All Entries in the "Academia" Category

Terry Teachout and how we go from Zero to Hero! – plus a mini tribute

Ernest Fleischmann passed and I had one treasured experience with him that I want to share, but first to Terry Teachout.  Terry I say thank you for your article raising the question of eliminating regional orchestras, yes thank you!  He opened an even bigger debate than in my Context/Urtext post (it is somewhat related) which [...]

Lest We….Lebrecht!

I have always been a fan of Norman Lebrecht.  His book Mahler  Remembered is an anthology of recollections from friends, colleagues, observers, critics and the like.  The personal nature of the book drew me in giving  me some sense of Mahler the man along with the times he lived in, going beyond his musical prowess. [...]

Back to School Special!!!

Next week my class The Audience Connection starts up again and like last year it will be podcast and I will post highlights at Houndbite.  This class deals with current affairs in the arts world and so just like last year, I am asking for topic requests.  Either send one as a comment on this [...]

How about Savvy Music Schools?

The Savvy Musician, a book by Dr. David Cutler comes out in November.   There is some publicity being generated about the book’s upcoming release and the potential impact it might have on those musicians seeking careers in non traditional venues.  I haven’t read it (advanced copies are available) but an article about it raises some [...]

Bravo, you’re making it up as you go along, let us accredit you!

Having read the recent postings by Drew, and Joe regarding the booming music/arts school enrollments, I decided to do some digging.  There is a body that is at least partially responsible for this, an association that accredits schools to be completely autonomous i.e accreditation for proving that you are doing whatever you want to do……the [...]

Waving the Magic Wand

A pop survey – What is the most common gripe among orchestra players? In my experience it’s “Boy, this conductor sucks!”  I have heard it from several angles, including from inside the orchestra (I spent many years playing Orchestral Keyboards, probably the performance opportunity I miss most with having a conducting career) and from when [...]

Drum Roll please………

Just  a quick post to announce that the full podcast of my class Audience Connection is up and you can link to it here, or via the Audience Connection tab on the lower left.  It is a left click listen or right click download at this point and 13 classes are up there right now.  [...]

Technically Relevant….

For the second year in a row The Springfield Symphony was hired to play for a commencement and we did it last night.  It’s an enormous event and the response to our presence and our performance like last year was overwhelming.  More overwhelming to me though is the college that asked us…

More Jacksonville thoughts -Your mediator is already in the house!

It is a path well traveled and it always seems to lead to a dead end.  An orchestra hires a shiny new Music Director.  He or she is hailed by the staff, the board and the orchestra as the great unifier who will bring all parts of the organization together for the common purpose of [...]

Part 2 of 2: Putting the all in Hall, Audience Connections Final!

Part 1 of 2: Putting the all in Hall, Audience Connections Final!

The idea is to build a performing arts center that truly does accommodate the needs of a community.  Just saying it does or will, is not enough! For their final, my Audience Connections class of 4 divided into 2 groups  and were charged with creating a concept design.  If we want to attract the 20 [...]

Random Acts of Art – Not a smackdown!

This week (and next) I am going to wrap up my Audience Connections Class by grading their papers right here plus showing my gratitude for some recent experiences.  Traveling today to Syracuse for concerts  though, I couldn’t resist adding to Bill’s Airport Post.  I say yes, a phenomenal idea and I think we don’t have [...]