Careers: Page 2

The Minnesota Orchestra held its Annual Meeting on December 3rd and not only announced a surplus of $15,000 but accepted an amazing gift from the musicians. The players, who formed the non-profit Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra while there were locked out for 16 months, have dissolved this organization and donated the monies raised from self-produced […]

Every couple of years or so, someone in the mainstream media decides that Orchestral Auditions Are Interesting and does a story on them. This better-than-most iteration, written by Janelle Gelfand, appeared online at cincinnati.com, the website of  the Cincinnati Enquirer: “If a candidate has made it to the final round of our audition process, they […]

While depression is not the taboo subject that it was when I was young, it still takes a fair amount of courage for anyone to open up about their own struggles with the disorder, much less someone who occupies as public a role as does ICSOM chair Bruce Ridge. His article resonated for me in […]

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’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 […]

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 […]