Not again, Mitt

Artists support these guys?  Tell me you're kidding.

Whenever I read of a colleague supporting the Romney/Ryan candidacies, I honestly have to shudder.  Mr. Romney, who once urged Washington to let Detroit (the largest city in his home state) "go bankrupt," has recently indicated that, among his first initiatives, he would dissolve the National Endowment for the Arts, PBS, and other governmental-supported cultural entities.  Of course, this is from the guy who tied his dog to the top of the car and just recently, shared a poorly timed "birther" joke with a crowd in Michigan.

The miniscule amount dedicated to the NEA (somewhere in the neighborhood of $155 million--compare that to our defense budget of $711 BILLION) would have no impact on the budget deficit.  None.  In the world of trillion-dollar budgets, $155 million is chump change.  It may not seem that way to people living on, say, $50 thousand, but everything is relative.

However, the negative impact of these cuts would be dire:  kiss good-bye to all but the most well-heeled symphonies (and there is no guarantee there), opera companies, museums, state arts councils, etc.  All would vanish, and our nation would be much poorer for it.

A most interesting commentary on the nature of our democracy was penned by H. L. Mencken in his Notes on Democrary, published in 1926.  A contemporary review appears here.  A most interesting examination of Mencken's time and a reflection upon ours.

As for support for the arts, I'll still go with the guy who can belt out a mean Sweet Home Chicago as opposed to the other guy who attempts to croon an off-key America the Beautiful.

Trouble down south

No one seems to know what is happening with pending contract negotiations with the Atlanta Symphony, which is in the throes of a $20 million accumulated deficit.  Of course the management is asking near-Draconian concessions from the musicians, who have responded in kind with a conciliatory counter-proposal.  Management spoke of a potential lock-out if no agreement was reached by today.  And still no news in the local press.  More from Drew McManus here.

It has also been reported that the musicians of the San Antonio Symphony have been attempting to negotiate their agreement, which expired in 2011.  The musicians made a contract offer in April and have heard nothing from management about the matter.  The current agreement, which was just an extension of the 2007-11 contract, expires August 31.  While it seems as though the musicians have acted in extreme good faith, they've been offered at best, double-talk and at worst, silence.  One has to hope that the silence does not extend into their concert season, which begins October 2.

A forgotten birthday?

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Claude Debussy.  Surprised?  Most of the musical world is, or else is simply ignoring it.  One has to wonder why; he is certainly among my favorite composers, given his innovations in rhythm, harmony, and--in particular--his amazing pallet of sound.

But, as Anthony Tommasini notes, he is difficult to categorize, probably because his own sound world (and lifetime) includes, at times, influences of Wagner, Satie, and even Stravinsky.  But was he an impressionist?  (His New Grove article insists not.)  Is he a symbolist?  That argument could be made, but not necessarily of his entire output.  I find such arguments moot; judge the music on the basis of its inherent merit, not on some pigeonholing category, i.e. (the age-old question) was Beethoven a Classicist or a Romantic?  Easy answer:  "Yes!"

For more reading, check out Tommasini's entire article here, and then pop La Mer into your CD player (yes, I still have one of those), sit back, and be awestruck at the sound.

Some good news for a change

The Delaware Symhony

The Delaware Symphony, which had earlier cancelled its entire 2012-13 season, is apparently climbing back from the abyss.  Through a massive re-shuffling of the Board of Directors and the efforts of its conductor and a new executive director, there may be music in America's first state after all.  Read more here.

Meanwhile, I was talking with Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony conductor and CEO, Jason Weinberger--who is also the former resident conductor of the Louisville Orchestra--during the past few weeks.  The LO and the musicians' union finally reached an agreement in early July, ending a lock-out that commenced in May 2011.  The orchestra, which has been on the brink off and on for decades, has also been among the most progressive in the nation in terms of programing.  The orchestra's website notes that, "In 1953, the Orchestra received a Rockefeller grant of $500,000 to commission, record and premiere 20th century music by living composers, effectively placing the Louisville Orchestra on the international circuit and securing an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall."  The community must be grateful to have its orchestra return for its 75th Anniversary Season (and Maestro Weinberger will return to lead several performances).

Symphonic music returned to America's newest state in the form of the Hawaii Symphony, which picked up after the 2010 demise of the Honolulu Symphony.  With JoAnn Falletta heading up as artistic advisor, great things will be happening on the island of Oahu.  For more information on the orchestra's Spring 2012 highlights, see here.

And yet, these bright spots still fail to make up for the endemic problem facing symphonic music as well as the entire world of "classical" music.  I can only point to Greg Sandow's blog, which has been examining this situation for quite some time and recently has been focusing on classical music's need to find a new audience.  (See Greg's blog here.)  The old models are definitely not working anymore, due to a variety of factors, not the least of which has been the elimination of school music programs.  That being said, we need to create a new dynamic--a new brand if you will--to bring this new audience into our concert halls (or maybe throw convention to the wind and bring the concert halls to the new audience!)

From a Hungarian's mouth

Ivan Fischer--we can learn a lot from him...

It seems almost ironic that Norman Lebrecht's latest interview would be with Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer--especially in light of my posting about the impact that country's musicians and conductors have had on our own cultural development.

There are many interesting insights here, both on the state of things in his own country, as well as what Fischer sees as the "dinosaur" of the American orchestra and its system of governance, operations, etc.  The podcast can be found here.

