Category - Uncategorized

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A different view of orchestra economics
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NLRB says we can be unionized – for now
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O sweet mystery of life
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Of choirs and orchestras
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For the musician with self-esteem issues
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Darth Vader vs. the Jedi Cellos
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Re-Imagining the Orchestra
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Who represents whom – and when?
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More on the Colorado flap
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Michael Kaiser was right

A different view of orchestra economics

In Los Angeles at least, one observer believes it’s all about the parking: Anyone scanning Disney Hall’s debut calendar in the fall of 2003 would have noticed the size of that first season’s schedule, 128 shows in all. That’s a weighty number for a new hall—one might have assumed it was chosen by venue management[…]

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NLRB says we can be unionized – for now

In what may be the last NLRB decision in a long time, a few days ago the Board ruled that musicians in several per-service orchestras were employees and not independent contractors, and thus could force their employer to recognize their union as bargaining agent: The National Labor Relations Board has found that musicians playing for[…]

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O sweet mystery of life

…or one of them at least – is what conductors actually do. I thought it was all about the hair; Justin Davidson thinks it’s more than that: “Knowing the score”—the expression implies mastery, but it doesn’t suggest the sustained and solitary study that’s required to achieve it. There are a few miles of roadway that[…]

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Of choirs and orchestras

There was a story the other day on our local public radio story that got me thinking about one of the key differences between choirs and orchestras: their relationship to the beat: We revisit our conversation with classical choral composer Eric Whitacre, who has just been nominated for a Grammy for his latest CD “Light[…]

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For the musician with self-esteem issues

This study is about visual artists, but I think it should apply to us as well: According to some scientists, even human beings are just trying to make it in the animal kingdom, and everything we do can be traced back to basic survival. Man hunt, man fight, man eat, man… paint? In 2000,Geoffrey Miller[…]

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Re-Imagining the Orchestra

The fact that many American orchestras struggle to survive is no secret. In the past few years, top-tier ensembles in Philadelphia, Syracuse, Honolulu, Detroit, Louisville, Dallas, and New Mexico have cancelled concerts, issued pay cuts, declared bankr…

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Who represents whom – and when?

Drew McManus rather raised the profile of the current controversy in Colorado with his post last Friday: Since the Denver Post published an opinion piece written by former Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) board members Heather K. Miller and Bruce Clinton, the field has been abuzz with backchannel discussion over the tone of the letter (in[…]

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More on the Colorado flap

Reactions to the opinion piece written by former Colorado Symphony board members Heather Miller and Bruce Clinton have been quick and generally angry. They fall into three lines of thought; the first was best summarized by Drew McManus at Adaptistration, who wrote: …But the question that should cross your mind at some point while reading[…]

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Michael Kaiser was right

I don’t find myself in agreement with Michael Kaiser very often, but he sure hit the nail on the head when he wrote this a few days ago: It is difficult to see a way out of a chronic deficit, and board members — who are volunteers after all and rarely sign up for a[…]

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