Inspired by Bill Eddins over at Sticks and Drones where he posted a laundry list of wishes for 2011, I wanted to take a moment to kick off an Auld Lang Syne Meme of Three for 2011 (orchestra stakeholder edition)…
The Future
Garbage In, Garbage Out?
Thanks to Technology in the Arts for posting something on the Americans for the Arts video contest winners on 11/2/2010. All three videos features are well made, wonderful productions but it is hard to miss the fact that the message they deliver in response to the question “Why do the arts matter to you?” center mostly on the stereotypical talking points the field has been delivering for decades…
Don’t You Believe It!
Among the list of items for why classical music is dying is the ever expanding number of options people have to be entertained at home and the mac daddy heavy-weight in this arena is cable/satellite/fiber optics. I have to admit to being a bit of a cable Luddite as our household has been rock-bottom-basement-analog-subscription plan cable subscriber for decades. But we keep hearing about how great it is and who would want to go to a live event (cultural notwithstanding) with all this great entertainment right at home…
Concessionary News From Baltimore
The 3/25/2010 edition of the Baltimore Sun includes an article by Tim Smith that reports on the recent concessionary contract between the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and its musicians. According to the article, the base musician salary will drop 16.6 percent to $67,600, “essentially the same as it was in 2001.” But what’s really interesting is some of the information Smith will almost certainly address in subsequent articles once the BSO releases additional information; such as details surrounding a new post-conservatory Fellows program…
Ouch. My Pride.
Over at Proper Discord, one of my posts from 2004 made it to the #5 position in the list of “30 things that won’t save classical music.” Proper Discord’s author asserts “Classical music doesn’t need saving and the only thing that will increase its reach is for the people involved to do their jobs better.” For the most part, I agree with the latter half of that sentiment and would go so far as mentioning that was exactly the point from my article that made the #5 spot…