The end of summer

In the spring of 1995 several area musicians approached me with the concept of starting a community band in the Tri State area.  Organizations such as the Dubuque Wind Ensemble (an outgrowth of the Tri-College band) and the Dubuque Community Band had long since lay dormant and our city remained the largest Iowa municipality without a community wind organization.  On May 9, the band was "born," with a total compliment of 15 players, nine of whom were clarinet players!  Within a month, our numbers had grown to about 35, and we presented our first concert on June 15 at the Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.  Music on that program included compositions by Gustav Holst, Richard Wagner, marches (including a snappy little Hungarian number), and two show tune medleys.  Two weeks hence, we moved to Dubuque's beautiful Eagle Point Park Bandshell and have been presenting our summer concert seasons there ever since.

Over the years, as the band has grown, we have taken the show on the road, offering concerts at Sinsinawa Mound, Cascade, Bettendorf, and a performance (with Maquoketa's Timber City Band) at the 2001 Iowa Municipal Band Festival in Boone.  That same year the ensemble performed as part of the community's Independence Day celebration with a concert at the Hawthorne Street Boat Landing and aired on Radio Dubuque.  Still, we have not strayed far from our roots:  offering the best and most varied programs to the community by musicians of the community.  The Tri-State Wind Symphony has been and will always remain Dubuque's Municipal Band!

For many years we counted on the largesse of Loras College for the use of rehearsal facilities, equipment and an extensive library of fine wind music.  But in the winter of 2008, following my departure from the Loras faculty, we were nearly forced to "fold up the tents."  But, thanks in no small part to the hard work of our Board of Directors and support of the community, the show went on.  Westminster Presbyterian Church offered us a rehearsal space in their large (and air-conditioned!) fellowship hall, as well as a rain site in the church's sanctuary.  That would prove more than beneficial as that summer brought about rains and major flooding throughout the state of Iowa.  We were only able to present two concerts out of doors that summer!  Our deepest thanks is also offered to both the University of Dubuque and Dubuque Senior High School for loan of equipment and other needs.  Since that time, through the efforts of our grant writer extraordinaire, Jean Cheever, and many others, the ensemble has now obtained most of our needed percussion equipment and increases to our music library, all of which are stored at Westminster during the off-season.

We are now approaching the conclusion of our eighteenth season of music-making.  As is our tradition, the final concert consists of the player's (and audience) favorites, culled from the repertoire offered from the current season.  I am always amazed that the cumulative program demonstrates a truly varied (and usually outstanding) mix of the best music from the season.  It also warms my heart that the concert includes at least one selection from every one of our summer programs.  This year's final concert includes:

John Philip Sousa:  Fairest of the Fair, with little doubt, the master's prettiest march.

Gustav Holst:  Suite in F (No. 2), a significant work of the band repertoire and the top vote-getter in this year's balloting.

Warren Barker:  The Magic of Andrew Lloyd Webber, a wonderful medley that includes music from Jesus Christ, Superstar; Evita, Cats, and Phantom of the Opera.

Frank Ticheli's lovely setting of Amazing Grace.

Jay Bocook's finely crafted medley from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story (I live for the ending!)

Leroy Anderson's adorable Blue Tango.

John Higgins' Broadway Spectacular, including older hits from Hello Dolly, Chorus Line, and several others.

Rushmore, Alfred Reed's moving setting of America, the Beautiful.

Yet another Sousa march--was there any doubt?  Stars and Stripes Forever.

Charles Wiley:  Old Scottish Melody, our traditional season closer and an absolutely gorgeous setting of Auld Lang Syne. 

We bid the summer adieu on Thursday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m.

A really good gig (if you can get it.)

Drew McManus, author of the Adaptistration blog, makes life easy for many of us as he goes through the IRS 990 reports filed by American orchestras and sorts out the compensation received by music directors, executives, concertmasters, etc.  Although I've included a few of these in past postings, here's the top ten:

1. Philadelphia Orchestra: $1,827,801
2. San Francisco Symphony: $1,801,627
3. Boston Symphony: $1,321,779
4. Dallas Symphony: $1,113,134
5. New York Philharmonic: $1,082,277
6. Cleveland Orchestra: $1,075,204
7. Minnesota Orchestra: $1,035,622
8. Saint Louis Symphony: $954,392
9. Seattle Symphony: $699,048
10. Baltimore Symphony: $685,812

That seems like a huge jump between no.s 8 and 9, but I still think I could live on 700K, even in Seattle!


A more complete report, plus a lot more information on orchestra administration and the state of our art can be found at www.adaptistration.com.


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Meanwhile, the Boston Symphony is still sans conductor as no replacement has yet been named for James Levine, who announced his retirement in March 2011. The orchestra just presented its first Tanglewood medal, a "new tradition" presented to Seiji Ozawa for “his myriad contributions to the B.S.O.’s performance, touring and recording activities.” (Please, someone, give me a break! Greater than the legion of great conductors that have called Boston "home.")  James R. Oestreich writes in the same NY Times article mentions Andris Nelsons as one of the BSO's potential suitors although he has yet to lead the band in a subscription performance.

The question remains: how long can the BSO continue on without a Music Director to lead the orchestra forward.  Levine got off to a good start, burnishing the BSO sound from the too-long years (25 to be exact) of a conductor who basically went through the motions.

All of that being said, I'm still available.