Current Events

At the end of week two, Chicago Symphony Orchestra is no closer to resolving the strike than they since it started. While both sides have engaged in bargaining and there appears to have been some progress, it was limited to non-showstopper level terms. Both sides continue to hammer away at their existing talking points. The

I’m back from Knoxville where the pre-con workshop for the 2019 Southeastern Theatre Conference convention was a real hit thanks to such an engaged group of attendees. And even though I’ve been doing variations of this session with my co-presenter, Ceci Dadisman, she always manages to sneak some new content into the mix where I

There’s a fabulous article written by Alison Bowen in the 2/12/2019 edition of the Chicago Tribune that highlights two young tuba players in the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (CYSO). Bowen chronicles the realities for tubists Bobby Black and Chrisjovan Masso as they grow past their respective school programs and into something like the CYSO. It’s a

Yesterday’s post about the Baltimore Symphony article archive got me thinking about all the issues over the years this outlet has tackled. While accomplishments are always gratifying, it’s the topics that feel more like failures that seem to linger longest. Granted, that’s far from a unique trait but the serenity prayer in today’s title made

Whether it’s grant disbursements, processing applications, or answering questions, you’ll need to hurry up and wait on anything related to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The ongoing government shutdown means NEA staffers are furloughed, their website isn’t being updated, and all phone and electronic communication is going unanswered. While the website isn’t being