The common wisdom is to always look forward, live in the present, never in the past, whats done is done and so on. However at the Springfield Symphony’s season opening concert last Saturday, we brought the past to life in celebration of the our 75th anniversary season. We didn’t bring out archives to display in [...]
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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 [...]
To bring back a memory is greater than any compliment….
As a music director I believe that my position is one of privilege more than one of power. The true power lies in the opportunity to uplift and to lift up through the music we perform. All of us at one time or another wait for a letter, message or email to let us know [...]
Smack Down – Mahler 5 – It’s personal!….
It’s been a while since we did one of these, but since mentioning that I was conducting a performance of Mahler’s 5th, Bill suggested we don the gloves for yet another round. Now this time it’s personal! Mahler 5 is like family to me, it even stopped my rebellious teenagehood in its tracks…well for a [...]
Audience Poll – Gorilla Style!
My Audience Connection class attended the Springfield Symphony concert on Oct 18, a Big Band themed Pops concert. They were not there to review the concert, but to review the audience! The audience response was tremendous, as was the review in the paper. The students however did an internal eavesdrop poll with interesting results. Our [...]
Cultural Trust – Redistributing Wealth Missouri Style!
So when we at the Springfield Symphony (Missouri’s 3rd largest Orchestra) read the news last week regarding the ruling against the Kansas City Symphony’s lawsuit to restore funds into the cultural trust that were not put in during a certain period as the legislature felt the money at that time was needed elsewhere, our reaction [...]
Shhhhpeak up!
I am always fascinated by the dynamics of an audience and perceptions when certain behaviors are noticed. It’s all to easy to jump to a negative assumption as to why someone would get up and walk out, or talk, or be disruptive.