Performance
The world got really small last weekend.
Event One: After Chicago a cappella's Thursday concert at Fourth Pres downtown, we had a coffee-and-cookie reception. One of the songs on our concert was the now-famous Spanish carol, "Riu riu chiu." One of our sopranos, Kathryn Kamp, had been speaking at our reception with one of the people in the audience. She came over and told me that he was from Sweden. I bopped over and greeted him with my limited Swedish, which perked him right up. Imagine my surprise when . . .
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 11/25/2008 - 3:32pm.
No one has written about this yet on chicagoclassicalmusic.org so I get to do it. Gramophone Magazine, a British publication, has named our very own Chicago Symphony Orchestra as the number one ranked orchestra in the United States, and the fifth highest ranked orchestra in the world. Congratulations to our friends and colleagues at the CSO. It’s nice to see others recognize what we in Chicago have known for a long time – this band rocks! I am including the full list for those of you who haven’t yet seen it.
I know that some people are uncomfortable with ratings like this. It is, after all, pretty subjective when you look at the top 10-15 orchestras on this list. But there must be something in our mental make-up that draws us to ranking things like orchestras, most embarrassing reality TV moments, best deep dish pizza, and the like. Here’s my question for you. Are there rankings in the classical music world that do make sense, and help us process all of the information floating around? What lists do you like or approve of?
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Several years ago there was what
could be deemed breaking news in the classical world, news that probably sent
shivers up many enthusiasts’ and music-history buffs’ spines. Good shivers,
that is. It was the unearthing of 200-plus phonograph cylinder recordings in an
old archive in Russia.
With low volume and heavy amounts of surface noise, the cylinders hold a brief
but invaluable glimpse into the early days of recording and how classical music
was performed throughout the years. Some of these cylinders carry the earliest
known recordings of works by Bach, Verdi and Schumann, to name just a few.
A
selection of the recordings ranging from 1890 to 1923 will be released this
month on the Marston label. An article I came across a couple weeks ago
discusses the discovery of many of the recordings at auctions and in old
archives, and how the plan for their creation and allusions to their lingering
existence was discovered in the correspondence between a music-loving
businessman, Julius H. Block, and Thomas Edison himself. It is a fascinating
article. If you are a fan of juicy tidbits of musical history, give this
article a read and perhaps pick up the recording—you just might hear a
whistling Tchaikovsky in the background.
Read the original article here: Classical Ghosts, Audible Once Again
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This is the first of three blogs that will focus
on my recent trip to Vienna, Budapest and Yekatrinburg, Russia.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Mon, 10/27/2008 - 2:34pm.
At the end of May I wrote a blog entitled, “It’s the Economy, Stupid”, that posed some questions about how the economic downturn might affect ticket sales and fundraising. One respondent suggested that I was letting the media “blow the downturn out of proportion”, while another recommended that I should be careful about whom I call stupid.
Today, an exceptionally astute reader noted that my May blog was “a premonition of sorts” and asked how I thought the economy might affect the arts looking forward. I should probably quit while I’m ahead, but what fun would that be? Here are some observations, opinions, and thoughts.
We are already seeing lagging ticket sales for some of the bigger events that have taken place this fall, and I personally know of a few funders that are either cutting back or ceasing their arts funding altogether.
I expect that over the next 6-18 months we will see things getting worse. I suspect that the next economic “shoe to drop” will be credit card debt, and my guess is that the stock market will be slow to recover. As a result, I would not be surprised to see a few of the smaller arts organizations going out of business, and most arts organizations operating more conservatively than normal. The big guys will do okay – they have a lot of resources, but more importantly, the type of broad-based community support that makes going out of business almost impossible. No, it’s the smaller organizations that will feel the brunt of this brutal economy. This is a time to hunker down and survive.
Here is my prescription for the arts in a tough economy:
1. Budget for a worst-case scenario and be pleasantly surprised if/when you outperform it.
2. Don’t sacrifice programming excellence or audience development activities. Present brilliant programming.
3. Work hard on advancing sustainable relationships with ticket buyers and donors.
4. Stay focused on executing against your strategic plan and don’t get sidetracked.
5. Develop restructuring options in case the worse happens.
6. Be very thankful you work in the arts and not in the real estate or financial sector.
These are a few of my thoughts. Please chime in with yours. Maybe together we can think our way out of this mess!
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Today’s blog is submitted by musician and writer, Rashida Black.
In his recent blog, Chicago Sinfonietta Executive Director Jim Hirsch wrote about his support of the mission of the Sphinx Organization. Jim noted that Sphinx actively promotes diversity and inclusiveness in classical music and that it's "not our field's favorite topic... based on the national statistics that show less than 3% of orchestral musicians being people of color." That's where I'd like to jump in to mention the many organizations, some of which are under the radar, that acknowledge the racial disparities and that are trying to do something about it. Like the Chicago Sinfonietta...
