Issue: Chairperson's Reports
In the immortal words of Roseanne Roseannadanna, “It’s always something.” No sooner had I returned from a whirlwind three-day visit to Jacksonville—a trip that saw a settlement of the egregious lockout of the musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra—than we heard disturbing news from the Midwest. The board and management of the Columbus Symphony had secretly devised an insidious “plan” … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
As I sit at my desk to write these thoughts for the next edition of Senza Sordino, it is just after midnight on November 16, 2007. The issue that is foremost on my mind this night, and which has, in fact, dominated my thinking all week, is the egregious lockout of the musicians of the Jacksonville Symphony. I’m sure that all of our readers realize that Senza Sordino is delivered some weeks after … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
I’ve been thinking of this adage I once read in a book of quotations attributed to Buddha: Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. My travels this summer to the AFM Convention and the conferences of ROPA, OCSM, and ICSOM have served to remind me of my earliest teachers and my union mentors. … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
My visits to Las Vegas never fail to leave me numbed by the 24-hour sensory overload that assaults you the instant you emerge from the Jetway. The din of bells and coins hitting metal trays mix in with the over-sized visual assaults, promoting magicians I’ve never heard of who are somehow famous enough to have enticed Pamela Anderson to be their assistant. In the midst of a beautiful desert, Las … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
Breaking the Fourth Wall I still remember vividly the first time I heard the Boston Symphony in a live concert, a 1978 performance of Schubert’s C Major Symphony with Sir Colin Davis. For many years, I have had a book about that great orchestra called Community of Sound, by Louis Snyder. Twenty-seven years after its publication, it is enjoyable to read about a few of my teachers when they were … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
Lessons from Nashville In the few moments during the ICSOM Conference that did not find me in meetings, I was able to sneak away from the hotel and venture into the streets of Nashville. This was my first visit to this city, and I was eager to hear as much music as I could in the clubs that line Nashville’s Broadway. I had learned and played a lot of this music when I was growing up, especially … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
Back in October 2005 I wrote the following: “We still have enemies . . . If you have had a sense that there has been progress, I believe you are right. There are some enlightened managers in the field, but very few. We are still beset by managers that have very little financial knowledge and some education in the arts, but few have the imagination or artistic understanding to make the correct … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
Just a few weeks ago, I came back from my second trip to Puerto Rico. There I helped members of the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (PRSO), including orchestra committee chair and Local 555 president José Martin, negotiate with the management of the PRSO and the Corporación de las Artes Musicales (CAM), the governmental agency that oversees the PRSO and other musical arts in Puerto Rico. It is a … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
Below are excerpts from two recent addresses delivered by the ICSOM Chairperson. His address at the ASOL convention on June 16, 2005 is followed by his address to the 2005 AFM Convention. In the last six years, symphony orchestras have taken a tremendous hit. The American society has not yet truly embraced the idea of the arts as a necessary part of life. We in this room, all of us, have work … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
It was my honor and pleasure to represent ICSOM in a ceremony at Boston’s Symphony Hall commemorating George Zazofsky’s contributions to orchestral life. Among his other accomplishments, George was a founder and the first chairman of ICSOM. We were gathered to dedicate a plaque as a lasting memorial to him. While we should recognize that ICSOM must always strive to serve the current needs of … [Read more...]
