Wanted: A Messiah In Cincinnati

The 11/4/2007 edition of the Cincinnati Enquirer published an article by Janelle Gelfand which took a hard look at the ongoing process to find a new Dean for the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). The revealing article examines the challenges and outlines the critical value in filling this position with the right person… It is refreshing to see so much gritty detail and attention focused on finding a leader …

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Confusing The Issues

Much has been written throughout the blogosphere since The New Republic published Richard Taruskin’s 12,000 word narrative entitled Books: The Musical Mystique – Defending classical music against its devotees. I’ll come right out and admit that I have not read the entire work, which if written for different genre would classify as a beefy short story, but based on what others are writing it seems that the issues from Richard’s article are getting confused with an entirely separate discussion…

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An Extended Look At Top-Tier Musician Compensation

As several of the larger budget orchestras have successfully completed collective bargaining agreement negotiations, it is high time to take a look at how the minimum base musician compensation in those ensembles has evolved over the past several years. When examining compensation data as far back as 1999-2000 season is examined, some intriguing patterns begin to take shape…   For this exercise, the larger budget orchestras consist of the “Big 5+2”; …

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