Posts
It has been too long since I have posted anything on this blog. It's Labor Day 2011 and I've turned the corner away from Summer 2011. Big events in the last 90 days have been (in reverse chronological order):
1) marketing my 40th high school reunion to 631 classmates who live all over the country, Russia, the Phillipines, Afghanistan, Denmark and New Zealand;
2) successfully completing the 10th summer of Junior Composers;
3) putting my office in order (again).
Coming up for the next 90 days:
1) upgrading the notation on a number of music scores;
2) new job;
3) plan and launch the marketing of Junior Composers 2012 programs;
4) complete three new commissions (one for chamber orchestra and two for chamber ensembles).
No time for the wicked. ;-)
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, March 27, 2010
A scouting report: Target Field
The best features of the field could be summarized with the word "hospitality."
I entered the field from the Plaza that draws crowds alongside Butler Square. The best thing about the Plaza is it's ever-widening dimension the closer you get to the gate. On the right side of the Plaza is a large art installation, a sheet of metal discs that move with the wind. Beautiful...and it masks a boring parking ramp.
Upon entering Target Field, the first impression is that you stand at the top of a gentle decline onto the field; what is actually a drop of approximately 50 feet. The illusion is that the stadium is both large and intimate. There are only 39,800 seats (compared to the 50,000 in the Metrodome) and so the feeling of intimacy may be accurate...but I grew up in a town with 35,000 souls and that's a lot of people from where I come from.
The food is plentiful, although repetitive throughout. Kramarczuk's kiosks were producing fantastic smells -- would that there were more of them! Manny's steak sandwiches were good but at $11, a little steep for the Common Man's pocketbook. Beers are $7 and $12 in some locations throughout the Field.
The best value for ticket price has got to be the bleachers in Left Field. They are just inside the main gate off the Plaza.
For the hoi poloi, there is the Metropolitan Club which is much more for the hospitality than the game. It is pretty impressive. The private suites' best feature is outdoor seating. Otherwise, they are OK if you have spare cash.
The two large, public taverns in the Field are Hrbek's and Town Ball Tavern. Again, more hospitality than game. The interesting exception to these enclosed enclaves was upstair along the first base line: outdoor seating, a bar, cable flatscreens, and even a Hammond organ!
The roof deck in left field screams "party" but has a few sight-line problems. The crystal pit fire and wide open spaces to drink and be merry will make this a location for some games -- just not baseball.
On the first floor, all around the field, there are vistas of downtown, the game and the rest of the stadium. Bathrooms are a bit too dispersed but adequate in size (mourn the absence of stainless steel urinals!). The concourse has generous dimensions on every level.
A sign of a good ballpark: every seat is turned, slightly, to face the field. No more perpendicular seating. There are bad sight-lines here and there but no more than in most fields (approx. 2-3%, I think). The best seats in the stadium (and these have strong competition) are along the first base side, half-way up on the main floor and not too far from the food vendors. It is a glorious accomplishment, Target Field. Go. And bring your party. It's going to be that kind of place.
I entered the field from the Plaza that draws crowds alongside Butler Square. The best thing about the Plaza is it's ever-widening dimension the closer you get to the gate. On the right side of the Plaza is a large art installation, a sheet of metal discs that move with the wind. Beautiful...and it masks a boring parking ramp.
Upon entering Target Field, the first impression is that you stand at the top of a gentle decline onto the field; what is actually a drop of approximately 50 feet. The illusion is that the stadium is both large and intimate. There are only 39,800 seats (compared to the 50,000 in the Metrodome) and so the feeling of intimacy may be accurate...but I grew up in a town with 35,000 souls and that's a lot of people from where I come from.
The food is plentiful, although repetitive throughout. Kramarczuk's kiosks were producing fantastic smells -- would that there were more of them! Manny's steak sandwiches were good but at $11, a little steep for the Common Man's pocketbook. Beers are $7 and $12 in some locations throughout the Field.
The best value for ticket price has got to be the bleachers in Left Field. They are just inside the main gate off the Plaza.
For the hoi poloi, there is the Metropolitan Club which is much more for the hospitality than the game. It is pretty impressive. The private suites' best feature is outdoor seating. Otherwise, they are OK if you have spare cash.
The two large, public taverns in the Field are Hrbek's and Town Ball Tavern. Again, more hospitality than game. The interesting exception to these enclosed enclaves was upstair along the first base line: outdoor seating, a bar, cable flatscreens, and even a Hammond organ!
The roof deck in left field screams "party" but has a few sight-line problems. The crystal pit fire and wide open spaces to drink and be merry will make this a location for some games -- just not baseball.
On the first floor, all around the field, there are vistas of downtown, the game and the rest of the stadium. Bathrooms are a bit too dispersed but adequate in size (mourn the absence of stainless steel urinals!). The concourse has generous dimensions on every level.
A sign of a good ballpark: every seat is turned, slightly, to face the field. No more perpendicular seating. There are bad sight-lines here and there but no more than in most fields (approx. 2-3%, I think). The best seats in the stadium (and these have strong competition) are along the first base side, half-way up on the main floor and not too far from the food vendors. It is a glorious accomplishment, Target Field. Go. And bring your party. It's going to be that kind of place.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
P.O.S. is the real deal
P.O.S.
Articulate and thoughtful about his musical influences, the music business, and performance - P.O.S. is still (just barely) an underground superstar. My prediction for 2010: watch this talented artist take off. He's on the cusp of gaining a new musical depth. Could he be the new Prince -- no. He isn't that kind of artist (polyglot, multi-instrumentalist). P.O.S. is a Poet of Society.
Articulate and thoughtful about his musical influences, the music business, and performance - P.O.S. is still (just barely) an underground superstar. My prediction for 2010: watch this talented artist take off. He's on the cusp of gaining a new musical depth. Could he be the new Prince -- no. He isn't that kind of artist (polyglot, multi-instrumentalist). P.O.S. is a Poet of Society.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Dec 27 broadcast of "The Fourth Wiseman"
"The Fourth Wiseman" is the story of the forgotten visitor at the Nativity, the Slaughter of the Innocents, and finally The Last Supper. Based on the novel of the same title by Michel Tournier, this church opera follows in the steps of Benjamin Britten's "The Prodigal Son" or "Noye's Fludde."
The performing forces are a trio of young voices who are the angels watching over the fourth wiseman, Rajar, who comes to Bethlehem with his gift of sweets. Adult soloists are Rajar (tenor), Demas (baritone), Melchior (tenor), Gaspard (baritone), Balthazzar (bass), and Mother/Woman (alto). The mixed chorus is broken into two groups and the orchestra is made up of 13 instruments which corresponds to the number of those attending the Last Supper.
A reduced orchestration for organ and percussion was directed by Neva Pilgrim and performed by the Syracuse Society of New Music. This version will be broadcast.
Music by Randall Davidson. Libretto based on Michel Tournier's "The Fourth Wiseman" by George Sand.
