the critical diaspora July 9, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, appreciation/criticism, bloggers, music, portland, the orchestra world, 9commentsThere’s been a lot of coverage lately of the dismissal/downsizing of some of the nation’s top print classical music critics. And there should have been. Newspapers are one of the primary ways that orchestras communicate and market to their target audiences. Check out these statistics, courtesy of the Newspaper Association of America (NAA):
- 74% of newspaper readers are 45 years of age or older
- 51% of newspaper subscribers earn more than $50K
- 53% of newspaper subscribers have attended college and/or have earned advanced degrees
Sounds a lot like the average symphony attendee, doesn’t it?
Plus, with orchestras being in such a fragile state financially, having trained journalists with long experience (and the accountability that should go with a position at a daily or weekly paper) covering their beats is essential.
As a blogger who makes no claims to being a journalist, either in an amateur or professional capacity, I’m concerned about rumor-mongering and innuendo that could place livelihoods and the health of entire organizations in danger.
That’s not to say that there aren’t some excellent arts bloggers out there, but I find that I put a lot more faith in those who have either had a print journalism background or those who are currently active in the field of print journalism.
I’m not sure why the newspapers are shooting themselves in the foot (or other, less strategically desirable body parts), but I hope that our hometown daily, the Oregonian, keeps their one full-time classical music critic around for years to come.
hiatus June 21, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, add a commentI’m taking a break from posting, at least with any regularity, for much of the summer. Enjoy the weather wherever you are, and see you in the Fall.
another lost colleague June 13, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, cello, add a commentDavid Stabler wrote yesterday about the passing Thursday of former OSO cellist Naomi Blumberg, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. She will be missed, as a warm and hospitable person, a caring and gifted teacher, and a fine cellist of long standing. My condolences and best wishes go out to Naomi’s family and friends.
new faces at the oregon symphony June 6, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, auditions, the orchestra world, add a commentFour new musicians will be joining the Oregon Symphony next season - here’s the rundown on each of them (courtesy of the Oregon Symphony’s Carl Herko):
Mark J. Dubac, second clarinet - Dubac has been principal clarinetist with the Green Bay Symphony in Wisconsin for the past two seasons and has performed with the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony, Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and the New Mexico Symphony. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School, where he studied with Ricardo Morales, principal clarinetist of the Philadelphia Orchestra.
Graham G. Kingsbury, assistant principal horn - Kingsbury, currently a member of the Marin Symphony in California, has performed with several San Francisco Bay Area ensembles, including the San Francisco Symphony, since 2005. He holds a master’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in Illinois, both in horn performance.
Alicia DiDonato Paulsen, assistant principal flute - Paulsen has been a free-lance musician based in Boston since 2002, where she has performed with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras as well as the orchestras of Opera Boston and the Boston Lyric Opera. She has earned a master’s degree from the New England Conservatory in Boston, a bachelor’s degree from The Hartt School in Connecticut and was awarded a fellowship with the New World Symphony. Paulsen will occupy the Martha Herby Flute Chair.
Alicia Michele Waite, fourth horn - Waite has been a member of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and has performed with the Milwaukee Symphony, New World Symphony and Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among others. She holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin, both in performance.
It will be a pleasure to get to know these new additions to the OSO “family” next season. You may have spotted Alicia a couple times this previous season, she was playing in the section for the performance of Mahler’s Ninth Symphony this May.
svendsen/oquist trial in session June 4, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, crime, 2comments
This from KVAL’s website in Eugene:
ALBANY, Ore. - A Salem woman is on trial in Linn County for the deaths of two members of the Eugene Symphony.
Fivea Sharipoff, 26, at left, is charged with manslaughter, assault and driving under the influence after a wrong-way crash on Interstate 5 last year.
The crash killed Kjersten Oquist and Angela Svendsen, both members of the Eugene Symphony.
Jury selection began Monday, and the district attorney started making the state’s case on Tuesday.
The DA finished calling witnesses Wednesday morning, and the defense called its first witness in the afternoon. The family of Angela Svendsen said that’s a couple days faster than they were originally told by the DA’s office.
The prosecution called about 25 witnesses, including paramedics, state police, at least one person from the eugene symphony and employees at the Abbey’s pizza where the prosecution contends Sharipoff was drinking.
Sheripoff is out on bail. She and the people walking with her had no comment.
Friends and family of the women killed in the accident gathered outside the courtroom after today’s proceedings. Svendsen’s husband said it was difficult to relive the accident in the courtroom.
