Very STATisfying! – part 1

It’s about Artistic excellence, We want to be the best orchestra this side of the…(insert iconic river or Great Lake here!), We’ve practiced, practiced, practiced…now we want to go to Carnegie Hall.  How many times do you hear how great an Executive and/or Music Director wants their orchestra to be, but what does great actually mean.  I contend that for an organization to be great it is others that need to bestow that adjective upon us, not ourselves.  After all Olympians never judge themselves.  I contend that the goal should always be Organizational Excellence, I want to share a stat…you be the judge….

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Dancing Maestros on the Jumbotron……

In a “review” by Lawrence Johnson, he ranted about the use of the Jumbotrons at the Ravinia festival.  OK I can see that there might be some who want the “traditional” experience, but the setting is far from traditional in the concert going sense, accessibility is something that needs to be taken into consideration and he actually has a solution to his problem and doesn’t even realize it…….

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Lie to Me!…..

We all have our favorite TV or Radio shows that we watch or listen to regularly, whether they be a guilty pleasure, relaxation, passing time in the car etc…One of the best shows of the TV season was the Fox show “Lie to Me” and in the very intense season finale Dr. Cal Lightman played by Tim Roth said something that I can’t stop thinking about….

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Paying for Arts in the Land of the Free…

I was sad to read that the Milwaukee Symphony are canceling 4 out of their 5 free concerts.  It’s probable that many more orchestras might be forced to cancel free concerts as budget choices are made.  In Springfield we usually do 2 free concerts each summer.  They are not for certain since they’re connected with city festivals that are at this point are on hold.  The NEA might be getting $50 million extra this year, so I’ve got a suggestion…..

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The People Business….

I am embroiled in rehearsals for Mahler 5 and was not going to write till later in the week, but something jumped out at me over on Greg Sandow’s blog that I could not let pass by. The talk of free concerts for the community have been the subject of his last two post,s and most of the comments coming back to him make me think that people still believe we are in the music business. We are not, we are in the people business!….

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