Kim Witman of the Wolf Trap Opera Company has organized a cross-blog event for today’s announcement of the WTOC 2010 season by doing guest blog posts and interviews in a few places across the blogosphere. Kim contributed a wonderful opera oriented essay during the 2007 Take A Friend To the Orchestra Opera initiative and her guest post today is a wonderful evolution of that idea…
Guest Posts
Orchestral Acoustics 102: Orchestra vs. Hall
In a recent blog post, Washington Post music critic, Ann Midgette, posed questions concerning:
- what influence a hall’s acoustic response has on orchestral performance technique, and
- what effect the 1997 renovation of the Kennedy Center Concert Hall had in improving acoustics onstage and in the audience.
In response to the first, I can report conclusively that orchestras have great flexibility in adapting their playing to different environments. I offer a few anecdotal observations here supporting this contention and also comment on the effect of recent acoustical adjustments at Kennedy Center Concert Hall…
Accountability, Performance Reviews, and Planning
Welcome Back! Yesterday, we talked about trying to raise money after the concerts are done. Today I want to focus in on accountability, performance reviews, and tactical planning.
One topic I hear a lot about in the orchestra world is accountability. In a very obvious way, musicians are accountable every time the orchestra plays. They are held to extremely high standards; when they make a mistake, it’s often out there for everyone to hear.
Raising Money When The Concerts Are Done
Hello all! I’d like to start by thanking Drew for inviting me to participate. I’ve known Drew online for many years, going back to a series of animated but friendly discussions about Executive Director compensation right here at Adaptistration. I was happy to meet Drew in person for the first time recently at the League of American Orchestras’ conference in Chicago.
Orchestral Acoustics 101: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Christopher Blair – full time acoustician, part-time conductor, last time blogger. We come to Friday and the end of Drew’s absence from these pages. I have really enjoyed my time here (Thanks, Drew for providing this forum!) and look forward to possible future exchanges.
This being my last day, I thought I’d try something different by offering a series of short thoughts, one or more of which might spark some interaction from the readers. These will range from discussing acoustical misconceptions to the difference between acoustic measurements and what we hear. And, please, if you have a question about a topic that has not appeared here this week, go ahead and ask using the comments section. So now, welcome to “Open Line Friday!”