It just isn’t TAFTO without a contribution from a bassist and veteran blogger and Calgary Philharmonic bassist Matt Heller fills that billet in spades. In his contribution Matt ponders what sort of worst-case-scenario inviting a friend to one of his concerts could produce . The results are not only highly entertaining (Take a Friend – but not too good of a friend – To Orchestra) but they should alleviate any sort TAFTO induced anxiety for all those on the fence about inviting a friend to an orchestra concert.
Year: 2008
TAFTO 2008 Contribution: Carlos Kalmar
What better way to start off the 2008 Take A Friend To Orchestra program than with a contribution from an individual who has experienced concert events across the globe. Carlos Kalmar’s contribution demonstrates that the magic of live concert events occurs when “we all are unified in our thoughts and experience” and it is those experiences which ultimately reach beyond language and national boundaries to bring people together.
On The Scene Reporting From Montreal
No, I’m not at Montreal today to cover the CBC protests (although it would be nice to take at trip) but Adaptistration readers will get an on the scene report from one of the protest event organizers, Alexandra Fol. Alexandra. a Bulgarian-born composer who moved to Canada because of what she described as "its known commitment to concert music" is also the admin for the Save the CBC Radio Orchestra!
group at Facebook.com. I spoke with Alexandra at 12:00 noon ET this afternoon for a few minutes as the protesters were getting set up for their demonstration. Here’s the audio from that conversation:
Barring any technical or weather related difficulties, you’ll find some photos and video from the event too. Regardless of the outcome, it will be as close to live coverage as we’re going to get…
“Don’t let Canada become the wasteland that is the Americas”
Today’s title is an excerpt from a reader comment protesting the decision by CBC Radio to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra after November, 2008. Although it’s heartening to read such a passionate reaction in response to eliminating a professional orchestra, I’m not certain if an appropriate response to the comment, as a citizen of the aforementioned wasteland, is "glad we could help" or "go to hell." Passionate rhetoric aside, the 4/1/2008 edition of CBCNews.ca published an article entitled Protesters demand CBC Radio Orchestra be saved which reports on a live demonstration by approximately 150 protesters demanding that CBC Radio rescind its decision to eliminate the CBC Radio Orchestra…
The Value Of An Involved Music Director
In mid-February of 2008, conductor Bill Eddins posted an excellent article at Sticks and Drones which examines a common disconnect between artistic planning and strategic marketing efforts inside professional orchestras. Bill used an example from his own orchestra, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, to illustrate his point: the title selected by the marketing department for a concert series he designed was inherently counterintuitive to the artistic intention…