Frank Almond

Violinist Frank Almond holds the Charles and Marie Caestecker Concertmaster Chair at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the MSO after holding positions as Concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev, and Concertmaster of the London Philharmonic with Kurt Masur. He continues an active schedule of solo and chamber music performances in the US and abroad and has been a member of the chamber group An die Musik in New York City since 1997, and also directs the somewhat notorious Frankly Music Series based in Milwaukee. He is on the faculty at Roosevelt University in Chicago, and plays on a really great violin.

Self Promotion Dept. (again) and thanks to SiriusXM

July 25, 2013 by Frank Almond

Most of you know I released a CD last April on AVIE called A Violin’s Life after completing a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign. The idea was to partially chronicle the amazing history of the violin I’m so fortunate to be playing by recording works of composers closely associated with it, along with a fairly comprehensive website.

Writer’s blockheads.

July 5, 2013 by Frank Almond

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday. Summer is usually kind of a slow news cycle in the arts world, but for come reason there has been a series of provocative articles in the past few weeks on various topics. For those of you looking for some amusing (and sometimes amazing) reading this Friday, this is for you…..

End of season link dump.

June 18, 2013June 17, 2013 by Frank Almond

Like most everyone in the orchestra business, I was happy to finish out this season with all its peaks and valleys. Personally I’m looking forward to a fairly quiet summer (with some exceptions) but in the meantime here are a few interesting articles just in case you’re tired of reading about Minnesota.…

Minnepocalypse now.

March 18, 2013 by Frank Almond

Coming up on six months of lockouts in Minneapolis and St. Paul, it’s very difficult to think of what else to say or write on this tragic situation, since lots of people way smarter than I have already done so. But since the cliff is fast approaching (or maybe already past), I thought I’d post a few thoughts mostly directed to the MOA (Minnesota Orchestral Association) Board and the soon-to-be former patrons of classical music in the Twin Cities.

Double Dare

January 12, 2013 by Frank Almond

With all the headlines lately regarding labor disputes/lockouts/general malaise in the orchestral world, I’ve had some pretty interesting conversations regarding the general level of management expertise that currently prevails in arts administration. Even so, the latest news from the New Jersey Symphony caught me by surprise.

Back with the Santa Tracker

December 24, 2012 by Frank Almond

Apologies for my absence recently- suffice to say the last two months have not been boring. I’ll be back more often after Jan 1, but I wanted to get a quick post up to wish everyone a great holiday season and a wonderful 2013. If you’re sick of all the doom and gloom in the music biz, check where Santa is at the moment, courtesy of NORAD. I also enjoyed the Santa Cam. More soon!