Broadcast on Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 2pm Eastern on WCNY/Syracuse. Streaming audio at http://www.wcny.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,128/
Merry Christmas!
The performing forces are a trio of young voices who are the angels watching over the fourth wiseman, Rajar, who comes to Bethlehem with his gift of sweets. Adult soloists are Rajar (tenor), Demas (baritone), Melchior (tenor), Gaspard (baritone), Balthazzar (bass), and Mother/Woman (alto). The mixed chorus is broken into two groups and the orchestra is made up of 13 instruments which corresponds to the number of those attending the Last Supper.
A reduced orchestration for organ and percussion was directed by Neva Pilgrim and performed by the Syracuse Society of New Music. This version will be broadcast.
Music by Randall Davidson. Libretto based on Michel Tournier's "The Fourth Wiseman" by George Sand.
Broadcast on Sunday, December 27, 2009 at 2pm Eastern on WCNY/Syracuse. Streaming audio at http://www.wcny.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,128/
Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Cricket
When the days are SO short and the temperatures are SO cold, I begin to think of the coming summer nights sitting in a hammock among a grove of white pines at the end of a peninsula jutting out into Eagle's Nest Lake Number Two. These thoughts have inspired...
The Cricket: a new song by Randall Davidson. Karl Lappe is the poet who first had the poem set by a German composer by the name of Franz Schubert.
The poem's narrator is sitting in front of a campfire watching the embers burn down as he listens to the sounds of the woods. He is alone. A cricket chirps in the woods and the narrator then understands that he is not alone at all. He is connected to the cricket, the woods, and everything and everyone in the world. I have recently been laid off and, at first, felt alone and disconnected. Upon reflection (not in front of a campfire but with colleagues, friends and family), I now understand that I am not alone at all. I am connected. We are all suffering whether we are employed or not. Things will get better...
The Cricket: a new song by Randall Davidson. Karl Lappe is the poet who first had the poem set by a German composer by the name of Franz Schubert.
The poem's narrator is sitting in front of a campfire watching the embers burn down as he listens to the sounds of the woods. He is alone. A cricket chirps in the woods and the narrator then understands that he is not alone at all. He is connected to the cricket, the woods, and everything and everyone in the world. I have recently been laid off and, at first, felt alone and disconnected. Upon reflection (not in front of a campfire but with colleagues, friends and family), I now understand that I am not alone at all. I am connected. We are all suffering whether we are employed or not. Things will get better...
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Dinghies, not Battleships
When the NEA report on arts audiences was released mid-June 2008, the corporate media was pretty quiet about it. Corporate media has no vested interest in the arts. There is little profit to be made by reporting on the arts, in general, because arts organizations do not advertise and this is critically important to newspapers and broadcast television these days.
But the news from the NEA was important. And the news was bad. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, "American audiences for the arts are getting older and their numbers are declining." Dramatic stuff. And those were only the headlines.
This same report has been released five times since 1982 - roughly once every five years. The data collection has been culled from cultural institutions, for the most part the people who receive funding from the NEA. This report, however, collected some data about audiences' use of the internet and "other forms of arts participation."
The report must be carefully read to understand the context of the headlines. There is no substitute for reading the whole report, but here are a few teaser summaries that bear quotation here, if only to encourage you to download the pdf document.
Between 1982 and 2008, attendance at performing arts such as classical music, jazz, opera, ballet, musical theater, and dramatic plays has seen double-digit rates of decline.
Audiences for jazz and classical music are substantially older than before. In 1982, jazz concerts drew the youngest adult audience (median age 29). In the 2008 survey, the median age of jazz concert-goers was 46 – a 17-year increase. Since 1982, young adult (18-24) attendance rates for jazz and classical music have declined the most, compared with other art forms.
When cultural institutions show serious declines in attendance, everyone should be concerned since a portion of our tax dollars are supporting these expensive enterprises. When they are failing, our system of subsidy is somehow failing.
One of the major rationales for government support of the arts is that it will stimulate private donations and audience access. Although this report does not address charitable donations, it does paint a grim picture about audience engagement.
I focus my attention on the classical music portions of the report because I think these audiences are the people who listen to my music. The conclusions shared in this report are much more dire than the typical audience-is-getting-older hand-wringing exercise. This report unearths data, and it should not be discounted or ignored, that 45-54 year olds are not continuing to classical music. The heart of the demographic that has traditionally supported classical music institutions are not showing up.
And you'll remember what Sol Hurok, the famous impresario and artist manager, would say: "if they don't want to come, nothing will stop them."
***
I have a question for the NEA: is this report about audiences or about cultural institutions? I suspect, based on how data is collected, that cultural institutions are the primary focus. I suggest that this approach is upside-down.
Cultural institutions are not culture. If the institutions are not reflecting the content and the excitement of our culture their audience will decline. We should not conclude that our culture is in decline because the symphony orchestra's audiences are shrinking. We should assume that the symphony orchestra is not keeping up with what is going on in the culture.
I know this is dangerous territory but I believe the NEA's radar is picking up only battleships and the little dinghies bobbing on the water have no presence at all. Those dinghies are all those "other forms of art participation" that are harder to document.
New, small enterprises are only possible when large, established enterprises are slow to adapt to changes in the culture. This is not a particularly important insight. This is what economists might call the marketplace at work. Coffee houses, church music series, house and parlor concerts, nightclubs, salons, and the powerful presence of the internet are where new enterprises are taking place. They do not receive NEA subsidies because they are able to support themselves with sweat equity and ticket admission.
Audiences are voting with their feet. If the NEA report wants to measure audiences, they should stop watching the institutions and start paying attention to what people are doing with their time and money. That will take a better radar, I think.
But the news from the NEA was important. And the news was bad. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, "American audiences for the arts are getting older and their numbers are declining." Dramatic stuff. And those were only the headlines.
This same report has been released five times since 1982 - roughly once every five years. The data collection has been culled from cultural institutions, for the most part the people who receive funding from the NEA. This report, however, collected some data about audiences' use of the internet and "other forms of arts participation."
The report must be carefully read to understand the context of the headlines. There is no substitute for reading the whole report, but here are a few teaser summaries that bear quotation here, if only to encourage you to download the pdf document.
Between 1982 and 2008, attendance at performing arts such as classical music, jazz, opera, ballet, musical theater, and dramatic plays has seen double-digit rates of decline.
Audiences for jazz and classical music are substantially older than before. In 1982, jazz concerts drew the youngest adult audience (median age 29). In the 2008 survey, the median age of jazz concert-goers was 46 – a 17-year increase. Since 1982, young adult (18-24) attendance rates for jazz and classical music have declined the most, compared with other art forms.
When cultural institutions show serious declines in attendance, everyone should be concerned since a portion of our tax dollars are supporting these expensive enterprises. When they are failing, our system of subsidy is somehow failing.
