As an interesting continuation to the topic of orchestral microsites a reader sent along a link to the Berlin Philharmonic Cello Challenge, a microsite of the Berlin Philharmonic website. The microsite is designed entirely in Flash and although it is apparent that they spent a great deal of time on the microsite’s aesthetic quality, it is ultimately one of the thousands of simple, repetitive flash based games available across the internet…
Month: March 2008
Windows Vista, How Do I Hate Thee? Let Me Count The Ways.
Actually, I only need to list one big reason right now. As it turns out, windows vista decided to install a major upgrade last night and in the process it destroyed all copies of everything created via Microsoft Word saved to my hard drive, including the article which would have been published this morning. As luck has it, most of the other files created yesterday were sent to associates via email …
Even Marathons Have To End
Good news in Phoenix as the Arizona Opera Company and the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians’ Association reached a tentative agreement on Sunday, 3/9/2008. The 12 month long negotiation reached a critical point last month when both sides approved a side letter to the agreement which guarantees the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians right of first refusal for all productions through the 2011/12 season. The first two years in the three year contract …
Are You Suffering From Trombone Envy?
Holly Mulcahy posted what I thought was a fascinating article last week at The Partial Observer which examines how even professional orchestra musicians are sometimes unaware of the occupational pitfalls of their musician colleagues. The gist of the article is that a little knowledge goes a long way toward improved understanding and job satisfaction and that made me think about two specific issues…
A Marathon Negotiation In Phoenix
How appealing does a 12 month long collective bargaining agreement negotiation sound? Probably not that appealing but that is precisely where the Arizona Opera Company and the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians’ Association are. The organization has been operating for the 2007/08 season without a contract and, until recently, was approaching a labor stoppage that threatened March performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute…