Having read about the strike actions with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra and the Shreveport Symphony, right and wrong is not the issue that concerns me right now, apathy and irrelevance might be the battle both organizations face in a time when momentous events are taking place….hey what’s the chance someone will bring up the Arts in a debate? I would say zero, and that neither surprises me or even bothers me….what to do in this case?…..
Current Events
A response to Bill! – Part 2
We wrap up the discussion on Bill’s post 100 degrees and climbing (If you are having trouble playing the clip you can link to it here. The sound will get better in future clips!):
A response to Bill! – part 1
As promised we discussed Bill’s post 100 degrees and climbing in my Audience Connection class last Wednesday, and here is part 1 of the discussion:
Authenticity
So watching the giant infomercials i.e the DNC and RNC conventions, I’m looking for any signs of authenticity, something real and inspiring, not so much who to vote for but who to hope for. With the RNC I sat squirming and surprisingly I found myself being bothered by something even more than the rhetoric….
Challenge = Opportunity: The egg before the chicken! – part 1
We need more donors, a plan to sustain ourselves, get more people involved, brand ourselves, win people over and yadayadayada….When arts groups get together to discuss their ills, lack of support, the community paying no attention to them etc… the argument comes around to forming a plan to turn things around and focusing on what we are not receiving, rather than what we are not giving. A plan for sustainability should start with creating something that is worth sustaining……
The Art of War……
Sometimes it’s really important to get a reality check. We spend so much time worrying about the state of the music industry that we forget that what we do is not the most important thing going on in the world. Yes, it’s important to us and our audience, and occasionally we have some little impact on the greater society, but there’s a lot going on out there in the real world. Yesterday was my reality check.
Don’t drop the baton!
I am answering the call of my co-author Bill regarding Gergiev’s concert. After the US team botched both 100 meter relays in Beijing, holding on to that baton is as important as running fast, so I’m going to tread carefully and with some help….
100 degrees and climbing
Music and politics. It is always dangerous when those two things mix, though one could argue that it’s dangerous when politics is mixed with anything. Over the weekend the news broke that one of the most famous musicians in the world decided to put these two things into a rather large blender and turn it on hi speed. The response from the rest of the classical music world has been stunning – as in a stunning silence.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.”
Dante Alighieri