Adaptistration

Adaptistration Poll: New York Philharmonic In The DPRK

Enough with listening to what everyone else thinks about the New York Philharmonic's recent North Korea performance, now it's time for you to weigh in:

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Opinion Polls & Market Research

Some Additional Thoughts About The NYPhil In North Korea

I'm writing this just after finishing up yesterday's radio appearance at WNYC's Soundcheck and I wanted to get some additional thoughts out before they become blurred by the rest of my day. First off, many thanks to the staff at Soundcheck for inviting me to take part in the discussion; it was a sincere honor to talk about such a momentous event in a live, national forum. Additional thanks to Norman Lebrecht, who is someone I respect have always maintained a good relationship with. It is never a dull conversation when Norman's involved. Immediately after the segment concluded, the first thought that popped into my head was about the overriding point that Norman and other fine minds such as Terry Teachout have made which is a despot like Kim Jun Il are just using the New York Philharmonic to advance their despotic rule. Yes, bad people will do bad things but that shouldn't prevent good people from doing good things...

Talking About The NYPhil On Soundcheck Today

I'll be appearing today on WNYC's Soundcheck with John Schaefer at 2:00 p.m. ET to talk about the New York Philharmonic's performance at North Korea's East Pyongyang Grand Theater. Due to the time change the orchestra's performance which took place this morning at 4:00 a.m. ET, won't be hard in the U.S. until later this evening. Nevertheless, I hope we'll have some word on how the event unfolded. Opinions on the NYPhil's decision to include the stop in Pyongyang as part of their Asia 2008 tour has created an unusual rift in the worldwide cultural community, prompting some unusual coalitions of insiders who are doing everything from commending to condemning the NYPhil's decision.

No doubt, this will be a fascinating discussion. If you live in the New York City you can tune listen via FM93.9 or AM820 and everyone outside of the NYC area can listen to the live program online at WNYC's website. You can also listen to the segment using the audio player below (Joel Meyer's begins the point-counterpoint segment approximately five minutes into the clip):

Copland Went Under The Shirt But Over The Bra?

In case you missed it, classical music's new poster boy, Alex Ross (sorry Dudamel), took one small step for a classical music critic but one giant leap for classical music when he appeared as a featured guest on the wildly popular Colbert Report. According to Alex the experience "felt like being the nerd in high school all over again" but I think you'll agree the segment is great fun to watch. It has been a real pleasure to see Alex's book make as big of a splash as it has, not just within our cloistered universe but the mainstream cultural consciousness. Take a moment to watch to watch the clip before Comedy Central pulls the plug. For those stopping by for the first installment of the "How To Connect With New Media" series, please accept my sincere apologies but if there's anything out there worth bumping for, it's Alex Ross on the Colbert Report. In the meantime, I have received a number of great emails from folks suggesting what they want to see covered in the "How To Connect With New Media" series, if you haven't written in yet, it isn't too late.

UPDATE: Comedy Central's embedded video clip of the interview has been up and down today without any real pattern. If it isn't working for you at any point, try again later or visit the source page here. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Some Thoughts On Honolulu

If you haven't been keeping up with the situation developing at the Honolulu Symphony, the organization is in the midst of a cash flow predicament. As a result, they have not been able to meet payroll since Friday, December 14. My Inside The Arts blogging neighbor, Joe Patti, wrote about this issue in grater detail on December 18 but I wanted to add a few thoughts to his prudent observations…

Conductor Smack Down! – Dress Codes

The dynamic duo over at Sticks and Drones have come up with a fascinating new series they call “Conductor Smack Down!” In this series, blog authors Bill Eddins and Ron Spigelman square off over specific issues while allowing readers to take sides or take issue via comments. In the inaugural Smack Down, Bill and Ron tackle issues related to dress codes and concert attire:

Read Bill's Article

Read Ron's Article

Tangentially Related

Although the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike isn’t directly related to the orchestra business, the core issue they are striking over is. At the heart of the matter is what sort of share will writers get of revenue from new media. In this business the revenues simply haven’t been large enough to necessitate any serious considerations by any players’ association or management to induce a work stoppage but in Hollywood, it is a different story…

Enough Already With The Audition Nonsense!

The 11/11/2007 edition of the New York Times published an article by Anthony Tommasini's which features an interview between the author and Marin Alsop. Since its publication, the article has been making the usual rounds inside the business due to Alsop’s comments regarding auditions. In that article Tommasini quotes Alsop as saying the process of blind auditions (where candidates perform behind a screen) is "fundamentally flawed." Perhaps unsurprisingly, her comments have stirred up a Hornet’s Nest, especially with the recent announcement that the Cleveland Orchestra will now implement screened auditions. Regardless of the passionate feelings this article has stirred up, the fact is that the whole thing is just one big red herring…

Sticks and Drones: A New Adaptistration Blog

There’s excitement in the air as today marks the launch of the first of several new blogs here at Adaptistration. Sticks and Drones is all about the world of classical music from the perspective of two conductors, Bill Eddins and Ron Spigelman. If you are hoping the blog will be chocked full of filler such as discussions about whether or not Stokowski’s orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition is superior to Ravel’s edition and the advances in graphite baton design, you might be disappointed.

Instead, Sticks and Drones is all about providing a public forum for two very insightful musicians who live and work in classical music’s trenches. With the comment throttle thrown wide open, they’ll examine where classical music is, where it needs to go, and the challenges along the way. In due course, Sticks and Drones is the first addition to a growing three-way mirror of cultural conversation designed to provide a comprehensive view on the field of performing arts (more on that at a later date)…

What’s All The Hubbub Surrounding North Korea About?

The debate over whether or not the New York Philharmonic should perform in Pyongyang, North Korea is puzzling. There have been so many thought provoking articles written on the issue that it is easy to understand and relate to just about every point. At the same time, this is a good indication that the minutia of the discussion has hijacked clarity. As a result, this is precisely the sort of thing that can benefit from applying Occam's razor…

An Interesting Challenge In Pittsburgh

The Saturday, October 27, 2007 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an article by Andrew Druckenbrod that reported Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) artistic advisor Andrew Davis would not return to conduct the orchestra this season, the last of his contracted tenure with the ensemble. Andrew’s article does an excellent job at bringing you up to speed on the details surrounding Davis’ time with the ensemble but looking ahead, the core of this situation will inadvertently test the PSO’s standing within he greater professional orchestra community…

Catching Up On Some Conductor News

Although Leonard Slatkin’s appointment received a good bit of attention here soon after its announcement, two other recent announcements are worth noting…

One Tour, Two Viewpoints

While the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) makes its way through Europe from September 23 - October 7 on their seven city tour, patrons back home are offered the unusual luxury of having two sources for a behind the scenes peek at what it takes to move a top-tier orchestra through a major European tour...

Full Of Sound And Fury, Signifying Nothing

Much has been written throughout the blogosphere about last weekend's New York Times article by Stephanie Strom on the merits of certain charitable deductions. Frankly, I'm surprised the piece garnered that much attention as it seems more to do with the typical class-warfare nonsense associated with national elections than anything having to do with the inherent value of charitable giving...

Some Beginning Of The Week Absurdity

It seems that every other year or so we come across an instance where an ensemble is considering paying musicians based on how many notes play. For some time, that was just about the craziest thing one could run across in this business, at least, until now...