Neo Classical – Page 37 – Holly Mulcahy on the future of classical music

The Complete Experience

Wed, Jul 20, 2011

by:

Betty Mulcahy

“You must see the Mahler! It’s fabulous!” Several people told us this as the 2011 season of the Grand Teton Music Festival began. Because both of our children became professional symphony musicians for their careers, our friends assume we are sophisticated, knowledgeable concert-goers. “You know what’s going on,” they’ve said. “You can appreciate what happens in the symphony.” But nothing could be further from the truth. While I dink on the piano, Chuck plays the radio. Neither of us even participated in high school band and orchestra.

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That Slippery Slope

Mon, Jul 4, 2011

by:

Holly Mulcahy

If I had been told in conservatory that part of my job would be sitting next to bitter musicians who complain about their job, never smile or look engaged during performances, and that this behavior is potentially contagious, I would have not believed it. How any musician could have the passion snuffed out and be replaced by an apathetic husk of their former self was beyond me. But the unfortunate reality is musicians do lose their passion.

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Can We Please Have Some Good News?

Mon, Jun 6, 2011

by:

Holly Mulcahy

It seems that there is an unbearable amount of bad news in the classical music world. I’m tired of hearing my friends and colleagues repeat, in a mantra-like fashion, the doomsdays news of various orchestras’ demise and the death of classical music. While so much of it is in fact true and disturbing, there is good news in various forms and sizes out there that is being sidelined for more sensationalized and disturbing news. So I’m starting a list of positive things that I have noticed over the past month, and I … Continue Reading

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Sustainability

Mon, May 2, 2011

by:

Holly Mulcahy

You can’t live in our society without coming across the buzzword sustainability. It has been used to sell everything from green energy to organic farming. The point of sustainability is to keep practices and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. So every so often when I open my mail and find a plea for money from the conservatory I graduated from, I don’t hesitate tossing the forms and expensive invites directly into the trash. Why? They are not helping to … Continue Reading

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Milk and Cookies Concerts

Mon, Apr 4, 2011

by:

Holly Mulcahy

My love of quality food and animal rights is no secret. Neither is my love of awesome marketing for classical music. So when I came across the Dortmund Concert Hall’s commercial claiming that playing classical music for cows produced more milk and that milk helped ticket sales for classical music, I was instantly intrigued.

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