All Entries Tagged With: "rants&raves"
… and if you CAN do…. A.K.A. – Another Inconvenient Truth
I’m an equal opportunity kind of guy. Since in my last post I called into question all those working conductors out there who don’t play their instruments anymore, I feel it’s only fair to look at another side of the coin – players who are driven to pick up the baton. I’m starting to feel [...]
Those who can’t do…… A.K.A. – An Inconvenient Truth
I have probably already posted about this topic, but since I have started off this year seemingly determined to aggravate, irritate, and generally annoy everyone in the business whom I possibly can, I think it’s about time to tackle this issue once more. To wit….. what has happened to the conductor who still plays their [...]
Time for a CONTROVERSY!!!
I had a revelation the other day, and since this is the age of instant communication I decided to post it on Facebook immediately. I knew that it was going to drive some people, many of them good friends of mine and respected colleagues, completely insane, but occasionally one has to open up the floodgates [...]
Mad Mad Men…. putting the Con in Contra
For our Mad Men tribute I came across a real head scratcher. It is hard to believe that the New York Times prints such dreck sometimes, but that they did when an article was posted with the hypothetical argument to turn the video game Guitar Hero into Orchestra Hero. This is an ASS in clASSical [...]
R – E – S – P – E – C – T !!!
I had the joy of sharing a stage with The Pointer Sisters last weekend. It was really fun to see the Ladies doing there thing on the stage of the Winspear Centre, and our audience jumping up and down, and the bands – the ESO and The Pointer Sisters band – funking out. Great concerts, [...]
Plugging the Holes before Filling the Barrel (2009) – Opposite World!…..
Two articles jumped out at me over the weekend. Both reminded me of the constant tail chasing that goes on in the arts world. Sometimes we get so far behind our audience’s needs, that we end up doing either what we should have been doing all along but a little too late, or the opposite [...]
The Floggings Will Continue… Part Deux
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted to this blog. Many times over the past few weeks I meant to sit down and write a calm, well-reasoned article about how a very good friend of mine was treated by the organization to whom she gave almost two decades of fantastic service. But [...]
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 [...]
Be A…part?
There is constant debate on what relationship an artist needs to have with their audience, and whether there needs to be one at all! I mean who needs ticket sales, donations or any audience at all really? Oh yeah, ALL OF US, not to mention what does the audience need?… I need to get something [...]
Taking a bow and then shooting across it!….
On our summer trip last year, I was amused when we drove across “Nameless Creek” Indiana because by calling it that, it actually gave it a name! Just as ironic was to read that the CEO and President of the Grand Rapids Symphony Peter Kjome had “no comment” when asked a pertinent question relating to [...]
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.
To Laugh? To Cry?
It’s a sign of the times, and in any other economic situation I would declare it the rebirth of Reason in the World. Instead it’s just kinda depressing.
JW Turner wrote:
Bill Eddins wrote:
patty wrote:
Drew McManus wrote:
Ron Spigelman wrote: