Can We Sell Classical Music By Making it “Cool”?
July 3, 2014I 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 […]
Virtual Wagner done right
June 9, 2014(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 Announces 2013-2014 ASCAP Awards
June 6, 2014League 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 […]
Newsflash: conductor doesn't like unions
June 2, 2014In 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 […]
Update on Ivory Ban
May 20, 2014Last Thursday, May 15, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced changes intended to ease international travel with musical instruments under the new enforcement of the ban on bringing African ivory into the States. The recent policy decree banning the importation of African ivory caused great unintended consequences for traveling musicians whose instruments contain small […]
A Look at Forte Notation Software, Plus a Free Giveaway!
May 13, 2014We are giving away one free download for Forte Premium, the top level product from Forte (retail price: $229)! One winner will be chosen at random. Enter your name in the drawing up to three times – see details at the end of this post. Giveaway ends May 26, 2014. *UPDATE*: Congratulations to Jen Elle […]
The Fallout from Obama’s Executive Order Concerning Ivory
April 30, 2014At a seminar at Mondomusica New York on April 11, 2014, Heather Noonan of the League of American Orchestras joined with violin and bow makers, an international environmental expert, and government officials to discuss the recent tightened restrictions on bringing ivory into the US, resulting from an Obama Administration Executive Order issued on February 24, […]
The Ivory Ban – Important Instrument Travel Information
April 14, 2014From the League of American Orchestras: “The recent Obama Administration effort to increase restrictions on travel and trade in African Elephant ivory has placed a new focus on long-existing, but largely unimplemented permitting rules for international travel with instruments that contain endangered species material.” The League has published a helpful webpage with very detailed information […]
Millennial America
April 8, 2014Orchestras need to offer compelling reasons for millennials to make live symphonic music a part of their lives. After all, millennials are the largest generation in human history, and at nearly 90 million people they will very soon make up the vast majority of our orchestras’ stakeholders, constituents, audience, staff members and supporters – and […]
What the Great Strad Robbery means for the future
January 31, 2014Most readers of this blog have already heard of the events of last Monday here in Milwaukee. If you haven’t, the New York Times has a good summary: It should have been one of those nights musicians live for. Frank Almond, the concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra for nearly two decades, had just closed […]