One of the major rationales for government support of the arts is that it will stimulate private donations and audience access. Although this report does not address charitable donations, it does paint a grim picture about audience engagement.
I focus my attention on the classical music portions of the report because I think these audiences are the people who listen to my music. The conclusions shared in this report are much more dire than the typical audience-is-getting-older hand-wringing exercise. This report unearths data, and it should not be discounted or ignored, that 45-54 year olds are not continuing to classical music. The heart of the demographic that has traditionally supported classical music institutions are not showing up.
And you'll remember what Sol Hurok, the famous impresario and artist manager, would say: "if they don't want to come, nothing will stop them."
***
I have a question for the NEA: is this report about audiences or about cultural institutions? I suspect, based on how data is collected, that cultural institutions are the primary focus. I suggest that this approach is upside-down.
Cultural institutions are not culture. If the institutions are not reflecting the content and the excitement of our culture their audience will decline. We should not conclude that our culture is in decline because the symphony orchestra's audiences are shrinking. We should assume that the symphony orchestra is not keeping up with what is going on in the culture.
I know this is dangerous territory but I believe the NEA's radar is picking up only battleships and the little dinghies bobbing on the water have no presence at all. Those dinghies are all those "other forms of art participation" that are harder to document.
New, small enterprises are only possible when large, established enterprises are slow to adapt to changes in the culture. This is not a particularly important insight. This is what economists might call the marketplace at work. Coffee houses, church music series, house and parlor concerts, nightclubs, salons, and the powerful presence of the internet are where new enterprises are taking place. They do not receive NEA subsidies because they are able to support themselves with sweat equity and ticket admission.
Audiences are voting with their feet. If the NEA report wants to measure audiences, they should stop watching the institutions and start paying attention to what people are doing with their time and money. That will take a better radar, I think.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Snow Day?
I grew up in central Missouri until I graduated from high school. We had a number of "snow days" which usually came in the form of ice covered with a slick but puny layer of snow.
Tonight in Minneapolis, it is snowing about an inch every hour from midnight through to 6am. We're expected to have falling temperatures (12 degrees F) with winds gusting to 25 mph. The wind will drive snow up into the air making visibility difficult during rush hours (6-9am). It will continue to snow all day Wednesday. Black ice is a phenomena at intersections where car exhausts melt snow and it quickly re-freezes into a polished surface that is treacherously slippery. Black ice was already forming last night at 10pm.
On Minnesota days when there is a great deal of snow (like now), Snow Emergency streets have no parking until the snow is removed. Then cities, each on their own separate and conflicting schedules, restrict parking on certain sides of the street starting at different times of the day and night and this will continue until all of the snow is cleared. With snow coming down steadily for 36 hours, it will be difficult to keep Snow Emergency streets clean and so we can expect surface streets to remain snow-clogged for another day.
With all of this wrasslin' and hastlin', it is almost a sure thing that there will be now "snow day" called in Minneapolis. Everyone will get to work 10-15 minutes late and will complain bitterly about the cold and the traffic. The snow will be third on the list of complaints.
A gallery of photos submitted as evidence
In Missouri, were it is also raining/snowing tonight, I will expect that schools and businesses are closed.
And in Missouri: heavy ice
Anyone want to bet?
Tonight in Minneapolis, it is snowing about an inch every hour from midnight through to 6am. We're expected to have falling temperatures (12 degrees F) with winds gusting to 25 mph. The wind will drive snow up into the air making visibility difficult during rush hours (6-9am). It will continue to snow all day Wednesday. Black ice is a phenomena at intersections where car exhausts melt snow and it quickly re-freezes into a polished surface that is treacherously slippery. Black ice was already forming last night at 10pm.
On Minnesota days when there is a great deal of snow (like now), Snow Emergency streets have no parking until the snow is removed. Then cities, each on their own separate and conflicting schedules, restrict parking on certain sides of the street starting at different times of the day and night and this will continue until all of the snow is cleared. With snow coming down steadily for 36 hours, it will be difficult to keep Snow Emergency streets clean and so we can expect surface streets to remain snow-clogged for another day.
With all of this wrasslin' and hastlin', it is almost a sure thing that there will be now "snow day" called in Minneapolis. Everyone will get to work 10-15 minutes late and will complain bitterly about the cold and the traffic. The snow will be third on the list of complaints.
A gallery of photos submitted as evidence
In Missouri, were it is also raining/snowing tonight, I will expect that schools and businesses are closed.
And in Missouri: heavy ice
Anyone want to bet?
Monday, December 7, 2009
Where did the name "Boys Art Music" come from?
This is the week that I've set aside to re-launch my very own little music business. The company name is Boys Art Music which has almost nothing to do with anything. Except...
It started with my skepticism about gender aesthetics. One of my professors, Susan McClary, is an avowed feminist musicologist and she was writing a book at the time that was published with the title Feminine Endings. In fact, I had encouraged her to write one of the chapters which first appeared as an article in the Minnesota Composers Forum newsletter.
Anyway, she still holds to the idea that one is able to hear a difference in female and male music. (Or at least it makes for a better story that she holds to it.) At the time, I was co-producing a monthly show with Randy Bourne on Minnesota Public Radio on Minnesota composers' music. We decided that putting the female/male aesthetics to the test would make good radio. As it turned out, we were right.
At that time, Kim D. Sherman was a local composer and was very much attracted to the idea that her music had a feminine sound and that she could hear the difference. And Paul Fetler was a professor and (is) a prominent composer who was not only skeptical of the idea but scoffed at the idea that one could hear feminine or masculine characteristics in music.
We tested the idea by randomly and anonymously playing five selections for Kim and Paul on air. If you want to know what happened...come to my blog athttp://randalldavidson.blogspot.com/ on Friday, December 11, 2009 and I will tell all and answer questions.
tee hee
Ten days and counting
As I look back on the posts to this website, it seems like it takes me ten days to work up enough steam to say something. And although I often have instant opinions on nearly everything, I appreciate my reluctance to throw everything I have onto this space.
You might think it's laziness - it take a little bit of effort to organize one's thoughts and to put it down into clear language. But I think it's something else, instead.
There is just too much noise on the internet. Opinions are flying all the time and most of them are hurtling towards you with graphic (or at least dramatic) imagery, sound, and headlines. What I have noticed about most of the stuff that comes my way is that there is very little consideration in establishing a dialogue.
I have just changed my settings on this blog to allow comments. I hope that you are inspired to contribute something to this blog - after all, I am a strong believer in the idea that trees don't make noise when they fall in the woods if no one is there.
In fact, I think this blog could have a different sub-heading: "noises in the musical woods."
You might think it's laziness - it take a little bit of effort to organize one's thoughts and to put it down into clear language. But I think it's something else, instead.
There is just too much noise on the internet. Opinions are flying all the time and most of them are hurtling towards you with graphic (or at least dramatic) imagery, sound, and headlines. What I have noticed about most of the stuff that comes my way is that there is very little consideration in establishing a dialogue.
