Unless your internet service has been down over the past 24 hours, you’ve probably read the piece in the 7/8/2009 edition of the Times Online (UK) by Richard Morrison that reports on a patron suing a The Wizard of Oz production for failing to use live music. In essence, the patron turned plaintiff was miffed over the fact that the production was billed as a “magical family musical” but failed to mention that the singers were performing to a recorded instrumental soundtrack. Although these events have transpired across the Atlantic, US ballet and opera companies should take heed…
Artistic Administration
Gambling On The Lowest Common Denominator?
According to an opinon post on 6/19/2009 by Perry Tannenbaum at Charlotte’s Creative Loafing Arts and Entertainment blog, that seems to be exactly what is being suggested with regard to the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) decision to appoint Christopher Warren-Green as their new music director…
A Question Of Live Music
Amidst all of the recent news about smaller budget opera and ballet organizations cutting back and cancelling operations, I decided to find out what groups in the Chicago-Milwaukee-Madison triangle are planning to do for next season. The responses were intriguing…
Help Wanted: Conductor Yes Man
Recently, conductor Bill Eddins commented on the decision by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) to dismiss music director, Junichi Hirokami for what he described as ‘[looking] around, saw a bad situation, and spoke out on behalf of the organization and, most importantly, the welfare of his musicians. The response: ‘Sayonara, Junichi!'” Bill couldn’t be more correct in his analysis and I wanted to examine this situation from another perspective…
Examining Chicago’s Beyond The Score Program
Now in its fourth year, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) Beyond The Score programs continue to draw large audiences and positive reviews. The brainchild of Gerard McBurney, CSO Artistic Programming Advisor, the series of concerts features a presentation format that draws on live musical examples to illustrate the structure of each composition in the first half of the concert and after intermission, the orchestra performs the piece in its entirety. I …