Uncategorized: Page 43

You thought I was talking about baseball? Tonight is the last concert in our fall tour, one of my favorite annual orchestra events. Every year at about this time we go up north and play a few concerts, mostly in places to which we’ve been going for years.

Surprisingly, the date on this was September 23 and not April 1: The Detroit Symphony has announced plans for a completely revamped season, starting with its concerts this week. The programs will not be changed, at least the ones advertised, but the manner in which the works are performed will be altered. To begin, the […]

Indianapolis… Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra musicians will take a 12 percent reduction in salary this season, followed by incremental increases in the second and third years of a newly ratified three-year contract. …Terms include salary increases of 2.7 percent for the 2010-11 season and 7.8 percent for the 2011-12 season. Musicians have agreed to greater individual […]

Yes and no. Both writers make good points. I find myself more in agreement with the “no” side, however. In the end, it’s the same as with most leadership positions. Good conductors are worth every cent of what they’re paid. Bad conductors are worth nada. The more interesting question is about the value of all […]

So we’re in Marinette – right across the river from Menomonee, Michigan, the Banana Belt of the Upper Penninsula (where Yoopers come from) – playing a concert at Blesch High School, where the signs say “Catch the Blesch Spirit!” (and no I’m not kidding). We’re well into the slow movement of the Mendelssohn “Italian” symphony […]

Anne Midgette riffs on the propriety of performing the National Anthem at concerts: Does it have a place? It can seem slightly odd. The concert hall is aglitter with expensive evening gowns and tails; the audience is seated; the lights go down; the conductor comes out; and suddenly the lights come up and everyone stands […]

I’m glad that a) this kid isn’t a violist, and b) that I’m not on his radar screen.

It’s good to be reminded now and then of what an orchestra looks like in the wild, and why virtually every professional orchestra in the known universe is unionized: Musicians, however, look to a conductor for musical guidance, and they say [Illinois Symphony Music Director Karen Lynne] Deal simply doesn’t do enough homework to provide […]

Here is a little followup to my last post about starving artists.  In talking to Maria further, she made another interesting observation.  In her opinion, a mistake that many artists make in trying to figure out how to make money, is to underestimate their audience.   She commented that some musicians seem to think that if […]

The Globe and Mail apparently believes that conductors have something to teach the corporate world: As a rookie conductor, Roger Nierenberg thought his job as leader was to tell people what to do. But in 14 years as director of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra in Florida, he learned that being overly controlling is destined to […]