Hawai’i. Some of us consider it a paradise. My wife and I were married on a beach on the beautiful island of Maui and we’ve been back twice since to celebrate anniversaries. But for others – namely the Honolulu Symphony musicians – Hawai’i is proving to be a black hole, and like the black holes of astronomy it is revealing some fundamental points about the structure of the musical universe. Unfortunately, reality is a harsh mistress.
Bill Eddins
Random thoughts from an endangered specie….
Wow. It seems like every day we get yet another strange story about a conductor going down, or going south, or going wherever. What the hell is going on?
Time for a Laugh…
Look around the world of the Arts these days and it’s a pretty depressing mess. I could hop on that bandwagon (as usual) or perhaps take a hard left turn and provide some much needed amusement for a Tuesday morning. Survey says…….
How To Make Sure We Don’t Have An Audience in 20 years – Part The First
For the past 20 years or so there has been a constant stream of critics bemoaning the fact that there won’t be any audiences in 20 years for classical music. Here we are 20 years later and there are at least some people coming to hear us perform. But despite all the warning signs about our business there is still a whole swathe of folks in our business who seem intent on driving away as many people as possible. Thanks for your help.
Those Who Can’t Do Redux – Maestro Myths
As I expected there was some very interesting feedback from my recent conductor rants. Personally, I find the fact that the secret society of The Golden Baton didn’t send the Mahler Ninjas to disrupt my concerts last week quite surprising – whether that means that I’m just too small time to merit their attention is a subject for another posting. But back to the feedback – boy, there are still some serious Maestro Myths out there.
… 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 like I’m breaking the Omerta code…
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 instrument?
Grammys? Who cares!!!!
It’s that time of year again. The Grammy Awards are all the talk of the business, and once again there is the yearly bellyaching about how the Classical Grammy awards aren’t shown on TV. Well……. who cares?