Just briefly, I'll point out youth programs like The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Talent Development Program , which prepared many of Sphinx's top performers over the past decade. There are larger organizations and festivals including the Soulful Symphony in Baltimore and the Gateways Music Festival that showcase Black and Latino talent and nurture their careers. There are web sites like Bill Zick's AfriClassical.com and my own, myrtlehart.org, which advocate, promote and educate the general public on the subject. I'm just scratching at the surface of who is working to raise that 3%. We live the 3%. We also acknowledge the fact that many who can do something about it simply don't want to do something about it, which is why we've stepped up to the plate.
So, in an effort to "do something about it," the Myrtle Hart Society is raising funds and awareness through its first benefit featuring The Boys Choir of Kenya to be held at 6:30 pm on Monday, October 13 at the G. R. N'Namdi Gallery located at 110 North Peoria, Chicago.
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Chicago a cappella is performing an all-British program starting the first weekend in October. Music Director Patrick Sinozich has written a brief synopsis of the program, which premiered last weekend in Jacksonville, Illinois:
Welcome to The British Are Coming and to what has been described as “a musical romp in the hay!” We've taken five madrigals, a medieval love song, some tasteful tunes from the Baroque, added a British folk song, a 20th century masterwork and wrapped it up in some boppin’ Beatles arrangements for you to enjoy while you sit back and wonder "will she or won’t she?" The British Are Coming showcases the shimmering harmonies and sparkling diction of Chicago a cappella as they follow the story of "A Lover and His Lass."
Composer Paul Crabtree will be at the Chicago and Evanston performances on October 3 and 5 respectively; we are performing his music on this concert, and he is a delightful person to meet and a superb composer and arranger.
This program is part fun, part romantic and totally full of beautiful melodies and witty words. We hope you’ll join us for a fascinating tour of musical magic in The British Are Coming! This program is a cappella musical storytelling at its best. Come hear for yourself.
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Today's guest blog was co-written by Jean Cook, Deputy Director and Casey Rae-Hunter Communications Director; both of of The Future of Music Coalition
When you think of classical music listeners, you might not picture web-savvy youth firing off blog posts about the great recital they just attended, or flitting through social networks to interact with their favorite contemporary ensemble. But according to Sidney Chen, Artistic Administrator of the avant-classical ensemble Kronos Quartet, all that and more is currently happening online, thanks to a cool little concept called net neutrality.
Net neutrality is the principle that protects the open Internet. It allows musicians to distribute their work in any way they want, without interference from gatekeepers and middlemen. It also provides fans with a plethora of legal ways to get their musical fix, often directly from the artist. But big telecommunications and cable companies want to change the fundamental structure of the internet by charging those who put content on the web — artists, filmmakers etc. — a fee for the faster delivery of their sights and sounds. If they couldn’t afford to (or didn’t want to) pay this toll, they’d be forced into in the information superhighway’s slow lane.This would be devastating to artists like Kronos Quartet, who depend on the Internet to reach potential audiences. “Our projects don’t normally fit neatly into genres,” Chen says. “The Internet allows us to reach those people who aren’t reliant solely on mainstream media and other information gatekeepers.”
Exploration celebration
According to Chen, Kronos fans come from a wide variety of backgrounds, ages, and locations. “The consistent thread that ties together all of our fans is that they’re adventurous listeners,” he relates. “The Internet has allowed us to find people who are just out there exploring and looking for new and interesting sounds. It’s allowed us to have a direct, two-way connection with our existing fans and also uncover new audiences.”
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 9:39am.
A friend sent me a link to an interesting blog written by Amanda Ameer entitled, “Someone, please just bring the water to 
the horse”. This fun-to-read, thought-provoking blog is about how orchestras can do a better job of marketing events to younger consumers. Think of it as our field’s Holy Grail.
I think you will enjoy reading this even if you are not an orchestra marketing director. I’d love to get your take on her conclusions so please return to our site and leave a comment after reading Amanda’s blog, and maybe share some ideas you might have. Enjoy!
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Today's guest blogger is Brett Batterson, Executive Director of the Auditorium Theatre. This is the first in a series of postings about their November 2008 production of the opera, Margaret Garner.
"NEW AMERICAN OPERA BY TONI MORRISON AND RICHARD DANIELPOUR STARRING DENYCE GRAVES MAKES CHICAGO DEBUT!"
"AUDITORIUM THEATRE CONTINUES TO FIND NEW, EXCITING WORKS THAT RESONATE WITH CHICAGO!"
The headlines to this, the first entry in a series of blog posts about the Auditorium Theatre’s upcoming production of Margaret Garner that ChicagoClassicalMusic.org is graciously hosting, could go on forever. There is just too much to be excited about with the Chicago premiere of this great American work this November: the story, the music, the performers, the collaborators, the educational programs... like I said, the list goes on and on.
How, you might ask, did this come to be? Why is the Auditorium the location for Margaret Garner’s Chicago debut? The answer actually goes back to when Toni Morrison and Richard Danielpour were writing the opera for Denyce Graves. They were also looking for an opera company to commission and produce it.
How, you might ask, did this come to be?
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