I arrived at my new job on June 1, 2008, ready to delve into the standard industry-wide issues plaguing Orchestra Iowa: plummeting ticket sales, strained relations with the musicians, immense debt, and no cash to pay bills. Although I had spent several months before my arrival creating a first year outline, that plan literally got washed down the river when two weeks into my tenure, downtown Cedar Rapids, including the Symphony’s office and performance home, was destroyed by massive floods.
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Building Concert Halls, Part 2: Well-worn paths to failure
Performing arts venues are built for a variety of reasons, artistic, social, and political. Their operational success can often be predicted by how these reasons are prioritized. Halls built primarily for political reasons such as prestige and civic pride sometimes overlook basic needs and desires of performers and audiences in favor of some grand architectural monument representing civic identity. These are the halls I sometimes describe as being built from the …
Here It Is, Your Moment Of Holiday Zen
You know it, you love, it, and it just isn’t the holiday season without it: The Messiah Organist On Crack. If this holiday classic is new to you, give it moment and hang in there until the end; I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s 0:43 of unfiltered Messiah goodness.
[audio:hownottoendtheholidayseason.mp3]
Heading To Nepal
From December 13 – 23 I’ll be in Kathmandu, Nepal in conjunction with my work as an executive board member of the HEARTbeats Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable organization which strives to help children in need harness the power of music to better cope with, and recover from, the extreme challenges of poverty and conflict. As the pilot country for this program, our team of education experts, artists, and musicians will spend several days working with children in Bhaktapur and Baglung…
A Little Bankruptcy Satire
So I’m sound asleep last Monday only to be jolted awake by a phone call at 2:43am. I reach a hand out from under the covers and snatch the receiver. I manage to get the word “hello” out while simultaneously wondering if the cats will stay on the bed through the late night interruption. On the other end is a somewhat inebriated, agitated voice. It’s Adaptistration’s resident political cartoonist, Dixon…