Terry Teachout and how we go from Zero to Hero! – plus a mini tribute

Ernest Fleischmann passed and I had one treasured experience with him that I want to share, but first to Terry Teachout.  Terry I say thank you for your article raising the question of eliminating regional orchestras, yes thank you!  He opened an even bigger debate than in my Context/Urtext post (it is somewhat related) which is: what is the definition of the word “artistic”?…..

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It needs to be about CONTEXT not URTEXT!!!!

At Cliburn last year I kept hearing “it has to be about the music”.  I’m sorry MUSIC IS NOT ABOUT MUSIC, it’s about everything else!  We spend so much time focusing on trying to get people to fall in love with music and with what we do.  This will only happen when we do the opposite first i.e It’s time for us to be into them!  Trying to tap into their pulse still puts us on the outside looking in, the goal should be to become part of their bloodstream…..

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The Audience….who are they…and why do they do that?

So there he is right in the center, and every time I turn around he’s still asleep?  Wait a second why is that person leaving without even applauding, climbing over other patrons, was our performance that bad that you couldn’t wait for even one curtain call?  Are they just rude or is there something wrong with me, oh no IS THAT THE CRITIC??? !!!  We need to stop concluding that this is about us…….(even though it might be)

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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…….. 

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Quick Takes: What is Success?

The word success is defined for many in the performing arts as the accomplishing of a personal goal, to be continuously engaged, to reach higher positions, to be critically acclaimed and all of the above. Is it really success when it is only about ourselves? Is success not something that also given from ourselves to others? To take a great work and to give it a great performance actually pales into insignificance compared to a performance resonating to the point that that it alters someone’s being, gives them pause to reflect on themselves or even potentially saves a life!…..I pose a question….

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How about Savvy Music Schools?

The Savvy Musician, a book by Dr. David Cutler comes out in November.   There is some publicity being generated about the book’s upcoming release and the potential impact it might have on those musicians seeking careers in non traditional venues.  I haven’t read it (advanced copies are available) but an article about it raises some questions for me as to the motives of schools that think that entrepreneurship is the answer for musicians who are not finding work in “traditional” musical settings.  The potential problem in music schools creating stand alone entrepreneurship programs, is that it treats it a little like alternative medicine…..i.e not taking it seriously

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Response to Joe: Bursting the Programming Bubble…on the road again!

Joe over on Butts in Seats challenged our blogging community regarding programming and Bill as usual hit a slam dunk. My take is that we place too much faith in programming as being the answer to our woes when the real problems lie in the attitudes and motivations behind the programming.  This notion we have to be ahead of the curve, ahead of our time, ahead of the audience might make some in the biz feel good, but it actually can make us less relevant and appear desperate which could end up alienating us from our audiences….

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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!)……

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