I have just changed my settings on this blog to allow comments. I hope that you are inspired to contribute something to this blog - after all, I am a strong believer in the idea that trees don't make noise when they fall in the woods if no one is there.
In fact, I think this blog could have a different sub-heading: "noises in the musical woods."
Sunday, December 6, 2009
After a premiere
Earlier today, I heard a new piece I composed. This first performance is called a premiere and composers typically live/die for the experience. There is the drama of rehearsals running up to the performance often with hair-on-fire revisions and tantrums because the music is too hard or not to the liking of the performer.
After a long, quiet, almost-boring writing process, the machinery of concert producers can have a circus quality. No two premieres are alike -- everyone has its treachery, its surprises, its anxieties.
But this premiere was one that I've been looking forward to for a number of years. This is the first time I was able to compose something that my wife, my son and I could perform together. I've been waiting for my son to become proficient enough that he would have a positive experience. Arriving at this moment has been like watching paint dry or corn grow -- it's taken a long time and I've not been paying attention.
And then, this Advent season, it was obvious that it was now or never. My son is visiting colleges and submitting applications and we're filling out FAFSA forms. The reality of his moving out of the house - though it won't happen for months - is starting to approach like a distant freight train. It will be here and then it will roar by in a cloud of dust and then it will be gone and all will be quiet, again.
This Advent is our last one, I think. It won't be the last time I compose for all of us, however. The real sense of satisfaction that follows a successful premiere was amplified because all of the performers belonged to each other. I found that there is a deeper, non-musical bond that remains and is strengthened by the making of music.
I mis-counted in the final bars, my son had a few burples at the beginning, and my wife was perfect (as usual). The hair-pulling and frustration that attends every premiere was there, but this time we all blinked at each other and then decided to go get some rolls and coffee and get back to work. No biggie.
Except, there was a whiff of a transition in the air. We will never be here again. And it is good. Happy Christmas.
After a long, quiet, almost-boring writing process, the machinery of concert producers can have a circus quality. No two premieres are alike -- everyone has its treachery, its surprises, its anxieties.
But this premiere was one that I've been looking forward to for a number of years. This is the first time I was able to compose something that my wife, my son and I could perform together. I've been waiting for my son to become proficient enough that he would have a positive experience. Arriving at this moment has been like watching paint dry or corn grow -- it's taken a long time and I've not been paying attention.
And then, this Advent season, it was obvious that it was now or never. My son is visiting colleges and submitting applications and we're filling out FAFSA forms. The reality of his moving out of the house - though it won't happen for months - is starting to approach like a distant freight train. It will be here and then it will roar by in a cloud of dust and then it will be gone and all will be quiet, again.
This Advent is our last one, I think. It won't be the last time I compose for all of us, however. The real sense of satisfaction that follows a successful premiere was amplified because all of the performers belonged to each other. I found that there is a deeper, non-musical bond that remains and is strengthened by the making of music.
I mis-counted in the final bars, my son had a few burples at the beginning, and my wife was perfect (as usual). The hair-pulling and frustration that attends every premiere was there, but this time we all blinked at each other and then decided to go get some rolls and coffee and get back to work. No biggie.
Except, there was a whiff of a transition in the air. We will never be here again. And it is good. Happy Christmas.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sticky & Smoothe
I have been fulminating on something about music for the last few weeks. It has been spurred by four recent experiences: what my students have been recommending in our music business class at the University of St Thomas, Dominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming, the seven new works featured on the Minnesota Orchestra’s Composer Institute, and what I have been listening to on Pandora.
I ask my students to come to class every day with a music performance in the Twin Cities that they can recommend to the class. Before class begins, we visit the websites (usually on YouTube or MySpace) to hear/see the music. It was during one of these pre-class listening sessions that I first heard someone mention “sticky” music (e.g. music that is instantly memorable or sticks in the memory).
Last weekend, I attended the opening night of the Minnesota Opera’s second production of Dominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming. The first production opened the Ordway Music Theatre 20-some years ago. If anything, the musical and literary accomplishments of this opera have grown in stature in those two decades. Argento wrote the libretto and the Straussian score is magnificent in ways that few works of any age can boast. It is a tour de force.
But it is not sticky.
I laughed. I cried. My jaw dropped at the drama, the music, and the performances. The production was excellent in every detail. But the music is not sticky. I don’t claim to be anything but average when it comes to aural memory so I checked in with people more talented than me who also went to a performance. We can all remember specific musical gestures, dramatic moments, and the general excellence of the score but no one is capable of singing, humming or even imitating more than two seconds of the score.
Does this mean that the score is no good? Absolutely not.
It has been a struggle to find a metaphorical term that describes the excellence of the Argento score and that would also correlate to “sticky.” I fumbled around with “polished” and “shiny.” But course things can be polished and the word shiny carries a negative connotation related to tinsel and Las Vegas. I prefer “smoothe” because it has a tactile equivalent to “sticky” and implies that it has either been smoothed in nature or by gentle, persistent attention to rough spots.
The Minnesota Orchestra has produced an impressive composers’ institute that is equal parts boot camp and concert for seven young, talented composers. I attended the concert last night and heard seven works that were marvels of orchestration. As the program unfolded, each new work exceeded the last with its imaginative, coloristic approach to the ensemble. And all of them, but one, were exceedingly smoothe. The common traits were: an underlying andante tempo with rapid flourishes or clouds of color that added variety, a stasis created by drones and clusters, extended but clearly-defined tonalities that moved (if at all) slowly, formal structures that unfolded into ever-new galaxies of musical material, and an absence of melody. Roger Zare’s Aerodynamics and Carl Schimmel’s Woolgatherer’s Chapbook developed motivic material but from this no melody grew. As a result, I heard what I would call six smoothe pieces: excellent, impressive, remarkable accomplishments that will soon be forgotten.
Kathryn Salfelder’s Dessin No. 1 had the remarkable ability to use modest musical ideas in an unfolding form that felt both inevitable and brand-new. We were able to visit familiar musical material and, as a result, felt as though we had been taken on a journey to terra incognito and returned home again, changed by the experience. And she used a melody that went with us on that journey. A wonderfully “sticky” piece and one I would like to hear again.
So what music is sticky and what is smoothe? Pandora, the streaming audio website, has figured out many interactive ways to help each of us define that quality for ourselves. I don’t think there is one-definition-fits-all for sticky or smoothe music. That isn’t how music works.
I have been listening to Pandora more intensely for the last few weeks, trying to get a sense of what I think is sticky. My students have had an impact on my quest. I am listening to The Trashmen, Great Lake Swimmers, The Shins, and The Decemberists with great joy. I do not know if there are lessons to be learned in these observations, but I wonder why contemporary classical music composers would choose to avoid sticky music – it is so much more fun for the musicians, the audience…and the composers.
