Archive - January 2011

1
Don’t Make Money the Number One Objective—Learn To Wait
2
This isn't good….
3
Cry me a river
4
Act Like a Business
5
Dear Edna, I have a question…
6
Detroit Update 1/23/2011
7
More Detroit
8
A press blackout with a very short lifespan
9
Are we figments of Mahler's imagination?
10
Unions Are a Musician’s Friend

Don’t Make Money the Number One Objective—Learn To Wait

Presumably you’ve chosen music because you love it and can’t imagine yourself doing anything else. But, on the off chance that you are in music for the money, you’ve chosen the wrong profession. Sure, there are certain celebrity artists who make big, big money, but there is no doubt that the rank and file musician […]

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This isn't good….

This morning’s news from Detroit is discouraging: Prospects for productive talks in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike seem to be taking a turn for the worse. After an executive committee board meeting Wednesday, management released new figures casting doubt on whether the organization could meet the financial burdens of its current proposal. For their part,[…]

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Cry me a river

It must be that overwhelming wave of affection that greets them when they come to work every day: The sudden death of Jean-Marc Cochereau, the French conductor, has prompted the very readable music writer Norman Lebrecht to issue a warning about the health hazards of conducting. M Cochereau collapsed and died from cardiac arrest on[…]

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Act Like a Business

You, Inc. is a business, so you need to act like one. You should look as professional as possible. This includes everything from business cards to websites. I was just out of college and someone recommended me to do a little arrangement of a pop song. Not only did I have to arrange it for […]

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Dear Edna, I have a question…

Who should I ask? Often times we have questions about our career path, life, relationships, etc.  Sometimes we seek out those close to us whom we respect to give us advice, other times we just keep our questions to ourselves, and sometimes we seek out someone we don’t actually know to ask for their expertise. […]

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Detroit Update 1/23/2011

According to the Detroit Free Press, there were negotiations today: The musicians and management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra returned to the bargaining table this afternoon to try to settle the contentious strike that enters its 17th week on Monday. DSO board members received an e-mail from management today saying that talks had resumed, said[…]

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More Detroit

The war of words heated up during the time I was writing the previous post: Musicians’ spokesman Greg Bowens disputed the $40.1 million figure, saying, “That must be another example of the fuzzy math that got the orchestra into the deficits it’s in now.”… Bowens declined to address most other issues in management’s Saturday morning[…]

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A press blackout with a very short lifespan

Detroit Symphony management and musicians met all day Thursday under a press blackout: The status of contract talks between the musicians and management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra remained unclear early this afternoon in the midst of a news blackout by both sides in the dispute. The parties met all day Thursday in an effort[…]

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Are we figments of Mahler's imagination?

Norman thinks that Mahler invented the American symphony orchestra. He makes a good case: Mahler split the Carnegie season into four subscription blocs, each with a thematic base, something no conductor had tried before. As well as a Regular Series, he put in a Beethoven cycle “for the education of lovers of classical music, for[…]

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Unions Are a Musician’s Friend

This past spring I received an email signed by a dozen or so Eastman students. It was sent to Eastman School jazz students and faculty. This group had met out of frustration. It seems that within the student jazz community at Eastman, there has not been much discussion or communication between them about how to […]

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