Posted on October 29, 2010 at 12:25 am by Robert Levine
in Labor relations, Orchestra economics |

When I first came into the business, the conventional wisdom (as expressed by Len Leibowitz at many ICSOM conferences) was that it was in musicians’ interests to propose one-year agreements and let management pay for the privilege of several years of labor peace and not having to deal with negotiating committees. (more…)

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Posted on October 27, 2010 at 9:31 am by Robert Levine
in General, People |

Sir Isaac Newton, generally regarded as the most influential scientist in human history, once said “if I have seen further, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Those of us who make a living playing in orchestras stand on the shoulders of giants as well. One of them, Fred Zenone, died on October 22, 2010.

The first time I ever saw Fred was at the 1989 ICSOM conference. He had been invited by then-chairman Brad Buckley to “talk about trends he has seen while serving on teams that advise troubled orchestras” – the famous SWAT teams. My very strong reaction to his presentation was “who is this guy and why is he telling me stuff I don’t want to hear?” I certainly didn’t want to hear his predictions of health insurance premiums eating away at orchestra budgets or the fact that we still had made no impact on the job satisfaction front – about both of which, of course, he was completely right. (more…)

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Posted on October 21, 2010 at 11:33 pm by Robert Levine
in General, Hiring and firing |

Peter Dobrin, in an article for the Philadelphia Inquirer on the possible departure of Philly clarinetist Ricardo Morales for the New York Phil, is skeptical:

Lurking in the background is the hypocrisy that has long run through orchestral personnel decisions.

Both players and management have held that talent is the sole criterion for determining who gets into the Philadelphia Orchestra. The process is “squeaky clean,” in the words of one former orchestra leader.

There can be no prejudice or favoritism, they argue, since auditions happen behind screens.

Except when they don’t. (more…)

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Posted on October 19, 2010 at 12:10 am by Robert Levine
in General |

It’s not because they make more money, or have all that power, or gets lots of aerobic exercise from moving their arms so much. Apparently it’s because they get to stand up while working:

In academic papers with titles such as, “Your Chair: Comfortable but Deadly,” physicians point to surprising new research showing higher rates of diabetes, obesity, heart disease and even mortality among people who sit for long stretches. A study earlier this year in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that among 123,000 adults followed over 14 years, those who sat more than six hours a day were at least 18 percent more likely to die than those who sat less than three hours a day. (more…)

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Posted on October 18, 2010 at 1:53 pm by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Here’s an article that appeared in the Entertainment section of the Los Angeles Times last week. The author says she is cynical and that is apparent, but I’m even more cynical about the article itself.  It’s definitely representative of “old school” thinking.  See if you agree.

Culture Monster

All the Arts, All the Time

The YouTube Symphony Orchestra is back for a second year — but why?

October 13, 2010 |  1:39 pm

We’re not really sure why, but it’s back.  The YouTube Symphony Orchestra is having another go, this time in Sydney, Australia.  The general idea is the same as last year — post a video of yourself playing the set audition and maybe you’ll get selected to perform with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas at the Sydney Opera House.

We love the idea of people getting together to play music, meet colleagues from different countries and have a great time. This is why there are summer camps, study abroad programs or chamber music salons.

What sends our cynicism meter flying into the red zone (our heart is black so yours doesn’t have to be) is what appears to be a fundamental misunderstanding of how orchestras actually work.  Even worse, there are too many people involved that know better for it to be a nonspecialist marketing mishap.

.  .  .  “fundamental misunderstanding of how orchestras actually work”? In my mind that’s not the idea or purpose of the YouTube Symphony.  It isn’t trying to replicate the prevailing orchestra model.  Thank God.  That one is barely breathing in many cities.  It seems to me to be about bringing musicians with diverse backgrounds from around the world together through the use of technology, and then having a performance in a really cool venue that most of the participants will only dream about playing in.

Here are a few snippets from the press release announcing YSO 2011.

– “YouTube opens online auditions for a second global collaborative orchestra”

Except for the online part, none of this is news.  Almost all orchestras are global in their makeup and, unless they really hate the conductor, are made up of people who collaborate artistically for a living.

The Youtube Symphony “aims to use the inherent democracy of the Internet to offer musicians around the world — whether professional, aspiring, or retired — an opportunity to play at Sydney Opera House.”

Everyone already has a chance to play at the Sydney Opera House. When the opera orchestra has an opening, anyone is free to make an application and turn up to the audition.

Sure—and anyone can buy a Mercedes too.  All you have to do is show up at the showroom and plunk down $75K.

