This Crazy Business Part 4: Orchestras – A Secret Society of Weirdoes (and I’m one of them!)
In this series we have discussed the alternate mental circuitry developed by musicians, how addictive this art form can be once this circuitry is hard-wired, and how this addiction causes musicians to tolerate employment circumstances that appear untenable to non-musicians, all to get an opportunity to practice their craft (and get their fix) as [...]
New installment of This Crazy Business this week
My “back to work” schedule this September has afforded me much more writing time, and I’ve been busy as a bee, writing a whole slew of new stories, essays, and articles. Some of these are for publication submission, although everything will eventually find its way to the blog in some form. Expect [...]
Orchestra musician trading cards - get yours today!
Double bassist Tyler Bakken sent me a link to this story about the Houston Symphony’s newest PR idea–trading cards! Kurt Johnson, the violinist mentioned in the following quote, is an old acquaintance of mine. We both attended Northwestern University and played in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago masters degree fellowship program in the [...]
$10 million for Lyric Opera will be donated for surprising reasons
Although I am a daily Chicago Tribune reader, this short article escaped my notice. Double bassist Jerry Fuller brought it to my attention, and I’m glad he did, because it really highlights the priorities a donor may have in choosing an organization for their philanthropy. Much of what is discussed below the quote [...]
Samir Basim and the Iraqi National Symphony
National Symphony Principal Bassist Robert Oppelt’s website is a really excellent and worthwhile read–if you haven’t checked it out, I heartily recommend it. Robert regularly updates it with advice, stories, interviews, and photos.
Robert recently posted a letter sent to him from Samir Basim, Principal Bassist of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra. Here’s a [...]
An encore to end all encores
Double bassist John Floeter just sent me a link to this completely wild video from the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra playing Bernstein’s ‘Mambo’ from West Site Story. This Venezuelan youth orchestra makes American orchestras look….well…lame. I’d love to see one of the orchestras I play with doing these moves! Something tells me [...]
Negotiations heat up in San Antonio
Drew McManus is following the ongoing San Antonio Symphony negotiations in his usual excellent fashion. San Antonio Symphony President and CEO has made several unfortunate recent public statements regarding these negotiations, include references to the musicians and their union as two separate entities and outlining complicated budgetary solutions. Drew writes:
Green’s email message is [...]
Detroit Symphony contemplates strike as contract negotiations break down
In her recent post on the Cincinnati.com Classical Music Blog, Janelle Gelfand brought to my attention this recent article from Freep.com, an online component of the Detroit Free Press:
After 20 years of labor peace, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra is in a showdown that threatens to derail the opening of the 2007-08 season.
Contract negotiations between [...]
This Crazy Business Part 3 - Music is Addictive
No matter how many years I’ve done it, I still get a thrill after coming home from a concert, my body temperature elevated from the music and the excitement of the moment. The sound of an audience clapping and cheering is always a great way to end a night, and this feedback keeps me [...]
Free = Worthless?
Adaptistration blog author Drew McManus recently brought up the subject (previously explored on a November 2006 post) of free concerts and whether these events have the potential to turn people into ticket buyers. Although one might think that the exposure an organization gains from performing at a free event would help to drive ticket [...]
