Musicians
Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 09/30/2008 - 2:57pm.
I normally shy away from writing blatant commercials about events that the Chicago Sinfonietta is involved with. However, 
the Saturday, October 4th performance of the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra at the Harris Theater at 7:30 pm is a happy exception for a couple of reasons.
First, I passionately support the mission of Sphinx, which like the Chicago Sinfonietta, works diligently to promote diversity and inclusiveness in classical music. Yes, I know this is not our field’s favorite topic – and based on the national statistics that show less than 3% of orchestral musicians being people of color – not one that most of us even want to acknowledge, much less try to do something about. Sphinx identifies and nurtures very talented young, minority musicians, and the Sphinx Chamber Orchestra is made up of the best of these players.
Second, you can attend this concert for $5. An evening of great music for $5? You can’t beat that with a conductor’s baton!
Finally, it’s great to see the Harris Theater taking an active role as a presenter of classical music. The Sinfonietta is proud to collaborate with them on this concert. You can get more information by visiting their website at www.harristheaterchicago.org.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 09/11/2008 - 9:29am.
I read in a recent League of American Orchestras email that a study has just been
completed that asked people to describe their personality traits and then asked subjects to list their favorite styles of music. Apparently there is a link between heavy metal and classical music fans due to their shared “love of the grandiose” and big, loud, brash music. According to the researcher, besides their age differences, both are basically the same type of person. Hmmm. Maybe Wagner was a precursor to Metallica.
An earlier League email referenced a book, The Mating Mind, written by Evolutionary Psychologist Geoffrey Miller discussing why we find musicians and singers sexy. “Looking at things from a biological point of view,” writes MacLeod, “we would normally expect women to be attracted to men with qualities that indicate good genes that can be passed on to her children or those that show he can look after a family, like a wad of cash for instance. Music doesn’t seem to serve any practical purpose. Musical ability, along with other creative skills, are rather like a human version of the peacock’s tail; something that has no survival value, but has evolved precisely because it is found attractive by the opposite sex….
As a former professional musician, I can pretty safely say that if this is true, it unfortunately has fallen outside of my personal experience. I’m wondering if any of you would care to comment on these two interesting subjects?
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Sun, 08/31/2008 - 9:48am.
Since we last shared this space, the Chicago Sinfonietta presented its debut performance at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion. Having attended a number of Grant Park Music Festival concerts in the past, I was familiar with the venue. But I have to confess, seeing our orchestra on stage at this magnificent venue was a blast! We had over 10,000 people in attendance despite the threat of rain all day. A few thoughts.
The sound system at the Pritzker is truly amazing. Rick Talaske’s group has created a state-of-the-art sound system for a state-of-the-art venue. Sightlines are great, the setting is dramatic, and what a fantastic centerpiece this venue provides in the heart of the city! We are grateful to Jim Palermo and the people at GPMF for their generous assistance, though we are a little envious that they get to perform there all summer long.
There are some faults, as well. There is a great deal of ambient noise, especially the sirens that seem to cut through almost anything the orchestra is playing. It also seems that some of the lawn seats might not have the greatest of sightlines. Having said that, Pritzker Pavilion is an incredible asset for the city and we were proud to have been invited to play.
One final quick plug. The Chicago Sinfonietta will broadcast its season preview on WFMT 98.7 FM on Saturday, September 6th from 10 –noon. Tune in to hear Maestro Paul Freeman and yours truly discuss the 08-09 season.
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Today's guest blog is written by Dileep Gangolli, Clarinetist with the Chicago Sinfonietta
While playing with my wife’s new computer, I stumbled on a desktop prompt for Pandora Radio which connected me to a world of streaming Classical music organized in a highly logical mathematical manner.
I was immediately taken by the way the music is presented and delivered (at no cost to the listener). I am anxious to get the thoughts of others on this method of classical music distribution.
After signing up for Pandora Radio, listeners are invited to create their “own radio stations” that feature their favorite composers. I have stations that feature Mozart, Bach, Schubert, Mahler, and Coldplay among others.
But what is so interesting is that the musical selections are not just of the selected composers but of those that compose in a similar manner either by being of the same time period or by being similar in aesthetic. So Mozart could precede a neo-classical work by Stravinsky that would then be followed by a composition by Varese or Satie. This type of musical organization is a by-product of the Musical Genome Project.
I “Googled” the MGP and this is what surfaced on Wikipedia:
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Today's guest blog was co-written by Jean Cook, Deputy Director and Casey Rae-Hunter Communications Director; both of of The Future of Music Coalition
When you think of classical music listeners, you might not picture web-savvy youth firing off blog posts about the great recital they just attended, or flitting through social networks to interact with their favorite contemporary ensemble. But according to Sidney Chen, Artistic Administrator of the avant-classical ensemble Kronos Quartet, all that and more is currently happening online, thanks to a cool little concept called net neutrality.
Net neutrality is the principle that protects the open Internet. It allows musicians to distribute their work in any way they want, without interference from gatekeepers and middlemen. It also provides fans with a plethora of legal ways to get their musical fix, often directly from the artist. But big telecommunications and cable companies want to change the fundamental structure of the internet by charging those who put content on the web — artists, filmmakers etc. — a fee for the faster delivery of their sights and sounds. If they couldn’t afford to (or didn’t want to) pay this toll, they’d be forced into in the information superhighway’s slow lane.This would be devastating to artists like Kronos Quartet, who depend on the Internet to reach potential audiences. “Our projects don’t normally fit neatly into genres,” Chen says. “The Internet allows us to reach those people who aren’t reliant solely on mainstream media and other information gatekeepers.”
