Issue: December 2020
The Minnesota Orchestra has been working hard to make things happen. Ever since we took the stage in our formalwear in an otherwise empty hall to play our final Friday night radio broadcast in March, we have been finding a way. We started with Minnesota Orchestra at Home, voluntarily recording videos as a thank you to our patrons. Some major donors got a private concert in their driveway. Our … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2019
The 57th ICSOM conference was held from August 20–24, 2019, in Park City, Utah, not far from Deer Valley, where the Utah Symphony performs during the summer months. The conference—hosted by the musicians of the Utah Symphony, Local 104, and conference coordinator Julie Edwards—provided a respite from the August heat where delegates, local officers, and guests dealt with a jam-packed … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2019
At both the 2016 AFM convention in Las Vegas and the 2016 ICSOM Conference in Washington, DC, resolutions were adopted in support of substitute musicians receiving the same per-service base pay as the regularly contracted musicians in our orchestras. I thought that it would be important to visit this topic three years later to see the progress that ICSOM has made in this area, as well as to … [Read more...]
Issue: Chairperson's Reports
As it becomes increasingly clear that diversity in our orchestras must be a priority moving into the future, more opportunities to facilitate that goal are being created within our industry each year. The National Alliance for Audition Support (NAAS) is an unprecedented national initiative created by the Sphinx Organization (which is the program leader and fiscal administrator of NAAS), the New … [Read more...]
Issue: October 2018
In celebration of the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, the Minnesota Orchestra recently performed in five cities throughout South Africa following a return performance at the BBC Proms in London. The orchestra had the distinct honor of being the first professional orchestra from the United States to visit South Africa. Following our historic—and for the orchestra, transformational—tour to Cuba … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2018
Violins of Hope and Schindler’s List Too The Violins of Hope project, which brought approximately 25 violins, a viola, and a cello to Nashville from mid-March to June 2, was nearly 27 months in the making. The instruments, collected and restored by father and son Amnon and Avshi Weinstein and played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust, survived concentration camps, pogroms, and long journeys … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2017
The Minnesota Orchestra’s tour to Cuba in 2015 took President Obama’s promise of a new relationship between our countries and shaped it into a reality for Cubans and Americans alike. Those five days in Havana were a revelation to the 165-member coalition of musicians, staff, audio engineers, board members, press, and patrons. Flying on the first nonstop charter flight from the Twin Cities to … [Read more...]
Issue: June 2017
For many reasons, an orchestra needs to represent and support its community. Viewing the mission statement of our organizations provides proof of this. Most include a phrase such as: “We strive to inspire, enrich and serve our community.” A study of demographics shows that our country has become more diverse over the years, and will continue to do so, with the Census Bureau reporting that already … [Read more...]
Issue: December 2016
Indianapolis Builds Momentum The Musicians of the Indianapolis Symphony have ratified a new three-year contract. The new agreement, reached over a year in advance of the current deal’s expiration, runs through the 2019-2020 season. After suffering through a lock out in 2012 and two recent concessionary contracts, the musicians will see their annual salary increase 9.3% over the three years, … [Read more...]
Issue: March 2016
A Century of Sound Baltimore Symphony oboist Michael Lisicky, also nationally known as a department store historian, author, and lecturer, has written a book about the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s first one hundred years, entitled Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: A Century of Sound. Lisicky has done extensive research through BSO archives, as well as information gathered from other sources, … [Read more...]
