Uncategorized: Page 37

This weekend DFW area musicians began protesting the Texas Ballet Theater’s Nutcracker performances which will run in both Dallas and Fort Worth – without an orchestra.  For those of you who have been following this fiasco, you know that we have been protesting the TBT’s performances sans live music for more than a year now. […]

Israeli conductor Itay Talgam uses leadership on the podium as a metaphor for leadership in business. Some good stuff here, worth watching, especially the last clip of Bernstein.

In addition to the comments in response to the posts on the New Hamspshire Music Festival cluster***k, I’ve received a number of private emails. I’ve requested, and received, permission to quote extensively from an email sent to me by a local observer with many connections to the Festival. Anyone likely to read this knows that […]

Well, except for the parts I’m going to tell you!  No names of course.  LOL. Seriously, performers have to be able to trust orchestra librarians to handle backstage situations with professionalism, courtesy, discretion, and, above all else, help when they need something.  It wouldn’t be right to betray that trust, so I won’t — the […]

If one single factor underlies the turmoil at the New Hampshire Music Festival in the minds of the musicians and the external support group SOON, it appears to be the fear that Festival management intends to replace the orchestra with another group; a NYC-based orchestra called The Knights. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the fears have […]

It’s just the way things are.  The orchestra librarian is the last one out of the building. Although the percussionists and stage hands might try to dispute this claim, they don’t stand a chance.  Oh yes, they obviously have their fair share of packing up after performances (it is how I got to know my […]

Orchestras, like Google, can make money out of Internet searches – just not as much. Conductors can blog too. Conductors can also do bad and illegal things. So can some managers. Michael Hovnanian did not enjoy his very large Midwestern orchestra’s week with Christoph von Dohnányi. It’s possible to write a concerto for just about […]

While doing some research on the New Hampshire Music Festival situation, I came across a blog post by Henry Fogel that I found both interesting on its merits and quite relevant to what’s been going on at the NHMF. Back in May on his blog on the ArtsJournal site, Henry wrote about becoming Festival Director […]

A local insurance company has recently bought chairs for the musicians of the Winnepeg Symphony: Thanks to long-time corporate sponsor Wawanesa Insurance, the Winnipeg Symphony proudly introduced new orchestra chairs earlier this season. “These chairs were specially designed for each WSO musician, taking into account their respective height and ergo-dynamic requirements. We went the extra […]

I’m thinking last movement of the C major sonata, not the Chaconne, of course. (Hat tip to BBB Charles Noble):