Issue: June 2013
Orchestra of Exiles (2012) Director Josh Aronson Aronson Films Production, 85 minutes www.pbs.org/wnet/orchestra-of-exiles (also available from other sources, including Amazon and Netflix) In 1993, Steven Spielberg brought the heroism of Oskar Schindler to the attention of the world through an Oscar-winning film that educated a generation about Schindler’s efforts to save the lives of over … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2013
At the beginning of April, musicians and management of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra reached agreement on a new two-year contract. The musicians’ negotiating committee supplied the details that follow. After unilaterally declaring an impasse in September 2012, management imposed a 20% reduction in base salaries and reduced the season from 37 to 33 weeks. The musicians filed a bad faith … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2013
One of the most amazing aspects of the present age is the ability to carry useful tools for concert preparation and teaching in our pockets. In this article I’ll introduce but a few of the best of the current crop, with emphasis on inexpensive mobile applications (“apps”) for iOs devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch). Need a full-featured tuner? I recommend two apps that utilize the … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2013
After a challenging year without an orchestral season in Hawaiʻi, plans for a 12-week Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra season starting this October are being finalized, and a staff is being reassembled. It was a hopeful time for the musicians of the new Hawaiʻi Symphony Orchestra in March 2012, when the organization played its first season after the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra was silenced in October … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2013
It has been a real pleasure for me to advocate for symphonic musicians as chair of the ASAP board. I have the added pleasure of being in a position to lobby and educate Congress and the executive branch of the United States federal government on the virtues and advantages of support for symphonic musicians. Since we last had an opportunity to speak, I have met with over 50 members of Congress and … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2013
The musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra have now been locked out by the Minnesota Orchestral Association (MOA) for more than six months, and there appears to be no end in sight. Concerts have been canceled through April 27, and despite the recent resumption of some limited talks surrounding our request for an independent financial analysis of the MOA’s past practices and future plans, there is no … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
On New Year’s morning, I rolled over as my clock radio turned on to NPR’s Morning Edition, as it does every morning far earlier than I ever expect. This day I was surprised to hear my own voice during a feature on the state of orchestras in America from a phone interview I had done some weeks earlier. The reporter introduced me as a bassist “with the South Carolina Symphony,” a fact I found even … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2013
Most of the time I sit down to write and the ideas just flow. This time the spirit is willing but the inspiration hasn’t been forthcoming. Call it writer’s block, the weather, or a really busy schedule. Or maybe it’s like approaching John Adams’ Harmonielehre for the first time. As a string player you face page after page of never ending notes and patterns, but the notes are periodically … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2013
F or several years now I’ve been bugging Bruce Ridge to make a swing through Salt Lake and pay the Utah Symphony musicians a visit. We’re all well aware here that most of Bruce’s fieldwork has taken him to orchestras in various states of major distress. And, although the Utah Symphony has endured some very trying and difficult times over the past decade, we have not been taken to (or over) the … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2013
Gino Vivaldo Raffaelli 1925–2013 Gino Raffaelli, a founding member of ICSOM, passed away on January 10. He was a violinist with the Cleveland Orchestra from 1957 to 2001 and served as ICSOM’s first treasurer. He is survived by his daughter, Giovanna M. Shore, and two grandchildren. Gino was widely admired by his friends and colleagues as both a musician and an activist. In 1984, with … [Read more...]
