Issue: December 2020
The Grand Rapids Symphony is among the many ICSOM orchestras forced by the COVID-19 pandemic to reinvent their seasons, develop safety plans, and figure out how to financially survive. The Grand Rapids Symphony Society has worked hard to successfully keep their musicians employed and visible in the community, through a wide range of performances, while keeping musicians and staff safe and healthy. … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2018
Si Otsedoha: We’re Still Here The North Carolina Symphony (NCS) gave powerful, emotional performances of the new work Si Otsedoha (We’re Still Here) across the state of North Carolina during one week in October. Cherokee Central Schools students from the Cherokee Chamber Singers performed in traditional Cherokee garments. Audiences in Raleigh, Wilmington, Boone, and Cherokee gave the work … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2017
Grand Rapids Musician Lauded Grand Rapids Symphony violinist Diane McElfish Helle has recently been recognized with two important awards for her work creating and expanding the Grand Rapids Symphony’s Music for Health Initiative. Diane, who has been with the orchestra for 38 years, received the League of American Orchestra’s Ford Musician Award for Excellence in Community Service at the League … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2016
The contract negotiations in Grand Rapids that culminated in a tentative agreement in mid-March and a ratified contract in April were like a thousand-piece jigsaw: the solution, which seemed impossible even after a great deal of struggle, suddenly and miraculously fell into place after incremental and seemingly insignificant progress. This negotiation made history for us. The story of this … [Read more...]
Issue: Editor's Reports
In turbulent times the quality of leadership assumes a greater significance. This issue is a testament to that. In the political realm there are many examples of leadership running the gamut from outstanding to execrable. Perhaps the most significant illustration in modern times of the significance of leadership is the ascent into power, in 1933, of very different men in two countries facing … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2015
A GRS Negotiation Update The musicians of the Grand Rapids Symphony (all members of the AFM Local 56, Grand Rapids) have been negotiating for a new contract since April 27th with the Grand Rapids Symphony Society. The four-year agreement between the musicians and the Society expired August 31, 2015. Since September 1st, the musicians have been working without a successor contract in a “work and … [Read more...]
Issue: July 2015
On April 24, 2015, the Grand Rapids Symphony celebrated its 85th anniversary with LiveArts, a large-scale multi-media event that included about 1,500 performers for a ticketed audience of over 7,000 in the city’s Van Andel Arena. LiveArts recognized and honored the performing arts in western Michigan. The Grand Rapids Symphony shared the stage with the Grand Rapids Symphony Chorus and Youth … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2014
Newark Early Strings Program to be Replaced The Newark Early Strings Program (NESP), a community outreach initiative of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the Newark Public Schools, is closing down after 14 years of service, due to reallocation of funding by the Newark School District. Undaunted, the NJSO has just announced a new educational program, to be named Music … [Read more...]
Issue: August 2014
As of late, ICSOM Chairperson Bruce Ridge has been on the road quite a bit representing ICSOM and visiting numerous ICSOM orchestras. Of course, that’s not unusual for Ridge. When one realizes that his own orchestra, the North Carolina Symphony, has one of the busiest travel schedules in the country, one further appreciates the (literal) distance he goes for ICSOM. Just some of his travel … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2013
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra showcased the arrival of its thirteenth music director, Louis Langrée, with a series of special activities. In November 2012, the One City, One Symphony initiative presented Maestro Langrée as the music director designate in performances of Schoenberg’s Survivor from Warsaw and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. After that initial success, funding was secured for a … [Read more...]
