We have all heard it word of mouth is the best form of advertising, and who would doubt it? Problem is it is both hard to quantify and to come up with data to prove its effectiveness, or so I thought……
Aud. Develop
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……..
Concert Companion….Bring a Friend to the CSO!
I’m a big fan of technology, I’m always bummed out when something I have is super seeded by a new model. I still have that old crusty 1st generation ipod touch (18 months old!). I was intrigued like many when the Concert Companion first came out, a device to enhance the understanding of the concert experience with real time program notes, video and other features. After the initial buzz, it kind of died down, and I haven’t heard much about it since and it seems that some are using Twitter for live notes. Well the creator of CoCo (it’s nickname) is now in charge of an Orchestra, one that needs a serious recharge, but I’m pretty sure a CoCo or an internet connection is not the answer…..
Book Review – The Savvy Musician by Dr David Cutler
So you want to be a musician? and Are There Too Many Musicians? These are two questions asked in the introduction by Dr David Cutler author of the soon to be released book The Savvy Musician. With doom and gloom seemingly around every corner for the arts, this book is a like a GPS for musicians to find an alternative route, one that wont just bring a check whilst biding ones time waiting for a “regular job” to appear. No, David goes so far as to suggest that alternatives can help the art form itself become relevant! My neck is sore from all the nodding I was doing whilst reading this, and so I decided to write my first ever book review……..
Back to School Special!!!
Next week my class The Audience Connection starts up again and like last year it will be podcast and I will post highlights at Houndbite. This class deals with current affairs in the arts world and so just like last year, I am asking for topic requests. Either send one as a comment on this post or send me an email. I will post highlights from these discussions. Below is a clip from one of last year’s requested topics…..
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
Having our Cross-over to Bear: Concert Snapshot – Chris O’Riley
A funny thing happened on the way to the Dakota: a new magazine came across my path. It’s called “Listen – Life With Classical Music.” Actually I don’t know if it’s new but it’s definitely new to me. What caught my eye was an article on Erich Korngold and his travails for having the …… audacity? …… idiocy? ……… intelligence? ……… to write music for Hollywood, and the negative effect this had on his career. Boy does that sound familiar……
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….