New $90 Million Gift for New World Symphony
John Grillo sent me a link to this story in today’s New York Times:
An anonymous donor has promised $90 million for the Frank Gehry-designed future home of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Fla., one of the largest gifts to a classical music institution.
The news was good for the orchestra — a [...]
Road Warrior without an Expense Account Part V – Regional Orchestras
What, exactly, is a “regional” orchestra? For the purposes of this article, regional orchestras will be defined as organizations that employ professional musicians but do not offer a salary and other benefits of full-time employment. The organizational structure is virtually identical to the full-time symphony orchestra and is quite different from the [...]
Article from Cleveland Scene - William Preucil
A link to this article was sent to me from bassist John Grillo. I’m not going to offer any commentary on this. The link is below:
Cleveland Scene - February 14, 2007
By [...]
Audition Process Discussion from Polyphonic.org
There is a great audition process discussion going on at Polyphonic.org right now, and it is definitely worth checking out. Panelists include prominent figures in the orchestra business, including musicians, union representatives, conductors, and negotiators. This is essential reading for anyone wanting to learn more about the audition process in the United States. [...]
Concerto de Aranjuez - Paco de Lucia
As a follow up to my recent IRIS Chamber Orchestra post about our concert with Jason Vieaux playing the Conterto de Aranjez by Joaqin Rodrigo, I thought it would be approtriate to post this video of Paco de Lucia playing this work. the video is about 23 minutes, so fast forward for a bit [...]
IRIS Chamber Orchestra - Finding Rothko
We just completed the January IRIS concert tonight here in Memphis, Tennessee, and it really got a great reception. Jason Vieaux played fabulously, and the commission by Adam Schoenberg went really well.
Finding Rothko (Adam’s commission) was a really rich and satisfying piece. It was based on the paintings of Mark Rothko. Here [...]
IRIS Chamber Orchestra with Jason Vieaux
The IRIS Chamber Orchestra will be performing Saturday, January 13, 2007 at the Germantown Performing Arts Center with the great classical guitarist Jason Vieaux. Additionally, the orchestra will be premiering a work by composer Adam Schoenberg.
The program will consist of:
Adam Schoenberg - World Premiere of IRIS Commissioned Piece - Finding [...]
Irritating situation for orchestra librarian
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 [...]
New funny audition story from E.C.D.
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.
Interesting discussion in comments of CSO Bass Blog
There is quite a discussion going on in the comments for a recent post on Michael Hovnanian’s CSO Bass Blog. Michael mentioned that the Chicago Symphony has made their ‘Welcome Yule’ concerts a required part of the season rather than a “members of” optional service. This prompted many comments from people pointing [...]