One witness was called to the stand in Sherifpoff’s defense, who testified about the two of them drinking at an Abby’s pizza the night of the accident. The other witnesses for the defense were not able to make it today cause the trial is moving faster than expected. The court will not be in session tomorrow but will resume on Friday.
Video coverage can be found at the story’s page on KVAL’s website.
Photo of the defendant, Favea Sharipoff, aged 26:
Photo: KVAL, Eugene.
local musician with ties to china earthquake May 23, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, add a commentDavid Stabler has a gripping blog entry about trumpeter Jay Chen, whose brother and his family live in the city of Chengdu, about 50 miles from the epicenter of the recent magnitude 7.8 earthquake. I cannot imagine the hell of having to wait for three days to know if my brother and his family were still alive, as Jay did.
Jay has been a frequent substitute/extra with the OSO over the past few years, and I know that all of us with the orchestra and in the musical community at large wish him and his family well.
He’s also producing a benefit concert for the victims of the earthquake, to be held on Sunday, June 1 at 4:00 p.m. at First United Methodist Church (1838 SW Jefferson Street).
All proceeds go to the Red Cross fund for victims of the earthquake.
berlin philharmonie damaged by fire May 20, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, the orchestra world, add a comment
(AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)
This afternoon the Berlin Philharmonie, the renowned (both acoustically and visually) concert home of the Berlin Philharmonic, had its roof catch fire due to (purportedly) a welding mishap. The full extent of the damage is not yet known, but according to the Times, the Berlin fire service reports that the main auditorium (where the Philharmonic rehearses and gives concerts) was not seriously damaged.
Here are some recently updated links to the story.
I know that I’m just about the last music blogger in the world to mention this, but I thought I’d add the twist that I’ve received a few wistful emails (typical of musician gallows humor) from OSO musicians wondering why this couldn’t have happened to the Schnitz…
crosscut article: full interview May 19, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, bloggers, portland, the orchestra world, add a commentAs you may know, I was recently profiled as part of a Crosscut article about Portland arts advocates. It was ably written by Portland music writer and musician Stephen Marc Beaudoin. It was an honor to be included, and I was happy with the article as it was published. (more…)
commenting May 16, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, miscellaneous, add a commentI’ve been made aware by a few readers in the last week or so that some security features were making it impossible to contribute comments to this blog. This is obviously not a good situation! I’ve gone in and changed the settings to make it as simple as possible give public feedback to posts.
My bad! I found the little hidden checkbox to eliminate registration as a requirement for commenting, and have also put up a new contact form here. Feedback appreciated!
Wordpress, which is the blogging platform that I’m using, does not allow unsubscribed readers to comment. For that reason, if you wish to comment, you need to go to the register link up at the top right of the window and give a name of your choosing and a valid email address. You’ll receive via email (at the address you supplied) a link which will allow you to login along with an automatically generated password. Just click the link, enter your name and password, and you’re good to go.
After you login, you’ll be sent to your profile page - if you want to change your password, or give a new nickname or your real name or change your contact information, you can do that at this page. I would suggest changing your password at your first visit, since it is computer-generated and difficult to remember.
If you have any difficulties, just go to the “contact me” tab and shoot off an email and I’ll do my best to assist you!
kalmar, prokofiev earthshaking April 19, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, appreciation/criticism, music, the orchestra world, add a commentThis past Friday, the St. Louis area was awakened by the shaking of a 5.2 magnitude earthquake. That evening the St. Louis Symphony was led by OSO music director Carlos Kalmar in a performance that included the Fifth Symphony of Sergei Prokofiev. According to this review and other accounts, this may have been an aftershock of its own.
Friday in St. Louis began with the tremors and aftershocks of an earthquake, and ended with an incandescent performance that shook the stage of Powell Symphony Hall.
The first half of Friday night’s concert by guest conductor Carlos Kalmar and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was fine. The second half was remarkable: What a difference the right repertoire in the right hands can make to a concert.
That second half consisted of an incandescent performance of Serge Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, op. 100. Written during the waning days of World War II, the Symphony No. 5 is a symphonic masterpiece. This score has it all, from moments of big, sweeping grandeur to light humor, from passages of savage jeering to outright lyricism.
Kalmar and the orchestra invested it with a sense of excitement beyond that inherent in the score. Kalmar was fun to watch, with a leonine head of hair that moved dramatically as he danced around the podium, and angular body language perfectly matched to Prokofiev’s rhythmic world.
Read the complete review here.
