Hawai’i. Some of us consider it a paradise. My wife and I were married on a beach on the beautiful island of Maui and we’ve been back twice since to celebrate anniversaries. But for others – namely the Honolulu Symphony musicians – Hawai’i is proving to be a black hole, and like the black holes of astronomy it is revealing some fundamental points about the structure of the musical universe. Unfortunately, reality is a harsh mistress.
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Quick Takes: Remembrances….
My father was honored as a holocaust survivor this past weekend by being asked to speak to thousands of students at one of the Marches for the Living in Poland (which was overshadowed by the tragic plane crash). It made me think of something, and that is, since becoming a Music Director I have attended many more funerals and visitations than any other kind of ceremony….
Random thoughts from an endangered specie….
Wow. It seems like every day we get yet another strange story about a conductor going down, or going south, or going wherever. What the hell is going on?
Time for a Laugh…
Look around the world of the Arts these days and it’s a pretty depressing mess. I could hop on that bandwagon (as usual) or perhaps take a hard left turn and provide some much needed amusement for a Tuesday morning. Survey says…….
Message Control and the Clouds in the Silver Lining….
Three different groups announced financial news that will have a big impact on their respective organizations, but with each announcement the negative is the focus with little or no regard for the impact the actual announcement might have on their constituents confidence going forward. It’s We’re a 4 Alarm Dumpster fire, run for your lives!…meets…sheesh only 30 million dollars….meets…. welcome back to the Millennium!……..
A colleague joins the fight against Putting the ASS in clASSical!
Just a quick post this week about possibly the most insanely ridiculous idea to attract the very young to music I have ever read about! Take random noises, mix it in with a debunked theory and add screaming children….presto MUSIC IS SAVED! A blogger hit this one out of the park, we need to to start calling out these ridiculous programs….
How To Make Sure We Don’t Have An Audience in 20 years – Part The First
For the past 20 years or so there has been a constant stream of critics bemoaning the fact that there won’t be any audiences in 20 years for classical music. Here we are 20 years later and there are at least some people coming to hear us perform. But despite all the warning signs about our business there is still a whole swathe of folks in our business who seem intent on driving away as many people as possible. Thanks for your help.
Quick Takes: The Gold Medal for the greatest Orchestra goes to…..
Another attempt to pit Orchestras against each other in an unofficial “Olympics” at Carnegie is a real head scratcher. What is the prize, who actually cares and what is the point? Thankfully Alex Ross provides some sanity but what is interesting is how Orchestras making the Carnegie pilgrimage seem to think it is a magic bullet to spur ticket sales back at home……