{"id":1647,"date":"2008-12-24T12:46:12","date_gmt":"2008-12-24T20:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=1647"},"modified":"2013-02-07T19:11:54","modified_gmt":"2013-02-08T03:11:54","slug":"philharmonic-not-blameless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/12\/24\/philharmonic-not-blameless\/","title":{"rendered":"philharmonic not blameless"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was dismayed to read this comment on David Finlayson’s blog<\/a> from a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir (which performs all choral works with the New York Phil) on the behavior of the Philharmonic musicians – if it’s true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then it’s shameful.\u00c2\u00a0 Being professional means being professional all the time<\/em>, not just when it suits you.<\/p>\n

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I strongly agree with Mort Dubois a few posts above. I sang in this performance, and I watched the massacre that was Kaplan’s conducting.<\/p>\n

I also witnessed the inappropriate behavior demonstrated by members of the New York Philharmonic during rehearsal. It was ironic to sit in a college choir behind professional musicians and watch them behave like children – yelling at him, interrupting him, etc. The last time I saw musicians treat the conductor like that was in middle school. In my opinion, these individuals damaged the integrity of New York Philharmonic just as much as Kaplan did with his 3rd grade conducting.<\/p>\n

Musicians today need to realize that we operate in a dying field – one where you look out over the audience only to find a grey head in every seat. These seats will not be filled so easily in the future. Although inexperienced, Gilbert Kaplan is a hero in my opinion. He could have taken his millions and pissed it all away on real estate, cars, whatever he wanted. Instead this man chose to invest in a passion. His passion also happens to hire musicians around the world.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the current members of the New York Philharmonic will continue to have successful careers for years to come. But what about future members? When the time comes when people decide they don’t wish to invest in music anymore, what then? It’s not everyday that a man walks off Wall Street and purchases the original manuscript of the Mahler No. 2, and then hires the New York Philharmonic to play it. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.<\/p>\n

With that said, I find it absolutely PATHETIC that a college student (and musician) must defend this man against those who should be defending him with me. We need people like this in the world. If everyone took their millions of dollars and invested in music, the world would be a happier place. I knew of Kaplan’s less than desirable conducting when I walked on stage on December 8, and I still gave my best performance possible. Perhaps members of the New York Philharmonic have forgotten what it means to be a musician.<\/p>\n

Kyle Sweeney
\nBass-Baritone
\nWestminster Symphonic Choir<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was dismayed to read this comment on David Finlayson’s blog from a member of the Westminster Symphonic Choir (which performs all choral works with the New York Phil) on the behavior of the Philharmonic musicians – if it’s true, and I have no reason to doubt it, then it’s shameful.\u00c2\u00a0 Being professional means being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-qz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14899,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/08\/25\/lenny-100\/","url_meta":{"origin":1647,"position":0},"title":"lenny @ 100","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Today marks what would have been Leonard Bernstein's 100th birthday. 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