Orchestra Life: Page 2

While the Fall 2015 issue of Symphony magazine (the publication of the League of American Orchestras) contained a range of interesting and positive articles, one particularly caught my interest. Titled “New Notes on the Autism Scale,” it was about concerts given for people on the autism spectrum by a number of American orchestras and the […]

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 […]

This past Sunday, the Boston Globe ran a front-page article about their new Music Director, Lativian conductor Andris Nelsons, whose contract has recently been extended through 2022. Globe critic Jeremy Eichler is obviously entranced by Nelsons’ body language; the online article includes a gallery of photographs of “Nelsons in Motion.” Watching him at an afternoon […]

This summer, Polyphonic.org welcomes a new Editor-in-Chief, James Doser. He takes over for Ramon Ricker, who led Polyphonic.org since its inception in 2006. Welcome, Jim! Polyphonic: Jim – one thing that readers will find really interesting is that you actually studied with Ray Ricker, which means you are both saxophonists and that you know the […]

In a previous post (“Saving the Hartford Symphony,” July 9), I offered a few observations about the situation at the Hartford Symphony Orchestra. Briefly, the situation is that the management, which is now essentially the Bushnell under an agreement struck 16 months ago, is proposing significant reductions in the number of services offered to many […]

NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon had an interesting piece this past weekend about the Baltimore Symphony’s Academy Week, which was held June 21 to 27th. Amateur musicians spend a week rehearsing with BSO players, and attending sectionals and private lessons. The week culminates in a public performance of the participants and BSO musicians […]