Archive - October 2009

1
Another diaspora story
2
Greg Sandow is Riffing
3
How many basses does it take to make a video?
4
The Musicians Business Challenge—Changing Demand
5
The Naxos nexus
6
This wouldn't work for Bruckner either
7
The boss is the best organizer
8
The Musician’s Business Challenge
9
Executive experience?
10
Saving money by pissing off the patrons

Another diaspora story

A couple of weeks ago I linked to a story about one of the many musicians who formed the great diaspora of Jews from Europe during and after the Nazi era. Here’s another one: The Lost Cellos of Lev Aronson. Its sounds like the title of one of those wistful, purposely sentimental novels that seem[…]

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Greg Sandow is Riffing

Many of you may follow the writings of Greg Sandow in his Arts Journal Blog.  If you do you will know that for the past couple of years Greg has been writing a book, and presenting it piece by piece in his blog.  This project went dormant for a period of time, but now he’s[…]

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How many basses does it take to make a video?

I’d bet it takes quite a few, if this is the video:

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The Musicians Business Challenge—Changing Demand

Ask any musician ten years older than you how business is, and he will probably say, “It’s OK, but it was much better ten years ago.” If that same person asks the identical question to another musician ten years older than he is, he will probably get the same answer.  “It’s OK, but it was[…]

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The Naxos nexus

This joint venture seems like a very good idea for both parties: …Naxos of America will begin physical and digital distribution of the renowned Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s premiere record label CSO Resound.

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This wouldn't work for Bruckner either

…but it’s pretty amazing nonetheless. In case you were thinking it was faked, this video will show you how it was done.

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The boss is the best organizer

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[…]

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The Musician’s Business Challenge

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll put on a businessman’s hat and look at a young musician’s career from that perspective.  What are the challenges facing this person as he or she steps into the profession?  One might say a musician’s challenge is to utilize and evolve the skills obtained in school in order[…]

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Executive experience?

A candidate for the position of King County (Seattle) Executive is touting her executive experience rather than her decades as a local TV news anchor, and basing the claim on having been board chair of the Seattle Symphony: In her campaign for King County executive, Hutchison has highlighted her 2 Ω years as chairwoman of[…]

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Saving money by pissing off the patrons

Concerts get cancelled all the time, but usually not high-profile concerts conducted by the music director two weeks in advance of the concert: The Honolulu Symphony board has done something unprecedented that will shock some patrons while possibly giving encouragement to people who have written big checks for the orchestra. It has canceled a concert[…]

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