There’s something that I notice every morning these days when I’m having my early day tea. It’s a beautiful Menorah which sits on our dining room table. Every evening one more candle goes on as we celebrate the Festival of Lights. Of course the funny thing is that I’m not Jewish – I’m a Taoist. None-the-less, in celebration of these wonderful eight days here are eight things I love about Judaica……….
Current Events
YO!!…We put the ASS in clASSical!
Time for a rant! The obsession with attracting the younger audience, making music cool and hip with hip advertising, funky clothes and punky billboards is the same as trying to sell a Yugo by putting a great stereo in it. After a while they will realize what it is and buy a bicycle and an ipod because it will go faster! Worse, it might be discrimination….
Challenge = Opportunity part 4: Turning Green into Gold!
In the Springfield Symphony there are some musicians who have tremendous initiative when it comes to community outreach and education. One of them presented a proposal to the board last season to help fund a String Trio for a trip to our sister city in Japan as part of of a cultural exchange. It was a great proposal that already had funding attached. The board approved the funding, the trip happened and it was big success. In the background from some other musicians however there were some jealous rumblings. Not anymore…….
Orchestras and the Tech Revolution
So, we’re stuck in the 19th century. You know it and I know it. Classical musicians are one of only two subspecies of Homo Sapien Sapien who still wear tailcoats. Innovations such as video screens, subtitles, mood lighting, etc., find it hard to be accepted in the concert hall. So we need new ways of taking advantage of the technology now available to us.
Moving Sounds – Giving thanks to two of the great ones..
With the recent passing of Luciano Pavarotti and Marcel Marceau, much has been written about them separately, their art, their contributions to humanity and their extraordinary gifts. They were really one and the same….
Challenge = Opportunity part 2: Loading the Basses!!!
Though nothing to do with the title I am thrilled to welcome to our mad corner of the Internet Jason Heath someone who I don’t know personally but who’s other blog I knew well and enjoyed regularly, I now feel like a total “rookie” on this site! OK enough with the sport analogies, this is a real sports story. The St Louis Cardinals AA baseball team, The Springfield Cardinals moved here and into a brand new ballpark, Hammons Field three seasons ago, . They play 70 Games a year, the average attendance is 7000 a game, and they have 4000 season ticket holders “striking” (couldn’t resist) fear into the hearts of the local arts groups. Let’s play Ball!
Humor in music(ians)
FINALLY! One of the great knocks against classical music is the lack of humor on the part of those of us who are the greatest proponents of the art. This is, of course, specious. Musicians are frequently hilarious, and if the public actually knew what goes on backstage they would be shocked.
Nature vs. Nurture…….(vs. Suzuki……..)
So, I just got back from my eldest’s Suzuki recital. The one thing that I’d recommend to the Suzuki folk is that if you want to make it more interesting you might want to consider an open bar. Other than that all the kids did really well. And then there was the 8 year-old daughter of Raef’s teacher, and my jaw hit the floor.