I had a revelation the other day, and since this is the age of instant communication I decided to post it on Facebook immediately. I knew that it was going to drive some people, many of them good friends of mine and respected colleagues, completely insane, but occasionally one has to open up the floodgates to get a good conversation going. I was not disappointed. This is what I said: “In order to understand Beethoven you have to play the piano. And in order to play the piano you have to understand Beethoven.” Let the games begin!
rants&raves
Mad Mad Men…. putting the Con in Contra
For our Mad Men tribute I came across a real head scratcher. It is hard to believe that the New York Times prints such dreck sometimes, but that they did when an article was posted with the hypothetical argument to turn the video game Guitar Hero into Orchestra Hero. This is an ASS in clASSical instant classic…..
R – E – S – P – E – C – T !!!
I had the joy of sharing a stage with The Pointer Sisters last weekend. It was really fun to see the Ladies doing there thing on the stage of the Winspear Centre, and our audience jumping up and down, and the bands – the ESO and The Pointer Sisters band – funking out. Great concerts, for sure, but even more interesting stories – and rumor of more sightings of the specie Convinsualistia Outdatie.
Plugging the Holes before Filling the Barrel (2009) – Opposite World!…..
Two articles jumped out at me over the weekend. Both reminded me of the constant tail chasing that goes on in the arts world. Sometimes we get so far behind our audience’s needs, that we end up doing either what we should have been doing all along but a little too late, or the opposite of we should be doing right now….
The Floggings Will Continue… Part Deux
It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted to this blog. Many times over the past few weeks I meant to sit down and write a calm, well-reasoned article about how a very good friend of mine was treated by the organization to whom she gave almost two decades of fantastic service. But every time I do sit down my blood starts boiling and I find myself cursing a blue streak. So I had better get this off of my chest now before it gives me an aneurysm. Warning – this will not be a happy post and I plan on using blunt language.
Lie to Me!…..
We all have our favorite TV or Radio shows that we watch or listen to regularly, whether they be a guilty pleasure, relaxation, passing time in the car etc…One of the best shows of the TV season was the Fox show “Lie to Me” and in the very intense season finale Dr. Cal Lightman played by Tim Roth said something that I can’t stop thinking about….
Be A…part?
There is constant debate on what relationship an artist needs to have with their audience, and whether there needs to be one at all! I mean who needs ticket sales, donations or any audience at all really? Oh yeah, ALL OF US, not to mention what does the audience need?… I need to get something off my chest….
Taking a bow and then shooting across it!….
On our summer trip last year, I was amused when we drove across “Nameless Creek” Indiana because by calling it that, it actually gave it a name! Just as ironic was to read that the CEO and President of the Grand Rapids Symphony Peter Kjome had “no comment” when asked a pertinent question relating to their staff salary cuts and how it would impact the musician’s agreement, and then he promptly commented!……