The Value Of Ensemble Experience At Interlochen

Recently I’ve received a few letters from folks with a connection to Interlochen in one form or another who wanted to remind me about the value of the summer camp’s large ensemble experience.

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Reader Response: Racist Nonsense

I received a number of wonderful responses from the Bunch Of Racist Nonsense article published from last Wednesday.  As with most issues that generate a good deal of responses there are always some surprises, and this was no exception.

Many messages were from orchestra managers (wishing to remain anonymous) who expressed varying degrees of disappointment and aggravation over the fact that their respective orchestra boards do a very poor job at reflecting the diversity of their community.

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Peering Into Milwaukee’s Future

The current round of negotiations certainly has everyone’s attention in the here and now, but how will the outcome of these settlements influence orchestra’s negotiations in the following years? There are several orchestras slated to begin contract negotiations next year that are in very similar financial straits to the orchestras currently negotiating.  Take for example, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. At the beginning of September, I published a couple of articles about …

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A Bunch Of Racist Nonsense

A recent article in the San Antonio Express-News inspired me to write about an issue that’s been steadily growing in my mind.

I’ve been bothered to see an increasing trend in this industry by some to explain away the declining audience base for classical music:  that some immigrant and minority communities aren’t interested in classical music because their respective cultures don’t have a traditional relationship with it.

Nonsense!

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Concert Companion or ORBIT Part 2

Continuing from where things left off in Part 1, this installment will examine the new Concert Companion and ORBIT products in further detail.  Both products are technology based solutions designed to help develop a new audience for live orchestral classical music.  The Concert Companion is a proprietary palm driven device and ORBIT is a web based application; both products are designed to be used by any size orchestra. Concert Companion The …

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