We think we have it bad when it comes to support and attendance. Compared to us there is another art form that quite frankly is under siege, existing in a sea of indifference after helping to build our American cultural identity. The city where it was still thriving is struggling too, through no fault of it’s own, and we lament our situation?
Current Events
Chasing our Tails…Conductor Smack Down!
The first in a series of Conductor Smack Downs! The topic what we wear, and what the audience wears has popped up yet again. We so often don’t have an answer to our audience woes, so why do we turn to fashion to solve our problems? If we are building a house and we are looking at a hole in the ground where it will eventually be, the window treatments should be the furthest thing from our minds…. Holly’s Partial Observer article mentions the audience expectations in regards to dress. I am … Continue Reading
Stereoids….
Music is now officially a banned substance at marathons and races by USA Track and Field. We have finally made the sports pages! We are now the unfair advantage. I met with a friend in Rochester the other day who told me she can run further when listening to the first movement of the Eroica Symphony. I should have told her to download some Schoenberg as she would also run faster just to try and get away from the sound! In the immortal words of Bill Maher, I kid Schoenberg.….
What if Classical Music actually functioned as a business?
I am struck by a dichotomy this morning. Like many “classical” musicians of my generation I have a really strong interest in Rock, Jazz, World music, just about anything that strikes my fancy. You could call me part of the iPod generation that way. So I also study the business of the Other Side of Music. In today’s NYTimes is this very interesting article on 360 deals for rising bands. Suddenly my brain drifts into a fantasy —–
Taking it for Granting…..
The Springfield Symphony (MO) was just awarded a substantial grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks for implementing a city wide program of community concerts with the assistance of students from 4 elementary schools helping to produce them with the aid of our professional staff. But, there’s a twist! Two hours before presenting the proposal to the committee, I was standing in front of my Audience Connections class discussing both the program and the presentation getting their feedback which actually altered my presentation. However that’s not the twist (more on the program soon). It’s that the grant is not the reason we are doing the program……