The United States Federal Government isn’t even half way through handing out more than $700 billion in bailout funds to the nation’s financial institutions in hopes of healing self-inflicted wounds and now the three major US auto makers are looking for a handout. According to a report from CNN, the auto makers claim sharp declines in sales necessitate sizeable levels of government assistance in the form of direct bailout funds or massive low-interest loans. Given the government’s habit of handing out large sums of cash, no questions asked, for foreign wars and domestic financial impropriety the nation’s professional arts organizations had better step up with their hat in their hand soon before China decides to stop lending us money…
Getting Musicians Involved
Following the Canadian Orchestra Website Review, Calgary Philharmonic Bassist (and TAFTO 2008 contributor), Matt Heller, posted an article at his blog the other week which questioned the value of posting contact information for musicians. Based on the parameters Matt approached the topic I would agree with his conclusions, especially with regard to obligating musicians to provide personal information. I’m glad Matt posted his article as it sums up the frustrations I hear from orchestra managers working on a project that requires requesting information from musicians for the organizational website…
Post Election Confidence Poll
Now that the country has spoken and Barak Obama is the president elect, I’m curious to know if this has any impact on your economic outlook for orchestra/opera/ballet organizations. Since we started tracking these issues a month ago, the economic outlook has been quite grim; however, can these election results change attitudes?…
Election Day Necessities
In anticipation of long lines at polling stations across the country, here are a few lists to help you persevere over the wait…
Yep, It’s Time For Conductor Finishing School
Holly Mulcahy published the first in a series of articles today entitled “How To Alienate Your Audience In 10 Easy Steps.” Although written from a satirical point of view, the article does an excellent job at identifying some of the fundamental problems that turn good conductors into not-so-good conductors, all of which leads to alienating the audience for classical music. The article reminded me of my time with the post-graduate orchestral conducting students at Arizona State University (ASU) in 2007 when we had a frank discussion about pitfalls that ensnare many conductors…