Exploration celebration
According to Chen, Kronos fans come from a wide variety of backgrounds, ages, and locations. “The consistent thread that ties together all of our fans is that they’re adventurous listeners,” he relates. “The Internet has allowed us to find people who are just out there exploring and looking for new and interesting sounds. It’s allowed us to have a direct, two-way connection with our existing fans and also uncover new audiences.”
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 07/31/2008 - 9:39am.
A friend sent me a link to an interesting blog written by Amanda Ameer entitled, “Someone, please just bring the water to 
the horse”. This fun-to-read, thought-provoking blog is about how orchestras can do a better job of marketing events to younger consumers. Think of it as our field’s Holy Grail.
I think you will enjoy reading this even if you are not an orchestra marketing director. I’d love to get your take on her conclusions so please return to our site and leave a comment after reading Amanda’s blog, and maybe share some ideas you might have. Enjoy!
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Today's guest blogger is Brett Batterson, Executive Director of the Auditorium Theatre. This is the first in a series of postings about their November 2008 production of the opera, Margaret Garner.
"NEW AMERICAN OPERA BY TONI MORRISON AND RICHARD DANIELPOUR STARRING DENYCE GRAVES MAKES CHICAGO DEBUT!"
"AUDITORIUM THEATRE CONTINUES TO FIND NEW, EXCITING WORKS THAT RESONATE WITH CHICAGO!"
The headlines to this, the first entry in a series of blog posts about the Auditorium Theatre’s upcoming production of Margaret Garner that ChicagoClassicalMusic.org is graciously hosting, could go on forever. There is just too much to be excited about with the Chicago premiere of this great American work this November: the story, the music, the performers, the collaborators, the educational programs... like I said, the list goes on and on.
How, you might ask, did this come to be? Why is the Auditorium the location for Margaret Garner’s Chicago debut? The answer actually goes back to when Toni Morrison and Richard Danielpour were writing the opera for Denyce Graves. They were also looking for an opera company to commission and produce it.
How, you might ask, did this come to be?
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Mon, 06/23/2008 - 10:35am.
I was in Denver last week for the League of American Orchestras annual conference. The League meetings are always a treat and this one had some great highlights including a killer keynote address by Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, 
a moving presentation by El Sistema creator, José Antonio Abreu, and an emotional farewell to the League’s retiring CEO, Henry Fogel.
The Collins presentation was particularly useful as he has created a not-for-profit version of his best-selling business book that is widely available. I highly recommend this for anyone involved with a not-for-profit.
One short comment on Maestro Abreu. It is clear to me why he has been able to develop what might be the most successful orchestra education program to be found anywhere in the world. I simply can’t imagine anyone ever saying no to him. In case some of you haven’t seen this, this is a YouTube clip of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra (the best players from El Sistema) under the baton on Dudamel.
Finally, Henry Fogel presided over his final LOA conference. Henry has done an amazing job as CEO of the League and all of us in the orchestral world owe him big time. Thanks Henry!!
I’m off for a few weeks but will be looking for items of interest for this blog on all of the golf courses I plan on visiting.
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I've been mulling over, for months now, writing a piece of music to this fantastic sonnet I came across last fall.
It's finally taking shape. I mostly composed it this evening after I got home from work. I am much relieved that it's finally here.
The composing process isn't particularly magic or mysterious, or at least it doesn't seem that way to me now. It used to -- that was before I started composing!
(Slight digression: I first wrote "composting" just now, which is funny because composing is almost like composting... when I write choral music, I have to chew and chew and work my way around a text, almost like digesting it the way worms do newspaper -- and only after the words have lived inside me for a while does the musical part take shape. My wife and I gave my mom one of those worm-composting bins for Christmas last year, and it does work.)
The poem in question is by Mark Jarman, a fabulous poet who lives and works in Nashville at Vanderbilt. About ten years ago he published a poetry collection called "Questions for Ecclesiastes," and in that book is a collection of 20 "Unholy Sonnets." The one that really struck me has the first line as follows: "Half asleep in prayer I said the right thing" -- and because of copyright law you'll have to buy the poetry book to see the whole piece, until you come to the Chicago a cappella "Abundance" concert in February 2009 and hear it, by which time the poem will be in the program notes!
What I love about the poem is the way it evokes the almost accidental nature of grace. I say "almost accidental" because I do believe that you can cultivate your soul to a place where grace is more possible -- or at least more palpable -- than when your soul is anxious or angry or out of whack, in which case grace is difficult to come by. So at some point there is not so much of an accident involved, but those special moments do come as a very pleasant surprise, which is what this poem seems to be attempting to describe.
The music itself is mostly chordal, declamatory, getting all the words out at the same time. However, I did put in some imitative passages when that seemed called for. This piece has more key changes than most of my works; this time I composed at the piano, which I don't usually do. I decided it was worth a try, since the one other time I composed at the piano I got the piece published!
Once the rhythm of the words starts to take hold, the rest follows. I don't think I'm the world's greatest tunesmith -- my pieces are known for their "whole package" nature, and I do think I write lines that fit the voice well -- but you won't hear people humming my songs very often. That's okay with me.
I don't have formal degrees in composing, but that's not stopping me, fortunately. Watch this space for more when the piece is done.
Have a good week.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Mon, 06/16/2008 - 11:00am.
Today’s blog is written by a special guest.
Don't ask me any questions. At least not yet! Don't ask who I am, what I do, who I'm promoting or what I have to show you. I just want to wow you! Follow these three steps – now!
1) Go to http://www.wmya.fm
2) Click on any podcast or video link
3) Close your eyes and listen
Ok, it's alright. You can open your eyes now. What did you think?
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