I just perused a recent article about the Florida Orchestra and some highly-publicized comments from subscribers about the contemporary programming that is being done by music director Stefan Sanderling.

I understand that some patrons don’t care for hearing anything written after 1870 or so. Fine. But why do they complain so about hearing something new and/or dissonant?

There are plenty of concertgoers who love more modern music, and they (for the most part) put up with the Brahms symphonies without writing angry letters to the orchestra’s management or the local music critic.

So, what makes the conservative patron more important than she who likes more progressive fare? [Read more →]

Just a sample of a typcial week in the life of a symphonic musician:

Monday:
9:30 - 12:00 - OSO rehearsal for CL 11 @ ASCH
1:30 - 3:00 - Arnica Quartet rehearsal

Tuesday:
practice, run errands, clean, excercise

Wednesday:
11:00 - 11:45 - Arnica Quartet sound check
12:00 - 12:45 - Arnica Quartet concert

Thursday:
9:30 - 12:00 - OSO CL 11
1:30 - 3:30 - OSO CL 11

Friday:
9:30 - 12:00 - OSO CL 11
4:00 - 6:00 - rehearsal for Beatles tribute show ‘1964′
9:00 - 10:00 - onstage for ‘1964′

Saturday:
9:30 - 12:00 - OSO CL 11 dress rehearsal
7:30 - 9:30 pm - OSO CL 11 concert

Sunday:
7:30 - 9:30 OSO CL11 concert

Monday:
8:00 - 10:00 OSO CL 11 concert

P1050021 | Originally uploaded by dawnvla
click photo to enlarge

New York Philharmonic violist Dawn Hannay kept a blog of her tour of North Korea. You can find it here, along with photos here. UPDATE: link to Dawn’s blog fixed.

P1050021 | Originally uploaded by dawnvla
click photo to enlarge

Thanks to MH for the link.