Archive - 2015

1
Chicago Symphony Violinist Overcomes Vision Problem
2
Have Bass, Will Travel. Nervously.
3
George Cleve
4
Here Comes Fall! A Week in the Life of Two ROPA Orchestra Musicians
5
HSO on the Radio!
6
Summer Scenes from the Institute for Music Leadership – A Photo Essay
7
Third Coast Percussion’s “Currents”: Branding in Support of an Artistic Mission
8
Andris Nelsons in the News
9
The Totenberg Strad
10
An Interview with Polyphonic’s New Editor-in-Chief, James Doser

Chicago Symphony Violinist Overcomes Vision Problem

I saw an article on a colleague’s Facebook page last night and had to share it. A story in the Chicago Maroon, the student newspaper of the University of Chicago, describes the long ordeal of violinist Alison Dalton, whose vision suddenly deteriorated while on tour with the CSO in Hong Kong. She was later described as having Bull’s Eye[…]

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Have Bass, Will Travel. Nervously.

Whatever airline horror story you have about lost or mishandled luggage, I’m pretty sure Robert Black can top it. Robert, as many of you around here know, is a brilliant, nationally recognized double bass player and teacher. He is perhaps best known for being a founding member of the avant-garde music ensemble, the Bang on a[…]

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George Cleve

Facebook brought me the news this morning that George Cleve died yesterday. I knew he’d had health issues for a long time, but this hit me like a brick anyway. I first worked for George in 1974 upon my return from studying at a rather strange school in Switzerland known as the Institute for Advanced[…]

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Here Comes Fall! A Week in the Life of Two ROPA Orchestra Musicians

Polyphonic thought it would be interesting to take a look at the lives of “typical” members of regional orchestras, where the orchestra doesn’t pay a living wage. Obviously there is no such thing as a “typical” regional orchestra musician – we all do different things to make ends meet and earn enough to pay the[…]

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HSO on the Radio!

Monday morning at 9 AM, three members of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra sat before microphones and tried to explain to their community why the HSO is in such trouble. I was one of those three. And none of us were truly able to explain why we are where we are. The radio program was courtesy of[…]

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Third Coast Percussion’s “Currents”: Branding in Support of an Artistic Mission

As a touring percussion quartet, devoting an entire concert to new works for our group sometimes seems like a luxury. The logistical pressures of unfamiliar venue layouts, small stage sizes, and traveling with instruments, combined with the musical demands of presenters and unfamiliar audiences, means that we often stick with what we know while we[…]

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Andris Nelsons in the News

This past Sunday, the Boston Globe ran a front-page article about their new Music Director, Lativian conductor Andris Nelsons, whose contract has recently been extended through 2022. Globe critic Jeremy Eichler is obviously entranced by Nelsons’ body language; the online article includes a gallery of photographs of “Nelsons in Motion.” Watching him at an afternoon[…]

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The Totenberg Strad

What a wonderful story we heard on NPR’s Morning Edition today – the Stradivarius violin stolen from Roman Totenberg 35 years ago was to be reunited with the family today. Nina Totenberg, famous NPR reporter, tells the story as only she can – how the violin disappeared after one of her father’s performances, how her[…]

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An Interview with Polyphonic’s New Editor-in-Chief, James Doser

This summer, Polyphonic.org welcomes a new Editor-in-Chief, James Doser. He takes over for Ramon Ricker, who led Polyphonic.org since its inception in 2006. Welcome, Jim! Polyphonic: Jim – one thing that readers will find really interesting is that you actually studied with Ray Ricker, which means you are both saxophonists and that you know the[…]

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