Month: February 2008

In Columbus, They’re Playing Like There’s No Tomorrow

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In a press release from February 26, 2008 the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Musicians voted to allow a live recording of an upcoming masterworks concert featuring Symphony No. 5 and the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Peter Tchaikovsky for Denon, which intends to release it on compact disc. According to the PR, the musicians voted to accept a reduction in payments that would allow the organization to produce the recording "for a tenth of what a normal studio recording of the same program would cost" at the personal request of Music Director Junichi Hirokami. And from the player’s perspective it may be one of the CSO’s last hurrahs…

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Some Additional Thoughts About The NYPhil In North Korea

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I’m writing this just after finishing up yesterday’s radio appearance at WNYC’s Soundcheck and I wanted to get some additional thoughts out before they become blurred by the rest of my day. First off, many thanks to the staff at Soundcheck for inviting me to take part in the discussion; it was a sincere honor to talk about such a momentous event in a live, national forum. Additional thanks to Norman …

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Talking About The NYPhil On Soundcheck Today

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I’ll be appearing today on WNYC’s Soundcheck with John Schaefer at 2:00 p.m. ET to talk about the New York Philharmonic’s performance at North Korea’s East Pyongyang Grand Theater. Due to the time change the orchestra’s performance which took place this morning at 4:00 a.m. ET, won’t be hard in the U.S. until later this evening. Nevertheless, I hope we’ll have some word on how the event unfolded. Opinions on the …

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Avoiding The Music Police

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Every orchestra has these musicians and if you’re lucky, you’ll never have to encounter them throughout your career as an orchestra manager. Unfortunately, luck isn’t something you can rely on all of the time and at some point, certain managers are going to stare a potential Music Police quagmire square in the face. The good news is that quagmire can be avoided at almost every turn…

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