By now many readers will have read this excellent post by Bernard Holland, distinguished music critic and writer for the New York Times (assuming that the NYT, in their infinite wisdom, will not try to charge you for access). Mr. Holland, in his opus from ’03, has succinctly put forth a very elegant and reasoned argument for why orchestras in this country are going the way of the Dodo. Only one problem – he didn’t go far enough.
Education
Quick Takes: Gesturing….
My teacher Jorge Mester the first time I met him asked me this simple question “What is conducting?” I was stumped and after several feeble attempts to describe what conducting is (which is what I wanted to do with my life!) he helped me work it out. That lesson was the most profound he ever gave me and it is something I apply to this day allowing me to never lose sight of what it is I actually do and how I can apply it elsewhere……..
It’s Worse Than We Thought….
I have noticed lately, with some horror, what now passes for “Arts journalism.” Arts journalism, especially Classical Music journalism, seems to have taken a dive. The expression “dumbing down” comes to mind. Or perhaps that’s just self-preservation on their part.
In order to move forward, first you must “retreat”….plus handing the keys to the musicians!
We had Drew here this week for the purpose of beginning the process to re-structure our organization to be ready for the future. Being that we are in a strong position and not in crisis makes this the perfect time for that process. In other words, rather than waiting for the fires to start, we are attempting to make ourselves fire proof! There were two retreats and many meetings. I am going to let Drew extrapolate on his visit here and instead focus on his chat with myself and one of our musicians about a program that I hope will be repeated everywhere!…..
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 ultimate “unregulatory” body (apart from the SEC!)……
SCHUBERT!!! WE SHOULD BE PLAYING SCHUBERT!!!
Strangely, I have lately run across a certain mentality in the orchestra business that I thought was heading into extinction. Silly me.
Dear Mr. President…
Dear Mr. President…….. First, let me tell you how delighted I am to be able to say those words.
Goldilocks Come Forth…….
Gee, I kinda feel like Goldilocks wandering into the home of the Three Bears during Christmas. Looking out over the music world I thought I would take the leisurely approach and blog about… well, something. My buddy Ron has been furiously posting when I thought for sure he would be exhausted from trying to defend Mahler V, so it’s up to me to through something out into the ether. A quick scan of the blog sheets reveals all sorts of suitable topics – and some not so much.