In 1984, Deutsche Grammophon put out a recording of West Side Story featuring Kiri Te Kanawa (Maria), José Carreras (Tony), Tatiana Troyanos (Anita), and Kurt Ollmann (Riff). This recording is, to put it mildly, bizarre, with these operatic titans producing a final...
After the bleak nature of the last several installments of this series, I am pleased to talk about a more positive and constructive piece in the puzzle that makes up the life of a freelance musician. Most musicians engage in at least some degree of private teaching....
Violinist Holly Mulcahy sent me a link to this short and cute video of Monster, a cat with a vocal cord condition which makes him sound like a miniature opera singer every time he yawns. Check it out here.
I often wondered as I entered the classical music freelance world how one could possibly put together an income in this business. Some politically smart auditions I took my last year of graduate school helped me join the Chicago freelance scene fairly smoothly,...
Double bassist and Contrabass Conversations guest John Grillo sent me a link to orchestrafacts.org, a compilation of salary information, structural deficits, and vacancy rates for orchestras in the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM).While...
