Although I plan to post my observations about the entire 2012 American Orchestra Summit later this week, I wanted to focus on what was perhaps the most engaging component of the entire event: a keynote address from International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) chair Bruce Ridge and the subsequent rebuttal session with League [...]

Oregon Symphony Leaves The League
The 1/4/2012 edition of The Oregonian published an article by David Stabler that examines the Oregon Symphony Orchestra’s (OSO) decision to cancel its membership in the League of American Orchestras (League). At the time this post was published, Stabler’s piece has picked up a good bit of social media juice with 107 Facebook recommendations and [...]

Collateral Damage From The Clinton Letter
Since the Denver Post published an opinion piece written by former Colorado Symphony Orchestra (CSO) board members Heather K. Miller and Bruce Clinton, the field has been abuzz with backchannel discussion over the tone of the letter (in particular, how the authors characterized CSO musicians). What’s got folks talking is the fact that Clinton currently [...]

“Failure Begins At The Top”
Today’s headline is an excerpt from a piece by San Francisco Chronicle music critic, Joshua Kosman, in an article that was published on 6/19/2011. Kosman’s article is the latest in a growing chorus of voices within the extended field that are taking a much harder look at the root of problems among performing arts organizations [...]

The League: Then And Now
I had the opportunity to watch the opening segment of the League’s Red Alert! plenary session which consisted of a speech from League CEO Jesse Rosen. He read a list of current orchestra bankruptcies (Philadelphia, Syracuse, Honolulu, New Mexico, & Louisville) and defined them as “critical situations” that have “erupted” since 2008. He said they [...]

“Ending the Doctrine of Failure”
Last Monday, I hinted at revealing more details related to the League of American Orchestra’s (League) decision to reject International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) chairman and North Carolina Symphony bassist Bruce Ridge’s offer to participate as an elected musician representative in the League’s “Red Alert!” plenary session at this year’s conference. So [...]

AFM Calls Out The League: Observations
In case you missed it last Friday, I posted a copy of an article by Christopher Durham, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Symphonic Services Division (SSD) Director and Assistant to the President, titled Quality Leadership Is Essential in Difficult Times. In that article, Durham essentially levies blame on much of the hardships throughout the field [...]

AFM Calls Out The League
The August, 2010 edition of International Musician published an article by Christopher Durham, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Symphonic Services Division (SSD) Director and Assistant to the President, titled Quality Leadership Is Essential in Difficult Times. Don’t let the obvious nature of the title fool you, the article essentially levies blame on much of the [...]

Andrew Adler Couldn’t Be More Right
The 6/27/2010 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal published a commentary piece by music critic Andrew Adler where the author shares a frank response to the sort of discussions that have been permeating the business. In particular, the recent keynote topics at the latest League conference in Atlanta. It’s (unfortunately) becoming increasingly rare to see candor [...]
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