An applicant’s chances of securing the position improve if he or she has put in the roughly 10,000 hours of practice required but it is not strictly necessary. Neither is going to Julliard or owning a $500,000 instrument.
– “Last year we helped fundamentally challenge the norms of an entire industry, and provided a digital meeting place for classical musicians right around the world.”

– Ed Sanders, Youtube Senior Marketing Manager

We would welcome examples to the contrary here but no news of a fundamental change has reached Culture Monster’s ears.  Orchestras still audition in person, often with a screen and as far as the digital meeting place goes….well there are already hundreds of classical music blogs, dedicated social networking sites and message boards as well as Facebook and Twitter.

Underneath all this indignation we think flying to Sydney to play music with some Internet peeps sounds like a pile of fun.  Just because it isn’t a change-the-world idea doesn’t make it any less worthwhile.  While we look forward to watching the audition videos and hearing how the whole project develops over the next few months, we would like it much more if YSO staffers would send hyperbole on a long walk in the Outback.

– Marcia Adair

Here’s what else the author missed.  Just the effort to do something like this helps take the orchestra out of the stuffy, old foggie, we’re sophisticated and you’re not, white tie and tails image.  It appeals to the younger generation of musicians.  It’s great PR.  It uses technology and if you believe that orchestras will be around in 100 years, but the delivery of their product will be changed you can imagine the YouTube Symphony as a baby step in this direction.  Remember, the space flight of today doesn’t look anything like the first flight of the Wright Brothers.  I say bravo to MTT and the organizers of the YouTube Symphony.  At least they are pro-active and trying something.  For right now I think this Sydney Opera House concert is about the journey and not the destination.

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Posted on October 16, 2010 at 2:08 pm by Aaron Flagg
in General, Orchestra economics, The Future |

October 16, 2010

As this is my first blog entry, I thought it helpful to set a context for my comments about the field of orchestras in the United States. I am a professional trumpeter player, educator, administrator, and board member for the League of American Orchestras. My passion for orchestral music and the professionals who keep the music playing runs quite deep. As a youngster, members of the San Diego Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic taught me the trumpet. I’ve been fortunate to perform as soloist with orchestras, to write music for orchestras, and to sit in the brass section of the New York< Brooklyn, Long Island Philharmonics, Lansing Symphony, and numerous per service orchestras in the New York area. Many of my friends and colleagues perform in orchestras, run orchestras and are on boards of orchestras across the country. I am honored to be the Dean of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford whose conservatory-style training prepares dance, theater, and music students for professional life in the arts including symphony orchestras. I am also no stranger to the great work of Polyphonic.org. (more…)

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Posted on October 13, 2010 at 2:32 pm by Ramon Ricker
in General |

Here’s an interview with Mark Morris, the well-known choreographer, that appeared recently in the Boston Globe. In the first part of the interview he hits the nail on the head in his answer to the question, “Why is live music so important to you in performance?”  Ballet and dance company musicians out there, remember this article the next time your company decides to go to canned music.

“Petrichor,” step by step

Mark Morris selected the title, and the rest came later

By Laura Collins-Hughes

Globe Staff / October 10, 2010

MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP At: Cutler Majestic Theatre, Boston, Thursday through Oct. 17. Tickets $53-$80. 617-824-8000, www.aestages.org

“Petrichor’’ will make its world premiere this week when the Mark Morris Dance Group opens Celebrity Series of Boston’s season on a program that also includes the Boston premieres of “Excursions’’ (2008) and “Empire Garden’’ (2009). “Petrichor,’’ set to Heitor Villa-Lobos’s String Quartet No. 2, was commissioned by Celebrity Series in honor of Martha H. Jones, its president and executive director, who is retiring at the end of the season. As is customary for the dance company, all of the music will be performed live.

Morris, 54, recently discussed his work by phone from New York.

Q. What about a piece of music inspires you to choreograph a dance to it — or am I wrong in thinking that, for you, it all starts with the music? (more…)

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Posted on October 13, 2010 at 10:45 am by Robert Levine
in General |

Some of the choices that the MacArthur Foundation has made in the past when awarding their “genius grants” to people in our field have struck me a little… odd. A few years ago, a MacArthur award went to Marin Alsop, and I remember feeling at the time that it might have had more to with the very public skepticism that the musicians of the Baltimore Symphony expressed about her appointment as Music Director – and the Foundation’s skepticism about the BSO musicians – than any personal attributes or achievements of Alsop herself.

Two years ago, Leila Josefowicz got one. She’s certainly a wonderful player, but there are lots of wonderful players; some even do the kinds of work that the MacArthur Foundation cited in her award. It was hard for me to see what she was doing that was really deserving of a genius award (as opposed to getting lots of work as a soloist, which she certainly merits).

