Archive - 2011

1
Backs to the wall
2
No settlement in Detroit
3
Make the Client Feel Good
4
Progress in Detroit?
5
Not quite as much fun as the real thing, though
6
Still talking in Detroit
7
Why conductors should STFU
8
How not to make audiences feel
9
Detroit inches closer to edge of cliff
10
American exceptionalism

Backs to the wall

It’s axiomatic in collective bargaining that negotiating committees have a moral obligation to lead, and that the key leadership act is recommending approval or rejection of a proposed settlement. It appears that the DSO negotiating committee took that lesson to heart: The negotiating committee of the striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians recommended Thursday that its[…]

Read More

No settlement in Detroit

There’s a management offer on the table, and a management-dictated deadline to accept it or the else, but there’s no agreement between the negotiating teams: Detroit Symphony Orchestra management made what it calls a final offer to musicians tonight, requesting an up-or-down vote on the contract proposal by 5 p.m. Thursday. The move — which[…]

Read More

Make the Client Feel Good

This short phrase, “Make the client feel good,” is one of the most important things to remember in business. Often when doing recording sessions for television and radio commercials (read: jingles) the “com- poser” may be a person of little of no musical knowledge. He may not even read music or be able to put […]

Read More

Progress in Detroit?

Apparently. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and its striking musicians continued to make slow-but-steady progress in indirect talks this morning and afternoon, according to DSO executive vice president Paul Hogle. “If we were not making progress,” Hogle said “we wouldn’t continue even with indirect talks. And we are absolutely willing to meet face to face when[…]

Read More

Not quite as much fun as the real thing, though

A critic’s take on tantric orchestra musicianship.

Read More

Still talking in Detroit

… which is good news. Where there is life talk, there is hope: The two sides in the Detroit Symphony Orchestra strike were in last-minute talks Friday evening trying to avert cancellation of the rest of the 2010-2011 season. The DSO board had earlier stipulated an agreement had to be in hand by 5 p.m.[…]

Read More

Why conductors should STFU

Because otherwise they’re going to say things as dumb as what Leonard Slatkin said today about the DSO strike: …A settlement now would serve both parties well since the DSO’s popular, high-profile music director is the scheduled conductor for next weekend’s concerts. “What’s really cool is that we would be doing Michel Camilo’s Second Piano[…]

Read More

How not to make audiences feel

I know that audiences can be annoying, and clueless, and distracting, and all the rest – but come on, folks: I just have to write a letter concerning the recent performance of the Abilene Philharmonic. Abilenians are a welcoming group who are quick to applaud, and even provide a standing ovation. Yet a beautiful performance[…]

Read More

Detroit inches closer to edge of cliff

This is not the end, but it doesn’t inspire a lot of hope either: The musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra have rejected management’s latest contract offer, setting up a showdown that could lead to the cancellation of the rest of the 2010-11 season by the end of the week. With nearly 50% of the[…]

Read More

American exceptionalism

I’ll admit to finding the Right’s fixation on the concept of American exceptionalism quite disturbing. But there is no other country in the world in which the article below could appear in a union publication. There’s likely no other city in the world in which it could appear either, of course – but, as the[…]

Read More