Last night the Oregon Symphony performed a concert with Rufus Wainwright as the opening salvo of the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art’s (PICA) 2010 Festival of Time-Based Art.  When our first rehearsal with Rufus was approaching, I really had no idea what to expect.  Would this be one of those uncomfortable co

Then this might encourage you to get there a bit early: The Oregon Symphony’s Ticket Office tells us that they are expecting long lines at Will Call for tonight’s Rufus Wainwright concert. If you’re picking up tickets at the concert hall, they advise you to get there early to avoid problems. Curtain time is 7 [...]

Did you catch Rufus Wainwright along with Thomas Lauderdale and OSO Artistic Administrator Charles Calmer on KOPB’s Think Out Loud show this morning?  I caught some of it on the way to a rehearsal this morning – click the show link to listen to a very entertaining and informative interview and discussion. [Link

It’s a sad headline to have to write, but it’s absolutely true.  Arts education does continue to suffer in Oregon.  It suffers from a lack of money, which comes from a lack of caring on the part of everyday people in our state.  Don’t blame the politicians – they’re making hard decisions, an

The season is beginning in its usual fits and starts manner, but there are some other things going on that are making this week a bit busier for me.  First of all, my first century ride (see sidebar to the right for donation info) is coming up on September 26th, and yesterday I did my [...]

Yes, in partnership with PICA’s Festival of Time-Based Art (T:BA:10), the Oregon Symphony is presenting Rufus Wainwright on Thursday, September 9th. I know next to nothing about Wainwright (neither he nor his father), but everyone I know has been wildly excited about this collaboration, so it should be a singular even

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Today was the first day back to work for the Oregon Symphony and the beginning of the 2010-2011 season.  It was good to be back in the Arlene, and there were both some new faces as well as missing familiar ones.  Introduced at this morning’s rehearsal were our new Principal timpanist Jonathan Greeney (whose wife [..

My 15th season with the Oregon Symphony begins today, so what better way to celebrate the occasion than by creating a little latte art? And don’t forget, you can still support the Oregon Symphony’s trip Carnegie Hall by buying Badbeard’s delicious Symphony Blend coffee!

Reading the almost daily news from Detroit (news that seems to become more like a daytime television serial each day), it has struck me that the role of oversight and who does the overseeing is perhaps one of the most critical parts of the running of an arts organization.  This is well-known in the for-profit [...]

Barry Johnson has an insightful post about the relationship between orchestra pay and player quality over at Arts Dispatch.  Well worth reading.

Robert Levine has a post up at Polyphonic.org about a paperwork snafu on the part of the Detroit Symphony management that might prove to be the crux of their brewing labor dispute.  If you watched the video I embedded in my last post, this paperwork was briefly discussed towards the end of the live interview.

Tonight I had the pleasure of playing chamber music (and some of the great pieces in the repertoire, at that) with some of my colleagues from the Oregon Symphony.  It was part of the Parties of Note program put on by Friends of the Oregon Symphony (FOS).  The music for the evening was chosen and [...]

A week from tomorrow my fifteenth season with the Oregon Symphony begins.  I wrote a post last winter about the concerts that I was most looking forward to in this coming year, and since then there have been some noteworthy additions to the concert calendar.  Here they are: Classical Rufus – this is a co-production

As the talks in Detroit enter the 11th hour, here’s a round up of recent articles and blog posts about the situation: Detroit Explores the Net Value of a Symphony Musician – [blogcritics.org] A Struggling City — and Symphony – [time.com] Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians set concerts – [free

Today is the last day of the 2010 Sunriver Music Festival, and after the morning rehearsal we had what has been an annual tradition for virtually the entirety of the 33 year old festival: the board/musician luncheon.  It’s a great example of how communication should be handled between all the major stakeholders of an

Yes, today was the day that I chose to do my annual ride from Sunriver up to Mt. Bachelor.  It’s not that big a climb for people like Alberto Contador, but for people like me, it’s a long, hard slog.  I was expecting to show a lot of improvement this year in speed and general [...]

It is said that Nature abhors a vacuum, and the same could be said of human nature as well.  This is especially true in orchestras of any budget size or artistic merit.  The one truism that I’ve come to dislike very intensely? That those who seek to gain power in the absence of strong leadership [...]

Can you believe that Larry is in his 70′s?  I can’t.  He’s got more energy than I do, that’s for sure.  Plus, he’s a genius.

The postings have been few and far between lately, what with me being in Sunriver, Oregon for the 33rd edition of the Sunriver Music Festival.  The festival got off to a running start with the opening night pops concert, featuring music from the 30′s and 40′s, which the audience greatly enjoyed.  Principal tru

Please pardon this random posting, but I’ve just signed up to do the Echelon Gran Fondo ride which will take place in and around the Columbia River Gorge on September 26, 2010.  It is a fundraiser for two very worthy causes: the Lance Armstrong Foundation and the Knight Cancer Institute at the Oregon Health Sciences

I had the best time this morning.  By this time of the summer, I’ve usually frittered away a large portion of my free time on the bike or in front of the tv watching the pros ride their bikes.  The viola gets put away in the studio and gets to think about all that it [...]

Here’s another wonderful music theory video, also of a Mozart piano piece (this time a concerto, no. 23):

This is a classic use for YouTube and music – kudos to Sarah at Inside the Classics for finding it! ?

Basically, look at the response of the New York Times critic to the just-issued recording of Glass’ Orphee by the Portland Opera.  It is recognition on an international level to the work by Anne Manson, and the Portland Opera and its orchestra.  Tomassini essentially gives the recording credit for bringing the work

This came over the PRNewswire today (thanks to Elaine for bringing it to my attention): Detroit Symphony Musicians Targeted for Deep Slashes; Will Other Symphony Orchestra Musicians Also Be Under Gun? DETROIT, July 29 /PRNewswire/ — Salary cuts upwards of 28 percent, drastic cuts in their health insurance, elimination

I have taken quite a bit of time thinking about the question of whether or not cutting arts organization budgets is a good way to their improved health.  It’s a complicated question, one that the best minds in the industry can spend time arguing over ad infinitum.  I’ve come to the conclusion that cost-cutting

It shows how quickly the blog-based news cycle moves, that I delay a response to something I’ve read and I’m beat to my reply by a fellow violist (or as Robert Levine would put it: Bratsche Blogging Brother) in Minneapolis! David Stabler wrote an article on July 25 in the Oregonian about the cuts made [...]

Today I did my ride with the most climbing to date. My legs are definitely coming into shape now, just have to keep up the riding while I start doing more time on the axe as well…