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eastern exposure May 9, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, music, the orchestra world, add a comment

I’m here in La Grande, Oregon with the Oregon Symphony, in case you’re wondering.  And it’s been a busy first day.  Yesterday my wife (a freelance cellist who plays often with the orchestra) and I arrived here at around 9:00 p.m., enjoying the great change of scenery and ecosystems that we continually marvel at when we venture across the Cascade Range along the way. 

I got some great sunset shots from the top of the huge hill that I-84 climbs before you descend through the Blue Mountains into La Grande, but no way to post them at this time - I’ll be sure to share photos from the trip with you when I’m back home on Sunday.

This morning at 9:30 and 11:00 we played youth concerts for elementary, middle, and high school students from La Grande and several surrounding communities, including Baker City, Cove, and Union.  (more…)

welcome to naked blog day April 9, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : News, bloggers, add a comment

I’ll bet you’re wondering why the blog looks so different today - so spare, stripped down, even naked. Well, that’s because today is CSS Naked Day, a chance to show the effect if you remove the CSS coding from a blog.

CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets, and most every website that you surf today is styled using it. It allows the web designer much more detail in their manipulation of the layout of graphical elements and text throughout a web site, and across all browser platforms.

Tomorrow, Daily Observations will be fully clothed again in its usual CSS finery. Thanks for dropping by!

blog rankings 2008 April 8, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, music, add a comment

I stumbled upon a post over at Classical Convert which has published lists of the Top 50 Classical Music Blogs using four different metrics - most of which don’t mean that much to me. However, I was please to see that this blog has cracked the top 50 in 3 out of the 4 lists!

Google Reader Subscriptions method: #41

Technorati Authority Score method: #40

Google Incoming Links method: #49

And ACD over at Sounds & Fury posted his own methodology which listed DA at #49.

To this I owe you many thanks for reading, linking, and re-visiting my blog over the past year.

As I’ve said before, I don’t write this blog for fame or fortune, but just as a way of providing some badly-needed therapy, and it’s gratifying that it just so happens to be a place that you come to for whatever you come here for!

kalmar featured TAFTO contributer for 2008 April 1, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, conducting, music, the orchestra world, add a comment

OSO music director Carlos Kalmar is one of the contributors for Drew McManus’ Take A Friend To the Orchestra 2008 essay project.

Kalmar’s essay will appear on Monday, April 7, 2008.

You can find the list of contributors and other articles at adaptistration.com.

fogel on flanagan March 21, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, music, the orchestra world, add a comment

Former ASOL and Chicago Symphony president Henry Fogel weighs in on the Flanagan Report.

What I have learned, in four years of visiting and spending a day with 125 different American symphony orchestras, is that it is impossible to generalize - but that a great many of them have been very smart, very flexible, and dynamic in dealing with different economic conditions. Orchestras that are attentive to changing demands and the very nature of their audiences are not only maintaining but increasing attendance. Orchestras attentive to their entire communities (beyond just their subscribers) are also raising more money, and operating in fiscally balanced ways. As I said earlier, Prof. Flanagan’s report is a valuable addition to the research that has been done about orchestras, and will provide the field with useful information that will be of use in continuing to adapt to our environment as it changes. But anyone who draws from it the conclusion that orchestras are in peril runs the risk of subjecting themselves to Mark Twain’s famous quote: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

and the award for… March 18, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, conducting, music, add a comment

… the best description of a composer I’ve read so far:

…composer, pianist, and general gay dreamboat…

Said dreamboat being Thomas Adés, according to the indefatigable (and evidently gushing) pen of Out West Arts (where you can find a thoughtfully provided photograph of Mr. Adés).

postcards from the edge… February 27, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : appreciation/criticism, bloggers, music, the orchestra world, 1 comment so far

Boise Phiharmonic violist/blogger/cyclist/survivor Jen Drake tells us about the audiences in Boise.  Worth a look - it’ll make ya laugh.

oso violinist thinks out loud February 26, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, music, add a comment

 ron-hm.png

Ron Blessinger, violinist with the Oregon Symphony, blogger, and artistic director of the Third Angle New Music Ensemble, well be a guest on the new Oregon Public Broadcasting radio show Think Out Loud, on Wednesday, February 27th from 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. You can listen on your radio at 91.5 FM in the Portland metro area, or listen worldwide on OPB’s internet stream. You can also download the podcast later in the day to enjoy at your leisure.

The topic of discussion will be Oregon-based musical culture. Discuss…

alex ross on colbert report January 31, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, music, television, add a comment

I’m sure that many of you may have seen this elsewhere, but for those of you who have not, here is the video: (more…)

2008 weblog awards January 8, 2008

Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, add a comment

The nomination period for the 2008 Weblog Awards (”The Bloggies”) closes midnight Friday the 11th of January.  If you think that this blog has been a worthy resource, think about nominating it in one or all of the following categories:

I’m not much for awards, and it’s certainly not why I got into writing this blog, but it could be a lot of fun!  So head on over to the nominations page, and paste the URL of this blog [ http://www.nobleviola.com/wordpress ] into the blanks provided then give your email address - that’s it, you’re done!  And tell your friends, too.  Thanks!