Holly Mulcahy recently sent me a link to this story about an orchestra librarian’s last day (warning - language). It is a great example of the frustrations that can be caused by Prima Donna conductors. This individual had to deal with an impossible assistant conductor, and this story chronicles their horrible last day on the job. Orchestral musicians will appreciate this story. I definitely know some conductors like this.

Tim Pearson sent me another Wilbur Hall video which is completely amazing. I’d like to have been a fly on the wall for this guy’s practice sessions:

Digg (one of my favorite websites) now has a feature to find, listen, and vote for podcasts. If you haven’t used Digg before, check out their site. It is one of the best places to find news stories. Users of Digg submit and vote on stories, which results in the most interesting stories of the day landing on the front page.

If you have checked out Digg before, then head on over to their podcast section. I think I already subscribe to almost every podcast in the top 20 on Digg. You can also click on a specific podcast and vote on individual episodes, listen to any episode from the Digg site, or drill down into specific categories (education, arts & culture, etc.) to find specific podcasts.

Digg is a very popular site, and it can get very addictive once you start using it.

There is a great new story I just read about an unnamed ROPA orchestra and a funny thing that happened during an audition. I am definitely a fan of funny audition stories. Check it out on E.C.D.’s Dragons and Princesses blog here.

This note was on the stands of the entire orchestra at a gig I played last night. It was for a piece that we hadn’t rehearsed but would be playing as an encore that night. This was the flowchart describing which repeats to take and which parts came in what order. The entire orchestra nailed it. It’s just an example of what is learned on the job–you don’t get taught this in school.