Looking Back At The Money Drug

Back in March I published an article entitled The Money Drug which examines a very real problem in the industry that deals with musicians and managers.  The article examines how musicians in the mid and top level orchestras compensate unhappy working conditions and artistic dissatisfaction with an ever increasing need for added compensation.

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A Note To The MET Just Relax

A few days ago Norm Lebrecht published a piece about how he was hired by the MET to provide commentary for their UK and European broadcasts but then fired shortly thereafter before ever working on a single broadcast. According to his article Norm claims that one of his BBC executives said the MET decided to withdraw their offer because Norm wrote something about the search process behind the MET’s new executive …

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An Unorthodox Method For Supporting Your Orchestra

A member of the Toledo Symphony recently forwarded a link to a political cartoon which appeared in the Toledo Blade that does a wonderful job at highlighting the impact of sacrifices which players sometimes make.  It’s well worth your time to go take a look.

Battle Royale

The competition between traditional Nutcracker performances and the radio city Christmas Spectacular continues this season.  I published an article at The Partial Observer today which examines how this struggle could have positive or negative outcomes for the entire nonprofit performing arts community. The added competition may force the industry into some positive change, even if they have to come kick-step-step-kicking and screaming.

In Case You Missed It

There was a wonderful letter to the editor published in the St. Paul Pioneer Press written by Minnesota orchestra violist Sam Bergman.  He takes to task one of the paper’s recent editorials which paints musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra (and thereby those in peer orchestras with similar situations) in a completely inappropriate light. Sam is a well written articulate musician who calls it like he sees it, you’ll be better off …

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