On Wednesday, February 22, 2012, I’m co-hosting the next installment of a Chicagoland dinner club/think tank for area arts marketing and PR pros along with Amy Calhoun (McAninch Arts Center) and Vin Reed (Vin Design) and we have a few seats left at the table. It will be first come, first serve, so here are the details:
Current Events
Honesty: the best of all the lost arts.*
In a business as comparatively small and collegial (at least on the surface) as the orchestra business, it’s tough to find someone who isn’t afraid to speak honestly and from the heart about sensitive topics. Fortunately, we’ve got someone like Bill Eddins to point out the Emperor isn’t wearing any clothes.
So Much Drama
Maybe there’s something in the water supply but there seems to be a bit more drama in the field than usual. Two particular flashpoints of interest are Indianapolis via the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) and Boston via the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC). Flashpoint #1 – Indy The 2/4/2012 edition of the Indianapolis star published an article by Jay Harvey that reports on the hasty departure of ISO president and …
Science Schmience: Violinists Blast Holes In Violin Experiment
Since the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences published a paper titled Player preferences among new and old violins which chronicles their experiment during the Violin Competition of Indianapolis from September, 2010 the results have received a good bit of attention. Initial reactions were mostly positive but that ended up being short-lived honeymoon.
Grading Orchestras: The Eddins Curve
There’s no particular reason why but the whole “best of/worst of” year in review stuff just doesn’t hold much fascination this year, which is why there isn’t anything going on here along those lines. But there is one year-in-review piece out there from conductor Bill Eddins that got my attention and it’s worth your time.