With what is unfolding in Columbus and Shreveport, recently in Jacksonville and the disconnect that exists between so many orchestras and their communities, I wonder if there is someone or some group that would have the respect, the clout and the cojones to come in and shake things up so that we can focus on becoming relevant to our communities or at the very least to our audiences!….
Ron Spigelman
Shreveport Symphony – A Tangled Web…
Columbus is getting a lot of attention in the blogosphere and as the situation unfolds many more of us will weigh in I’m sure. The current dispute in Shreveport is getting very little attention and there is something quite disconcerting going on there that I’m afraid might cause an audience disconnection…..(There is an update 3/28/03 at the bottom)
Deconstructing Conducting….
My teacher Jorge Mester taught me something vital from the start: focus on Conducting before focusing on a career in Conducting. It may seem obvious to do this, but when I served as a faculty member for a conductors workshop with Jorge a few years back, many of the students were more concerned with their resumes than with their downbeats! An article I read today took me back to the beginning when it first clicked…..
What defines a healthy Orchestra?….
We are constantly strategizing to make our orchestras healthy. Precious little of any strategy has much to do with the actual health of the musicians in per-service orchestras, which are the majority of the League member orchestras. I wonder if this is something that needs a forum on a state or even national level. Certainly it can start in a small way at the Orchestra management level….
First Contact…
Someone gave me a great idea yesterday. I have been thinking for some time that we need to do something to honor those volunteers who are the first point of contact with our patrons….
The $50,000 Question!
I mentioned in my $50,000 Cupcakes post that I would suggest a way to spend “no strings attached”money that might actually benefit an orchestra. I believe that the money should somehow benefit the audience profoundly and directly, but more importantly the children of those in the audience, with programs that have a chance of sustainability. By spending money this way, in the end it benefits all involved. Let’s go shopping…..in Texas!
“All White on the Night”!….
There’s a vitriolic war of words going on across the pond in Great Britain over this statement made by the Arts Minister Margaret Hodge:
“The audiences for many of our greatest cultural events – I’m thinking of the Proms but it is true of many others – is still a long way from demonstrating that people from different backgrounds feel at ease in being part of this.”
She is being torn apart for this, but there is a balanced and profound viewpoint that I came across……
Arts Education or Arts for Education?
I’ll never forget one particular day during my senior year in high school in Sydney Australia, when in English class we had our first lesson on King Lear. Our teacher began to talk about the play. We were not paying much attention and suddenly he stood up, opened the door and asked us to follow him. Someone asked him where we were going, (to the Principal’s office I thought) to the theater he replied…..