This year, however, they’ve hit on someone who really does seem to be doing work that’s both remarkable, unique, and influential. A very good NPR story on Sebastian Ruth can also be found here.

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Posted on October 12, 2010 at 3:14 pm by Delta David Gier
in General |

Yesterday the South Dakota Symphony played its Lakota Music Project at Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer, SD in the Black Hills.

http://crazyhorsememorial.org/info/‘lakota-music-project’-highlights-native-americans’-day-at-crazy-horse/

It was Native American Day in South Dakota (Governor George Mickelson renamed Columbus Day in the 1990, part of his Common Ground initiative). The Lakota Music Project has been over five years in the making, but well worth the effort.

When I became Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony in 2004, I spent much of my first season taking stock of how the orchestra was serving the community, state and region. At a reception during that first season I met a young African-American woman who was in charge of the Martin Luther King Day activities in Sioux Falls. I mentioned that in many communities the orchestra is involved in those activities and expressed interest in pursuing that with her. Her response surprised me. She said that as a black woman in Sioux Falls she had very little problem; if I wished to address racial prejudice in South Dakota I should be talking with Native Americans.

In the spring of 2005 the SDSO hosted a lunch for Native American leaders in Sioux Falls. This was the next in a series of surprises for me. I came into that luncheon with a presentation laying out all of my ideas of how the symphony could collaborate with the Native American community. I was immediately met with suspicion regarding my motives. I found myself backtracking for a good part of that meeting, trying to understand their suspicions and how to address them. Basically, they had had enough of white men throwing programs at them which only benefit white interests and did not trust new ideas when first presented to them. My motives were absolutely pure, but I had to prove it.

Out of that meeting came a pivotal relationship. Barry LeBeau, then with United Sioux Tribes in Pierre, offered his help. We hit the road together later that spring and he shepherded me across the state, introducing me to many influential people and keeping me from stepping in numerous cultural potholes. One of the people we met was Dr. Ronnie Theisz, the chair of the humanities department at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. Ronnie, though an Austrian, had been one of the founding members of the Porcupine Singers, a celebrated traditional Lakota drumming group from Pine Ridge reservation. He now serves as a mentor to those original members’ sons and nephews, the New Porcupine Singers.

The SDSO musicians’ first encounter with the project was an afternoon with Dr. Theisz during our week-long residency in Eagle Butte, SD on the Cheyenne River reservation. Ronnie taught us about Lakota song and tradition, a wonderfully interactive afternoon. Our next meeting was was on Pine Ridge reservation, during which our principal string quartet and woodwind quintet spent a snowy evening together with the Porcupine Singers, playing for each other and talking about what a tour together might look like. One discovery we made that evening was that we viewed ourselves much the same way; they are a traditional drumming group (as opposed to a powwow group) and so consider themselves keepers of the flame, playing traditional songs and passing them along to the next generation; we as orchestra musicians devote ourselves to a similar philosophy.

The structure of our first tour came out of that meeting. The first half of the program would consist of us playing music back and forth for each other, having a public dialogue about the role of music in our respective cultures. We picked four themes: Love, War, Mourning and Celebration. The second half we would play two new pieces written for us to perform together, one by a native composer, one by a white composer. Our principal oboist, Jeffrey Paul, had a piece he had written for the quintet which they played for the Porcupine Singers during that first meeting in Pine Ridge. It dovetailed nicely with a lullaby Melvin Young Bear (Keeper of the Drum for the PS) had composed for his granddaughter, so Jeff recomposed the two pieces , interweaving them with each other. The SDSO obtained a grant from the American Composers Forum/First Nations Composers Initiative in Minneapolis to commission Mohican composer Brent Michael Davids for the other piece. Below is basic outline of the program:

Star Spangled Banner
Lakota Flag Song

Love
PS – Rabbit Song
SDSO – Love theme from Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet; beginning segment of Wagner Siegfried Idyll

War
PS – Honor Song
SDSO – sword fighting music from Prokofiev Romeo and Julet, “Death of Tybalt;” Khatchaturian Sabre Dance

Mourning
SDSO – Barber Adagio for Strings
PS – song for those fallen in battle

Celebration
SDSO – intro from Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks; Copland “Simple Gifts” section from Appalachian Spring
PS – Powwow song

Intermission

Jeffrey Paul/Melving Young Bear – Desert Wind/Harmony’s Song
Brent Michael Davids – Black Hills Olowan

The initial tour took place in May of 2009, five performance canvassing the southern part of the state. We played on three reservations (Flandreau, Rosebud and Pine Ridge) and in two cities (Sioux Falls and Rapid City). The response was overwhelming in every venue. The audiences in the cities were very diverse; in Sioux Falls we played in the multi-cultural center for an audience including traditional symphony goers young and old, and an equal number of native people with children laughing and crying and running around. Truly wonderful. On the reservations we held a traditional meal of stew and fry bread following each performance, which helped to make it a truly community event.