I ask my students to come to class every day with a music performance in the Twin Cities that they can recommend to the class. Before class begins, we visit the websites (usually on YouTube or MySpace) to hear/see the music. It was during one of these pre-class listening sessions that I first heard someone mention “sticky” music (e.g. music that is instantly memorable or sticks in the memory).
Last weekend, I attended the opening night of the Minnesota Opera’s second production of Dominick Argento’s Casanova’s Homecoming. The first production opened the Ordway Music Theatre 20-some years ago. If anything, the musical and literary accomplishments of this opera have grown in stature in those two decades. Argento wrote the libretto and the Straussian score is magnificent in ways that few works of any age can boast. It is a tour de force.
But it is not sticky.
I laughed. I cried. My jaw dropped at the drama, the music, and the performances. The production was excellent in every detail. But the music is not sticky. I don’t claim to be anything but average when it comes to aural memory so I checked in with people more talented than me who also went to a performance. We can all remember specific musical gestures, dramatic moments, and the general excellence of the score but no one is capable of singing, humming or even imitating more than two seconds of the score.
Does this mean that the score is no good? Absolutely not.
It has been a struggle to find a metaphorical term that describes the excellence of the Argento score and that would also correlate to “sticky.” I fumbled around with “polished” and “shiny.” But course things can be polished and the word shiny carries a negative connotation related to tinsel and Las Vegas. I prefer “smoothe” because it has a tactile equivalent to “sticky” and implies that it has either been smoothed in nature or by gentle, persistent attention to rough spots.
The Minnesota Orchestra has produced an impressive composers’ institute that is equal parts boot camp and concert for seven young, talented composers. I attended the concert last night and heard seven works that were marvels of orchestration. As the program unfolded, each new work exceeded the last with its imaginative, coloristic approach to the ensemble. And all of them, but one, were exceedingly smoothe. The common traits were: an underlying andante tempo with rapid flourishes or clouds of color that added variety, a stasis created by drones and clusters, extended but clearly-defined tonalities that moved (if at all) slowly, formal structures that unfolded into ever-new galaxies of musical material, and an absence of melody. Roger Zare’s Aerodynamics and Carl Schimmel’s Woolgatherer’s Chapbook developed motivic material but from this no melody grew. As a result, I heard what I would call six smoothe pieces: excellent, impressive, remarkable accomplishments that will soon be forgotten.
Kathryn Salfelder’s Dessin No. 1 had the remarkable ability to use modest musical ideas in an unfolding form that felt both inevitable and brand-new. We were able to visit familiar musical material and, as a result, felt as though we had been taken on a journey to terra incognito and returned home again, changed by the experience. And she used a melody that went with us on that journey. A wonderfully “sticky” piece and one I would like to hear again.
So what music is sticky and what is smoothe? Pandora, the streaming audio website, has figured out many interactive ways to help each of us define that quality for ourselves. I don’t think there is one-definition-fits-all for sticky or smoothe music. That isn’t how music works.
I have been listening to Pandora more intensely for the last few weeks, trying to get a sense of what I think is sticky. My students have had an impact on my quest. I am listening to The Trashmen, Great Lake Swimmers, The Shins, and The Decemberists with great joy. I do not know if there are lessons to be learned in these observations, but I wonder why contemporary classical music composers would choose to avoid sticky music – it is so much more fun for the musicians, the audience…and the composers.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Convergence
I have just gotten back from a road trip through five midwestern states looking at colleges with my son. He's 18 and wants to find a college or university that will provide an education that supports and cultivates his interest in becoming a composer.
This can be seen as an affirmation of my own calling to become a composer until you understand a little more about his interests and how they significantly diverge from my path. He has always been someone interested in invention and creative work and so it does not come as a surprise to me that composing/song-writing are attractive channels of expression. What marks him as a different generation is his complete embrace of popular music.
Back in the olden days, an interest in composition was fired by the likes of composers like Mozart and Beethoven and if you were really hip, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. If you were an egghead, you might get excited by Shostakovich or even Stockhausen.
My son's library of songs on iTunes includes works by all of these composers but his definition of a composer blows the wheels off of mine when I was his age. He embraces Rhymesayers and the Atmosphere crowd that live down the boulevard from our house, he embraces traditional Persian and Balinese gamelan music, and all the things that a teenager might find at LimeWire or iTunes. His musical practice is actually (as opposed to virtually) Catholic. There is no stylistic filter.
What I have observed, however, is that musical literacy is given the same weight as the aural tradition. Improvisation is equal to (and possibly even more important) than performance of notated music. This Catholic acceptance of all traditions and styles has altered the expectation he has for what kind of education he wants. And that expectation is not being met by his prospective colleges/universities with the same degree of passion or openness.
And I can understand the position of institutions. They are trying to keep up but must measure their reaction to students' demands against their responsibility to educate their students fully in the foundation concepts that hold our culture and country together. In other words, institutions must evolve incrementally and not take radical, revolutionary steps forward without first considering the threats, opportunities, costs, and benefits of change.
Students don't have that luxury. They have four years (or five) in college and then they will move on to whatever comes next -- grad school or work or travel or a change of direction. And music is moving fast right now. It has been accelerating for at least 15-20 years. That increasing tempo is being driven by technology.
And this is where the theme of this little essay comes from: convergence. We normally think of convergence as describing a phenomena of the uniting of media functions into a single platform or hardware device. The iPhone is held up as the epitome of this convergence: a phone, a camera, a video camera, a web browser, a gaming device, a computer with email access, a television, a movie screen. All in one device.
Students today experience this kind of convergence everyday and have come to anticipate -- and more importantly expect -- their life experience to be one series of convergences after another.
As I have learned from teaching a class in music business at the University of St. Thomas, students see themselves as customers and they believe that they can demand - and get - value and convenience. If not, they turn away.
I think that there are a few colleges/universities who are engaging in this new expectation and some who seem to have thrown up their hands in frustration or confusion. In music composition, the schools that we visited on this last road trip fall into these two categories with most folks trying desperately to keep up with their students.
But music composition education is still moving too slowly. Is any school ready to think about improvisation as a true equal to notated music? What would that mean in the organization of music theory and ear-training classes?
Is any school ready to educate if Brother Ali is equal in importance to Ludwig Spohr? And if this is possible, do we need to think of music composition education as a collaborative or inter-media art form since the next generation of composers will need to know how to create lyrics/poetry, create computer animations or make music videos, create interactive games, create images for their merchandise?
Is convergence happening quickly enough in music education? I know, for my son, that schools that open themselves to the aspirations of students' creativity will become more and more attractive. Schools that offer professional training with a prescribed, defined job outcome are going to decline.
So - who is creating convergence in music education? My son wants to know.
This can be seen as an affirmation of my own calling to become a composer until you understand a little more about his interests and how they significantly diverge from my path. He has always been someone interested in invention and creative work and so it does not come as a surprise to me that composing/song-writing are attractive channels of expression. What marks him as a different generation is his complete embrace of popular music.
