Our good friend Drew McManus sent me an invitation to list the four holiday songs/pieces I enjoy the most and the least, the four holiday concerts (live) I enjoyed the most and the least, and the four holiday CDs in I enjoy the most and least at his website Adaptistration. 

Anyone who has read my posts here knows that I love making lists, and I signed right on to Drew’s wonderful site and left my choices.  But why should I have all the fun?  I invite all of you to visit Adaptistration and give your 2 cents worth. Rather than actually follow Drew’s suggestions, I added my favorite holiday movies to my list and took a few swipes at various artists along the way – all in good fun (and good cheer, of course!). 

A contemporary phrase about flamboyant jewelry? An overused hip-hop reference?  Further proof that language is in a constant state of flux?  Yes, to all of the above, and also the title of composer Michael Daugherty’s most recent piece entitled Bling Bling for Full Orchestra and Break Dancers.  You can catch a short video excerpt of this work at www.thecereallist.com

Ah, technology!  It seems that the National Symphony Orchestra’s conductor, Emil de Cou, has prepared real-time program notes to Beethoven’s Sixth that will be beamed via Twitter to people sitting on the lawn of Wolf Trap on July 30. According to an NSO press release, “The messages will begin during intermission and provide facts about Beethoven’s life and work. Once the concert begins, the tweets will be sent at specific points in the score, becoming streaming program notes that mark musical signposts depicting Beethoven’s symphonic tribute to a day in the country.”
 

Since the League of American Orchestras changed how they sent out their weekly media and industry updates, I don’t get to read them as often as I used to.  Too bad because it was a nice, easy way to quickly see what was happening with other orchestras.  I had a few moments today to visit The Hub (where they keep this info nowadays) and stumbled across an article I found interesting and amusing.  It’s about branding - a topic I think about fairly regularly.
 

Fast Company is one of my favorite magazines.  This month’s cover article is about their list of the 100 most creative people in business.  As you can imagine, the list is full of people from Apple, Facebook, Pixar, and other well-known tech companies. 
It got me thinking about who a list of the most creative people in classical music might include.  I really admire Debra Borda of the LA Philharmonic for hiring Gustavo Dudamel and blogged about it in February of 2008, and I’ve always been a fan of Daniel Bernard Roumain.  Recently, Michael Tilson Thomas’ work with the YouTube Symphony has gotten a lot of buzz.