Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
Ever since the Axelrod/NJSO instrument collection scandal broke into the news headlines, people have become fascinated with how the world of high end string instruments operates. Today’s Soundcheck radio program on WNYC will focus on that very issue. I’ve written about the Axelrod instruments here and at my Neo Classical column and as such I’ll be one of the on-air guests along with string instrument dealer Fritz Reuter to discuss some of …
Adaptistration reader Brad in New Jersey took the time to send in an intriguing observation and offer a suggestion regarding the Axelrod Instruments purchased by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. “My wife and I maintain a large collection of wines and once we discovered that a few cases of what we thought were a particular wine turned out to be phony, the seller just used counterfeit labels. In that case we …
The final installment in the series of articles examining the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Internal Review Report will continue where Part 3 finished. After examining issues of valuation and authenticity what’s left are some of the most critical issues related to any musical instrument, how they sound and what the musicians think of them. Issue #3 How they sound As discovered in Part 3, even the NJSO appears to be dancing …
Part 3 in the series of articles examining the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Internal Review Report will continue where Part 2 finished, whether or not all of the instruments in the Axelrod collection are authentic. As was examined in Part 2, there were numerous contradictions between the Trustee’s findings, conclusions, and recommendations regarding the value of the collection. More important than value however, is authenticity, one of the cornerstones used to …
To continue where Part 1 left off, this article will examine more of the NJSO Internal Review Report to help determine why the NJSO decided to buy the Axelrod string instrument collection. A Review The Short Version The Trustees responsible for the report, Bill Baroni, Alan Danzis, John Forrest, labored to produce a document that is concise and very easy to read; it says exactly what is needed without unnecessary pontification. …