Back in the olden days, an interest in composition was fired by the likes of composers like Mozart and Beethoven and if you were really hip, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein. If you were an egghead, you might get excited by Shostakovich or even Stockhausen.
My son's library of songs on iTunes includes works by all of these composers but his definition of a composer blows the wheels off of mine when I was his age. He embraces Rhymesayers and the Atmosphere crowd that live down the boulevard from our house, he embraces traditional Persian and Balinese gamelan music, and all the things that a teenager might find at LimeWire or iTunes. His musical practice is actually (as opposed to virtually) Catholic. There is no stylistic filter.
What I have observed, however, is that musical literacy is given the same weight as the aural tradition. Improvisation is equal to (and possibly even more important) than performance of notated music. This Catholic acceptance of all traditions and styles has altered the expectation he has for what kind of education he wants. And that expectation is not being met by his prospective colleges/universities with the same degree of passion or openness.
And I can understand the position of institutions. They are trying to keep up but must measure their reaction to students' demands against their responsibility to educate their students fully in the foundation concepts that hold our culture and country together. In other words, institutions must evolve incrementally and not take radical, revolutionary steps forward without first considering the threats, opportunities, costs, and benefits of change.
Students don't have that luxury. They have four years (or five) in college and then they will move on to whatever comes next -- grad school or work or travel or a change of direction. And music is moving fast right now. It has been accelerating for at least 15-20 years. That increasing tempo is being driven by technology.
And this is where the theme of this little essay comes from: convergence. We normally think of convergence as describing a phenomena of the uniting of media functions into a single platform or hardware device. The iPhone is held up as the epitome of this convergence: a phone, a camera, a video camera, a web browser, a gaming device, a computer with email access, a television, a movie screen. All in one device.
Students today experience this kind of convergence everyday and have come to anticipate -- and more importantly expect -- their life experience to be one series of convergences after another.
As I have learned from teaching a class in music business at the University of St. Thomas, students see themselves as customers and they believe that they can demand - and get - value and convenience. If not, they turn away.
I think that there are a few colleges/universities who are engaging in this new expectation and some who seem to have thrown up their hands in frustration or confusion. In music composition, the schools that we visited on this last road trip fall into these two categories with most folks trying desperately to keep up with their students.
But music composition education is still moving too slowly. Is any school ready to think about improvisation as a true equal to notated music? What would that mean in the organization of music theory and ear-training classes?
Is any school ready to educate if Brother Ali is equal in importance to Ludwig Spohr? And if this is possible, do we need to think of music composition education as a collaborative or inter-media art form since the next generation of composers will need to know how to create lyrics/poetry, create computer animations or make music videos, create interactive games, create images for their merchandise?
Is convergence happening quickly enough in music education? I know, for my son, that schools that open themselves to the aspirations of students' creativity will become more and more attractive. Schools that offer professional training with a prescribed, defined job outcome are going to decline.
So - who is creating convergence in music education? My son wants to know.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Handmade Art is now Cool: The Walker Art Center says so
mnartists.org presents
ARTmn: The Precious Object
+ Share This Article + Add to Collection + Printer-Friendly Format
by mnartists.org September 1, 2009
The Precious Object brings together 14 artists from locales throughout Minnesota in the inaugural exhibition of mnartists.org's ARTmn visual arts series, presented in partnership with the Hennepin County Public Library.
Article Image Gallery
Expand slideshow
ARTmn: The Precious Object
Speaking to the desire for the handmade in a world awash in technology, The Precious Object brings together 14 artists from locales throughout Minnesota in the inaugural exhibition of mnartists.org's ARTmn visual arts series, presented in partnership with the Hennepin County Public Library.
The artists -- selected from a pool of more than 300 applicants by a panel of curators, artists, and critics -- explore issues related to nature, simulation, craft, collecting, and fantasy. While the work employs a broad range of materials and processes, taken together it speaks to the personal connections we forge with physical objects as a means to commemorate and sometimes replicate an experience and or place.
We also have an engaging essay by Andy Sturdevant, "Inside the Cabinet of Wonders," reflecting on the perennial lure of strange and beautiful objects, written in honor of mnartists.org's inaugural ARTmn exhibition, The Precious Object, at the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis.
OPENING RECEPTION
ARTmn2009: The Precious Object
Friday, September 18, 6-9 pm Free
Central Library, Cargill Hall
Panel Discussions:
"Faking Nature"
Tuesday, October 6, 7 pm, Free
Central Library, Pohlad Hall
Artists Liz Miller, Alison Hiltner, Paula McCartney, Sam Spiczka, and Karl Unnasch talk about their work in relation to the natural world.
"By Hand: Craftsmanship, Labor, and the Handmade"
Tuesday, October 27, 7 pm, Free
Central Library Pohlad Hall
Scott Stulen, mnartists.org project director, and Alisa Eimen, associate professor of art history at Minnesota State University, discuss their process for organizing The Precious Object and the central themes within the exhibition with artists Margaret Wall-Romana, Kristin Van Dorn, Erik Waterkotte, and Michon Weeks.
"My Precious: Obsession, Collection, and the Souvenir"
Tuesday, November 17, 7 pm Free
Central Library, Pohlad Hall
Artists James F. Cleary, Beth Barron, Andy Ducett, Joan Iron Moccasin, and Ginny Maki explore topics of appropriation, memory, and desire.
______________________________________________________
The Precious Object, mnartists.org's 2009 ARTmn exhibition, opens at the Hennepin Country Central Library in Minneapolis on September 18 and will be on view through January 3, 2010.
a project of The McKnight Foundation and Walker Art Center - contact us
© 2009 mnartists.org. All rights reserved.
ARTmn: The Precious Object
+ Share This Article + Add to Collection + Printer-Friendly Format
by mnartists.org September 1, 2009
The Precious Object brings together 14 artists from locales throughout Minnesota in the inaugural exhibition of mnartists.org's ARTmn visual arts series, presented in partnership with the Hennepin County Public Library.
Article Image Gallery
Expand slideshow
ARTmn: The Precious Object
Speaking to the desire for the handmade in a world awash in technology, The Precious Object brings together 14 artists from locales throughout Minnesota in the inaugural exhibition of mnartists.org's ARTmn visual arts series, presented in partnership with the Hennepin County Public Library.
The artists -- selected from a pool of more than 300 applicants by a panel of curators, artists, and critics -- explore issues related to nature, simulation, craft, collecting, and fantasy. While the work employs a broad range of materials and processes, taken together it speaks to the personal connections we forge with physical objects as a means to commemorate and sometimes replicate an experience and or place.
We also have an engaging essay by Andy Sturdevant, "Inside the Cabinet of Wonders," reflecting on the perennial lure of strange and beautiful objects, written in honor of mnartists.org's inaugural ARTmn exhibition, The Precious Object, at the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis.
