The bar keeps lowering, but in this case it’s the whammy bar! It seems the lack of marketing creativity is so prevalent that it in itself is becoming creative! It’s time to be in awe of the latest believe it or not marketing connection being made between Pop and Classical, so strap on a plastic Guitar with 5 buttons to get those $70 Symphony seats sold!……..
Rants&Raves
Putting the Dis in Discharge!
So for a holy mackerel story from October that seemed to slip by, a Champaign County Municipal Court Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott sentenced a man to listen to Beethoven, Bach and Chopin for 20 hours or pay $150. The crime can’t have been too heinous, otherwise the sentence might have been to listen to Berg, Schoenberg and Ligeti!……..
Fear Factor(y)!….
We are not going to admit it are we? Why is it that writers constantly try to put a positive spin on the negative by proclaiming it’s simply an emotional response that prevents people from attending a Symphony concert or an arts event, basically saying it’s their fault. This time it’s fear, yes people are fearful, scardey cats, wobbly need at the thought of an audience member shooting them a dirty look if you applaud inthe wrong place. Give me a break, if 98% of a city is not into you, it can’t be just fear. I mean it is not as if they are being asked to bungee jump (although you should see how high the balcony is in our hall)…..
It’s Official – We are the #1 Orchestra in all of….
Springfield Missouri! I don’t know how Gramophone Magazine missed us, obviously they are biased by not mentioning us in their top 20 orchestras of the world issue! PLEASE, what is the point of doing this except to p@#% off people? The truth is, the arguments wont rage, and no one is relocating from the city with the #2 orchestra to the city with the #1 orchestra (although it is in Amsterdam and there are some benefits)…..are they?….
Junichi and the sad truth….
Both Bill and Drew have Junichi’s so called departure well covered. The legacy he has left behind is a future for the orchestra. His speaking out and standing with the musicians, essentially throwing himself under the proverbial bus, was the catalyst for no acceptance for a reduction in Orchestra personnel. This means that that they do not have start completely over artistically. Much damage has been done but the foundation remains, and I credit Junichi in large part for that. There is a sad truth to what will probably happen next, and I have a challenge for the CSO and their next Music Director (who will have many challenges that is for certain!)…..
Caveat Emptor!!!
Conductors are like reverse ostriches. We are constantly popping our heads up out of the sand, looking around, and trying to determine what orchestras are coming available, who’s looking for a new Music Director. We want that next job, the next claim to fame, etc. Buried deep on the New York Times website I noticed a little ditty. It seems that an orchestra that I am familiar with is parting ways with their M.D. Perhaps I should…….
The People Business….
I am embroiled in rehearsals for Mahler 5 and was not going to write till later in the week, but something jumped out at me over on Greg Sandow’s blog that I could not let pass by. The talk of free concerts for the community have been the subject of his last two post,s and most of the comments coming back to him make me think that people still believe we are in the music business. We are not, we are in the people business!….
The Coming Storm
More fabulous news on the Arts front – from the daily updates from organizations around the U.S. that suddenly they’re looking at multi-million dollar deficits due to the worsening economy (muchas gracias, Señor Bush!) to the wonderful news that even the government of that bastion of Liberalism – Australia – has lost it’s collective mind. One wonders if you should start building the bomb shelter.