Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
It’s been a heavy-duty week and it is high time to regain a little faith in the world. To that end, violinist and cat foster Esther Abrami posted a video from one of her recent practice sessions that included a novel way to keep a foster kitten occupied. Granted, this is 10/10 adorable out of the gate but just wait until the 1:06 mark…
Warning: today’s article includes description of sexual violence. The 9/22/20 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Peter Dobrin that examines the report filed by law firm Cozen O’Connor into allegations from violinist Lara St. John of rape and sexual abuse by former Curtis faculty member, Jascha Brodsky, during her time at Curtis Institute of Music. The report not only found St. John’s claims credible, they found her tenacity …
Hopefully, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) will have an opportunity to relive what would have been their 100th anniversary because as of now, they have cancelled all concert activity through February 2021. While the group managed to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan, those funds ran out at the end of summer and as a result, furloughed musician employees through February 9, 2021. Assuming the group is back up and running …
It appears the San Francisco Opera (SFO) and its orchestra musicians have reached an agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement. Janos Gereben was first to report on the newly ratified deal along with some key details in an article for the 9/20/2020 edition of sfexaminer.com. It appears to be a two-year deal with a 50 percent cut in weekly salary over the course of the fall season. While a musician …
If you’ve been watching any of the early efforts from orchestras experimenting with socially distanced concerts, you’ve probably noticed that on-stage musicians are wearing masks, even wind players when they aren’t actively playing. In the handful of indoor events, audience members are wearing masks as well. So why are some conductors going without masks or walking out wearing a mask, but removing it while conducting? Holly Mulcahy was wondering the same …