Following each performance there was effusive praise for the project from all corners. The adjective which came up most (yesterday as well) was “healing.” For those of us participating in the project, that pretty much sums it all up. The Porcupine Singers and our symphony musicians – whether from the U.S., Korea, Poland, Russia, Taiwan – truly became friends as a result of this process of putting the project together. We had a common mission, music as a universal language reaching across what divides us to create a bridge of understanding, respect and even affection.

We played the program for Governor Mike Rounds a the Tourism banquet during legislative session last January for an audience of 800. Yesterday at Crazy Horse, under that incredible monument, was our only installation of the project for this season (it’s all about funding . . .). There are many plans for the future of the project, new artists and composers. Native composer Jerod Tate is writing a song cycle in the Lakota language for a MusicAlive residency with the orchestra next season. We have a lot of interest in this ongoing effort and are hopeful regarding financial support.

More information can be viewed on the South Dakota Public Broadcasting website:

http://www.sdpb.sd.gov/LakotaMusicProject/

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Posted on October 12, 2010 at 12:07 am by Robert Levine
in General |

… as Sarah Chang has just been sharply reminded.

My personal definition of “grown-up” is someone who not only understands that actions have consequences but doesn’t complain about the fact. Very, very few people pass that test consistently.

But one of the times it is most often forgotten in our industry is during labor disputes. And it matters more in our industry than in many others, if only because the orchestra business is relatively quite small and the participants tend to stick around for a long time.

The orchestra industry is likely about the same size as a smallish town, in terms of participants, and it’s not a town that people move to, or leave, very often. So what goes around very often comes around, as it does in a small town that’s out in the boonies in flyover land.

Labor disputes are a time when the short-term goal of prevailing in the dispute can swamp all other considerations. The consideration most often run over is the fact that, after the dispute is settled, the combatants will resume a long-term relationship poisoned by whatever seemingly effective but nasty tactics were used to score points during the battle.

Being a musician, it’s much easier for me to see the unwise things that managements do during labor disputes than it is those effective but nasty tactics used by musicians. Having said that, it’s clear to me that the DSO management has done some unwise things that will make bringing the organization together again, when this is all over, much harder.

Foremost amongst those unwise actions was Proposal B. Putting something that ugly on the table, and then implementing it without ever negotiating about it, will haunt the relationship between the musicians and their employer for years to come – especially as it included transparently unacceptable elements that had nothing to do with the orchestra’s economic situation.

But at least the fallout from that was predictable. More dangerous is the fall-out from such things as the on-again, off-again Chang recital.

I can understand how scheduling the recital might have seemed attractive to management. They might pull in some money; they probably had to pay Chang anyway, and it would have been a middle finger pointed towards the musicians, along the lines of “you’re not quite as important as you think.”

I suspect that management didn’t think through what was likely to happen next, though; the outcry from the musician community, the hundreds of postings on Facebook, the isolated instances of nastiness contained in those postings, and the possibility at least of worse than mere nastiness directed at her (although I continue to regard the claims of threats of physical violence with skepticism in the absence of any evidence).

And I’m sure that it was very tempting for management to then use those claims to criticize the “reprehensible tactics” of those opposed to the recital. There’s nothing so tempting in a fight as scoring points on the other side.

But did they stop to think that, when this is all over, they’re going to be back to raising money to pay the salaries of those musicians who have been conflated, by Chang’s statement and management’s response, with “reprehensible tactics”? It’s going to be a difficult pivot from implying that the musicians are thugs to claiming that they are world-class musicians deserving of the community’s support – but it’s one that they will now have to make thanks to trying to be too clever by half by scheduling the recital in the first place.

As I said before, I have no doubt that musicians in many labor disputes – and possibly in the Detroit one as well – have made similar mistakes. Having a labor dispute in this business is like a bad divorce between two people who will have to continue to sleep in the same bed regardless of the outcome. It’s almost impossible to do without leaving lasting scars that will impact the relationship for years.

But it’s the responsibility of both sides to at least try to do the minimum damage in the process. Thinking through the long-term consequences of short-term tactics is a good place to start.

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