The CON in Conscience…..

I have written that the true deficit that leads to an orchestra’s downfall, is the deficit in leadership.  There is something else that also is a huge contributing factor that can also lead to major systemic problems, and potentially can lead to the deficit in leadership:  The erosion of a collective conscience.  It takes on many forms, but the whole pension debacle puts it into a very sharp focus….

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Swimming Upstream with Sandow….

Firstly Greg Sandow is one of the first bloggers I started to read regularly, and I still do.  I have met him, I admire him and respect him greatly.  I think his recent post though about relevance doesn’t take an important thing into account, which is that a determination of what is relevant is not really our call to make….that belongs to our audiences and our communities….

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An Ode To Jeremy

The most interesting conversations about Classical Music never happen in the Board Room, or after a concert, or in any venue that one would connect with the art form.  My friend Jeremy reminded me of that on Thanksgiving Day.

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Classical Music is….Undead?

One of my pet peeves is the insane and fruitless pursuit of new audiences with marketing techniques that are so insincere and gimmicky, that we end up losing audiences! From Guitar Hero contests to DJ’s at an Opera house to $50,000 being spent on a cupcake program, it seems we try to do anything we can to pretend we don’t play concerts but just have big classical raves.  However a student brought to my class something that is on the surface a gimmick, but actually is a sincere link between pop culture and the classical era….

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Way to Go BUFFALO…..and my former student was on the X Factor!

I can’t claim to be the Buffalonian my blogging colleague Bill can claim to be, but I did spend 4 amazing seasons as the associate conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic, and how gratifying it was to read today that they have signed a 5 year deal!  Yes an agreement, and there is growth planned, there is communication, there is a positive outlook and for those who might sneer at the idea of something good about Buffalo, it’s a great city and my guess is you probably haven’t been there!…

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When Attitude Collides with Altitude – Interpretation

I have not written a post about actual conducting focusing mostly on the ever more uncertain future for the Orchestra business.  For some time now I have been pondering the word interpretation which for conductors is everything, since it can bring both glory but also be gory if you miss the mark badly!  I think though that accessibility, flexibility and the “environment” need to factored in along with a study…of who is actually in front of you!….Also below:  a tribute to a legendary musician….

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Mirror Mirror

A funny thing happened on the way through SocialMediaLand.  I ran smack dab into the difference between what professional musicians perceive and what “normal” people perceive.  If this doesn’t prove a disconnect then I don’t know what does.

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