Thank goodness for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. On 6/1/2011 Stewart’s guest was Bill Moyers and their discussion about the current failings of journalism in response to an increasingly obfuscation oriented environment might as well have been about the orchestra business. In short, Moyers doesn’t like to interview politicians because their language is designed to conceal. Hopefully, this should strike a chord with you…
Rep. Betty McCollum Pushes Through 37.5% Cut For Military Bands
The 5/26/2011 edition of the Shoreview Post reports that a mere four days before Memorial Day, Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN) successfully pushed through an amendment in the House of Representatives to cut funding for the US Armed Forces music programs by 37.5%… Rep. McCollumn’s initial target for funding cuts was Defense Department sponsorships of NASCAR events but in the wake of that failure, she determined that the world’s largest employer of …
Events Heat Up In Louisville
Following the 5/31/2011 bankruptcy hearing for the Louisville Orchestra (LO), which coincided with the expiration date of the organization’s collective bargaining agreement with its musicians, the Louisville Orchestra Musicians Association (LOMA) published a press statement claiming that the LO has “terminated all the orchestra’s musicians.”…
Audition At The O.K. Corral
On 5/27/2011, WQXR published an article by Corinne Ramey that examines when musician openings in orchestras go unfilled. Ramey does a great job at covering the issues related multiple season vacancies created by mutual agreement between the orchestra association and the musicians. At the same time, there are occasions when long term vacancies are the result of what are perhaps best described as the artistic equivalent of a Mexican Standoff…
Editorial Cartoon Day: Philadelphia
It seems that Peter Dobrin’s article in the 5/29/2011 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer about the Philly Orchestra’s just released strategic plan has garnered a great deal of attention (we’ll be looking at all of that later in the week) including none other than Dixon, the ever-sharp creative force behind the hit orchestra biz comic strip, Who’s Minding The Score?…