OPENING RECEPTION
ARTmn2009: The Precious Object
Friday, September 18, 6-9 pm Free
Central Library, Cargill Hall
Panel Discussions:
"Faking Nature"
Tuesday, October 6, 7 pm, Free
Central Library, Pohlad Hall
Artists Liz Miller, Alison Hiltner, Paula McCartney, Sam Spiczka, and Karl Unnasch talk about their work in relation to the natural world.
"By Hand: Craftsmanship, Labor, and the Handmade"
Tuesday, October 27, 7 pm, Free
Central Library Pohlad Hall
Scott Stulen, mnartists.org project director, and Alisa Eimen, associate professor of art history at Minnesota State University, discuss their process for organizing The Precious Object and the central themes within the exhibition with artists Margaret Wall-Romana, Kristin Van Dorn, Erik Waterkotte, and Michon Weeks.
"My Precious: Obsession, Collection, and the Souvenir"
Tuesday, November 17, 7 pm Free
Central Library, Pohlad Hall
Artists James F. Cleary, Beth Barron, Andy Ducett, Joan Iron Moccasin, and Ginny Maki explore topics of appropriation, memory, and desire.
______________________________________________________
The Precious Object, mnartists.org's 2009 ARTmn exhibition, opens at the Hennepin Country Central Library in Minneapolis on September 18 and will be on view through January 3, 2010.
a project of The McKnight Foundation and Walker Art Center - contact us
© 2009 mnartists.org. All rights reserved.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The Mason Theory: Cottage Industry
Monte Mason is a good composer colleague of mine and has had a theory for many years explaining why there are so many composers working in Minnesota compared to places like New York or Los Angeles: our weather. We can't go outside because it's too cold...so we might as well compose!
We worked together at the Minnesota Composers Forum many years ago and we would postulate on the socio-economic explanations for why 500 composers were working in Minnesota. We were young back then and used to think that 500 was a big number. Now, we know that 500 is the cost of having someone remove a season of snow from your driveway or a house visit for a man to come fix your furnace or the price of a good space-heater.
Back then, when the MCF (as it was called) was gathering steam, we had visions of Minnesota becoming the Athens of the Cornfields. That was before we understood that the citizens of Athens liked their slaves obedient and their wars fought by the Spartans.
Now we understand that 500 composers in the middle of the country amounts to not even 2% of the ASCAP writer membership (which would be the average if composers were evenly spread like peanut butter all over the country). We know, too, that composers are like dust-bunnies -- they gather together in clumps, but not under beds or in the corner of rooms. Composers go where it's possible to hear their music played and that often means going to places where there is money to pay musicians. Composers go where there's money.
I know that sounds crass, but I think it's true. Compare North and South Dakota to Minnesota. The people are more or less the same. What's the difference? In Minnesota, there is more business, people, wealth, concert venues and, as a result, there are more churches, orchestras, open-mic nights at the coffee house, and night clubs. And this isn't happening to the same degree everywhere in Minnesota. It's happening in the concentration of all of these things: in cities. The bigger the better. And the Twin Cities are the biggest cities in the Upper Midwest whose states are listed here in the order of their populations: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota.
There is always somewhere that is more important, bigger, and wealthier than wherever you live. It's a curious fact. Grand Forks looks to Fargo looks to St Cloud looks to the Twin Cities looks to Chicago looks to New York looks to Los Angeles looks to London looks to Berlin looks to...ad infinitum.
So what is the importance of the cottage industry? and how does this relate to composing music? and how does this relate to where you live?
From the InvestorWords.com website, comes this interesting definition for cottage industry: "An industry where the creation of products and services is home-based, rather than factory-based. While products and services created by cottage industry are often unique and distinctive given the fact that they are usually not mass-produced, producers in this sector often face numerous disadvantages when trying to compete with much larger factory-based companies."
Handmade goods. There is something quaint about that term "handmade" but I think it is congruent with what today's composers do. They work alone, usually at home, and create unique and distinctive products and services. I think the idea of a "cottage industry" was created in retrospect after the industrial revolution got started.
Once the majority of people were in factories, those still stuck at home making handmade products (like sweaters, furniture, etc) must have looked antique and uncompetitive. But we're in a new revolution: the information revolution with the internet and file-sharing and instant messaging.
The Digital Cottage Industry is connected, internationally, to the widest of markets via new technologies. It is now possible for someone in a place as remote as Valley City, North Dakota or Casselton or Hurdsfield to compose, record, distribute, and sell music to a breathless public. Composers may work in their cottage but they have the same tools as anyone in the music industry.
So what about the Mason Theory that Minneapolis is a Golden City on a Golden Hill among fields of Golden Grains? Is it possible that no place is bigger or better than any other place now that the internet flattens the playing fields of gold?
The cottage industry that depends on imagination and innovation needs more than the tools. No, I'm afraid it really does matter where your cottage is. Proximity to intentionally and professionally creative people still matters. I would like to suggest a corollary to the Mason Theory.
I will call it the Davidson Corollary. Creative communities exist because individual creators need a host of like-minded individuals to compare works and ideas. Creative friction between individual creators generates creative "heat" which generates better work which attracts more like-minded people which generates more creative "heat." A virtual circle of creativity.
In this description of the world, the egg comes first: a critical mass of people, money, and time. The dust-bunny (creative community) springs forth from that egg.
Location. Location. Location. In your little Digital Cottage.
(I've got to cut down on my metaphors in the morning.)
We worked together at the Minnesota Composers Forum many years ago and we would postulate on the socio-economic explanations for why 500 composers were working in Minnesota. We were young back then and used to think that 500 was a big number. Now, we know that 500 is the cost of having someone remove a season of snow from your driveway or a house visit for a man to come fix your furnace or the price of a good space-heater.
Back then, when the MCF (as it was called) was gathering steam, we had visions of Minnesota becoming the Athens of the Cornfields. That was before we understood that the citizens of Athens liked their slaves obedient and their wars fought by the Spartans.
Now we understand that 500 composers in the middle of the country amounts to not even 2% of the ASCAP writer membership (which would be the average if composers were evenly spread like peanut butter all over the country). We know, too, that composers are like dust-bunnies -- they gather together in clumps, but not under beds or in the corner of rooms. Composers go where it's possible to hear their music played and that often means going to places where there is money to pay musicians. Composers go where there's money.
I know that sounds crass, but I think it's true. Compare North and South Dakota to Minnesota. The people are more or less the same. What's the difference? In Minnesota, there is more business, people, wealth, concert venues and, as a result, there are more churches, orchestras, open-mic nights at the coffee house, and night clubs. And this isn't happening to the same degree everywhere in Minnesota. It's happening in the concentration of all of these things: in cities. The bigger the better. And the Twin Cities are the biggest cities in the Upper Midwest whose states are listed here in the order of their populations: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota.
There is always somewhere that is more important, bigger, and wealthier than wherever you live. It's a curious fact. Grand Forks looks to Fargo looks to St Cloud looks to the Twin Cities looks to Chicago looks to New York looks to Los Angeles looks to London looks to Berlin looks to...ad infinitum.
