Odds & Ends

Thanks for the Memories – the Musical Cliff

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I would hate to start 2013 off on a contrarian note, but since that’s the way I ended 2012 why change now?  Matter of fact, why not up the ante?  Start the year on a high note?  So my first target of 2013 is……. the New York Times. No, seriously, I don’t really have a beef with the NYT, although I did just hear that the Culture Editor is stepping down, and that makes me a little nervous.  However, there has been one article that has made the rounds the last few … Continue Reading

Kumbaya, Richmond, Kumbaya

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It is puzzling – the tendency of an organization to shoot itself in the foot.  After so many obvious examples of what not to do there is, more often than not, that institutional moment which causes one to quote that great American Philosopher Homer Simpson – “D’OH!!!”  These days Homer is speaking in a mid-Atlantic accent.

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Classical Music is….Undead?

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One of my pet peeves is the insane and fruitless pursuit of new audiences with marketing techniques that are so insincere and gimmicky, that we end up losing audiences! From Guitar Hero contests to DJ’s at an Opera house to $50,000 being spent on a cupcake program, it seems we try to do anything we can to pretend we don’t play concerts but just have big classical raves.  However a student brought to my class something that is on the surface a gimmick, but actually is a sincere link between pop culture and the classical era….

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I Got Grand Rapids!

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Every professional musician has had “that” happen to them.  You somehow find yourself in a random conversation with a stranger and the subject of profession comes up.  You sheepishly let slip that you are a musician……… a professional musician………….. a professional classical musician……. and you get “The Look.”

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Perpetual (E)Motion

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I took my eldest to a batting clinic recently.  He’s an aspiring Little Leaguer with a live arm and a fantastic sense of the game.  The coach was trying to get him to make this particular adjustment, which for some strange reason he was having trouble with, and I yelled “it’s just like practicing your violin!”  That got me some strange looks.

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When Attitude Collides with Altitude – Interpretation

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I have not written a post about actual conducting focusing mostly on the ever more uncertain future for the Orchestra business.  For some time now I have been pondering the word interpretation which for conductors is everything, since it can bring both glory but also be gory if you miss the mark badly!  I think though that accessibility, flexibility and the “environment” need to factored in along with a study…of who is actually in front of you!….Also below:  a tribute to a legendary musician….

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Mirror Mirror

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A funny thing happened on the way through SocialMediaLand.  I ran smack dab into the difference between what professional musicians perceive and what “normal” people perceive.  If this doesn’t prove a disconnect then I don’t know what does.

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