Aaron Flagg describes a concert by the Seattle Symphony during the League’s annual Conference. The concert featured a performance of “Baby Got Back” by rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot; Aaron compares it to the chaos that erupted at the first performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. “The Seattle Symphony’s performance […]

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 […]

I’m playing in the “Symphony in the Schools” program this year with the Hartford Symphony, and we recently had several professional days where each of the seven ensembles performed for the others. We also spent some time talking about the program with our new Education Director; we play in senior centers and assisted living facilities, […]

Polly Kahn recently stepped down from her position as Vice President and Leadership Development  at the League of American Orchestras after 14 years of devoted service. (She hasn’t left the orchestra field, however; I’m certain we will all benefit from her vision and wisdom in the future.) Polly was immersed in training individuals to make […]

Storytelling is an essential part of every culture. People are always eager to hear or relate a story whether from a book, a film, a play, a remembrance from childhood or a recent vacation.

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 […]

Peter Renshaw calls for a new paradigm to address the key issues confronting learning and development in the arts.

It’s not surprising that a recent article by Philip Kennicott in the New Republic by the title of “America’s Orchestras are in Crisis” got some favorable play in the musician community. The writer, who is Art and Architecture critic for the Washington Post, focused very heavily on what he believed was the League of American […]

ICSOM (the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, which represents over 4,000 musicians from 51 major symphony orchestras throughout the United States) recently released a documentary titled “ICSOM: The First Fifty Years.” Filmed during the 50th anniversary conference in Chicago, the 38-minute film contains numerous interviews on the founding of ICSOM, telling the fascinating […]