December 21, 2009 | 
At last week’s Midwest Clinic, a colleague asked about the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra’s (HSO) impending bankruptcy. She was curious why the board decided to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy (known as reorganization or rehabilitation bankruptcy) as opposed to Chapter 7 (also called liquidation bankruptcy). At the core of the conversation was the HSO’s plan to reorganize [...]
Archive | December, 2009
Secret Lives Of Great Composers
You have to love serendipity. A few months ago, I came across a new release in my neighborhood book store, Secret Lives of Great Composers: What Your Teachers Never Told You About the World’s Musical Masters by Elizabeth Lunday. I spent a good 20 minutes reading the book and was going to buy a copy [...]
Build a Private Teacher Outreach Program You Can Be Proud Of
Bill Eddins posted an excellent article called “The Missing Piece” on 12/13/2009 which espouses the idea that in conjunction with significant financial gifts (think eight figures) “each and every member of the orchestra commits to going into the community and teaching deserving students for four hours a week…for free.” In response to Bill’s piece, I [...]
Welcome Midwest Conventioneers!
The 2009 Midwest Clinic, an international band and orchestra conference, is in full swing here in Chicago. The convention regularly brings somewhere in the neighborhood of 15,000 conventioneers to town for a vast array of education related activity (full list). I’ll be attending the convention today, Wednesday, 12/15/2009 meeting with clients, colleagues, and friends and [...]
The First Step Toward Cultivating The Fruit Of Social Media
On Monday, 12/14/2009, Marc van Bree published an article at his blog, Dutch Perspective, announcing the results from his Orchestras and Social Media survey. In addition to a downloadable copy of the full report, there’s an excellent slide presentation on the key findings and recommendations. Van Bree’s survey is the first I’m aware of that [...]
A Scenario Of “Bad Things?”
In case you missed the big news from last week, Cincinnati arts patron and philanthropist Louise Nippert announced that she is giving Cincinnati arts organizations $85 million. According to Cincinnati Enquirer music critic, Janelle Gelfand, Nippert’s gift is the largest “single gift by an individual to a Cincinnati arts organization.” Flying under the radar of [...]
Here It Is, Your Moment Of Holiday Zen
You know it, you love, it, and it just isn’t the holiday season without it: The Messiah Organist On Crack. If this holiday classic is new to you, give it moment and hang in there until the end; I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s 0:43 of unfiltered Messiah goodness.
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Elizabeth Balay: I love the Simpsons' clip! That being said, ...
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Drew McManus: Based on what I hear from colleagues, so take it s...
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Mary Catherine: Savannah Symphony Orchestra - defunct January 2003...
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Sarah: One indication for me that there will be no summer...
- Is There An Unmistakable “Cone Of Ignorance” In Minnesota? | Adaptistration: [...] to yesterday’s poll about the Minnesot...
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MWnyc: That's the question I was trying to get at the ot...
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Jon: Drew, this may seem like a dumb question, but what...