So what is the importance of the cottage industry? and how does this relate to composing music? and how does this relate to where you live?
From the InvestorWords.com website, comes this interesting definition for cottage industry: "An industry where the creation of products and services is home-based, rather than factory-based. While products and services created by cottage industry are often unique and distinctive given the fact that they are usually not mass-produced, producers in this sector often face numerous disadvantages when trying to compete with much larger factory-based companies."
Handmade goods. There is something quaint about that term "handmade" but I think it is congruent with what today's composers do. They work alone, usually at home, and create unique and distinctive products and services. I think the idea of a "cottage industry" was created in retrospect after the industrial revolution got started.
Once the majority of people were in factories, those still stuck at home making handmade products (like sweaters, furniture, etc) must have looked antique and uncompetitive. But we're in a new revolution: the information revolution with the internet and file-sharing and instant messaging.
The Digital Cottage Industry is connected, internationally, to the widest of markets via new technologies. It is now possible for someone in a place as remote as Valley City, North Dakota or Casselton or Hurdsfield to compose, record, distribute, and sell music to a breathless public. Composers may work in their cottage but they have the same tools as anyone in the music industry.
So what about the Mason Theory that Minneapolis is a Golden City on a Golden Hill among fields of Golden Grains? Is it possible that no place is bigger or better than any other place now that the internet flattens the playing fields of gold?
The cottage industry that depends on imagination and innovation needs more than the tools. No, I'm afraid it really does matter where your cottage is. Proximity to intentionally and professionally creative people still matters. I would like to suggest a corollary to the Mason Theory.
I will call it the Davidson Corollary. Creative communities exist because individual creators need a host of like-minded individuals to compare works and ideas. Creative friction between individual creators generates creative "heat" which generates better work which attracts more like-minded people which generates more creative "heat." A virtual circle of creativity.
In this description of the world, the egg comes first: a critical mass of people, money, and time. The dust-bunny (creative community) springs forth from that egg.
Location. Location. Location. In your little Digital Cottage.
(I've got to cut down on my metaphors in the morning.)
Monday, October 19, 2009
An earlier version of a riff on Greg Sandow's book
By Greg Sandow
==============
Hi, everyone,
Here’s a riff from my book. It’s a quick and dirty version of the beginning, not the actual text, but a riff on what the beginning is likely to say.
Why did I write this? Because of thoughtful comments from a number of people, including some highly placed in the classical music business. Maybe, said these comments, the book as I outlined it earlier to all of you spends too much time proving that classical music (as we know it) is in trouble. Because everyone knows this! Instead, I should jump in with visions of classical music’s rebirth — since “Rebirth,” after all, is the book’s title.
I do get a lot of arguments, though, about classical music’s health, and so do others. So I’m trying to split the difference — reserve space for demonstrating how bad the problems are, but also jumping right in with something positive. Hence the riff. See what you think. Comments, as always, more than welcome (but completely optional).
And note that the copyright notice at the end allows all of you to spread this riff — and the outline — as widely as you’d like, subject to some fairly obvious provisions the notice sets forth.
Riff:
[from Chapter I --Rebirth and Resistance]
Let's look at the rebirth part.
So many changes in classical music, going off like fireworks. And nobody has ever catalogued them (which of course becomes one more reason why I'm writing this book).
All of these changes bring classical music right into the culture shared by the rest of the world. Just imagine what would happen if these changes gathered strength. Classical music could be reborn. It could rejoin the culture around it. Which would mean incisive classical concerts, with lots of new music, and a much younger audience. The musicians might look both sharp and informal. They'd talk to their audience. They'd be empowered -- controlling their concerts, playing for people much like themselves, playing the music they care about, in ways we can hardly dream of now.
Though if we want any hints, we can look at how freely classical music was performed in past generations. Or at what students at the National Orchestral Institute did when they took control of one of their concerts this summer. Or at alt-classical concerts in New York -- the Wordless Music orchestra concert, with two sold-out houses of 1000 people each, or the Bang on a Can marathon, playing one year to 1000 people, and the next to 2000.
Some other straws blowing in this strong new wind:
Maestro, classical music reality show on the BBC. Celebrities try to conduct an orchestra. OK, minor-league celebrities, like David Soul, sometime blonde hunk on Starsky and Hutch, a ghost from the '70s, now a folksinger. But the job they had to do was very real, and the judges -- who included two top conductors, Sir Roger Norrington and Simone Young -- were very serious, though of course fun. You haven't lived till you see a dance DJ told that he hadn't indicated upbeats clearly enough, when he conducted an aria from Cosi fan tutte. The payoff from this? The winner got to conduct a piece at a Proms concert, and viewers got to see -- and hear -- exactly what conductors do.
A concert I hosted and helped plan, on a Pittsburgh Symphony series called "Symphony With a Splash." We programed the "Bacchanal" from Samson et Delila, and -- shades of the Biblical Samson -- shaved the head of a volunteer from the audience while the music played. (I can't take credit for this. The idea came from the Symphony's VP of Artistic Planning, Bob Moir.)
Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, played at Le Poisson Rouge, the club in New York that's becoming a classical music destination. On a bill with two ambient electronic pop musicians. The audience of 275 or so equally split, or so I was told, among fans of all three acts. Which meant most of the crowd had -- it seems safe to guess -- never heard the Messiaen before, or even heard of it, or heard of Messiaen. The result? A restless crowd for the first five minutes, then silence. And then an ovation.
Commercials that use classical music. A huge new crop of them. Classical music no longer is used to signify something, elite, like Poupon Grey mustard. It's just used for fun, or because it sounds lively. Like the start of the first Bach cello suite, used in a terrific AMEX ad, where smiley faces show up unexpectedly on buildings and in the street, formed by windows and headlights. The message conveyed here, about classical music? That it's part of our lives, both classy and fun.
I could go on. Supply your own examples. We've all seen them, or heard of them. How many classical musicians these days play in clubs? Classical music, meet the real world.
***
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Which means that you may share this, redistribute it, and put it on your own blog or website, as long as you don't change it in any way. You can't charge money for it, or use it for any other commercial purpose. You also must include my comments on what's left out of the outline, and you must give me credit, which means naming me as the author, and providing a link to my blog, where this riff will also appear. (The link will be
http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2009/10/a_riff_from_the_book.html)
==============
Hi, everyone,
Here’s a riff from my book. It’s a quick and dirty version of the beginning, not the actual text, but a riff on what the beginning is likely to say.
Why did I write this? Because of thoughtful comments from a number of people, including some highly placed in the classical music business. Maybe, said these comments, the book as I outlined it earlier to all of you spends too much time proving that classical music (as we know it) is in trouble. Because everyone knows this! Instead, I should jump in with visions of classical music’s rebirth — since “Rebirth,” after all, is the book’s title.
I do get a lot of arguments, though, about classical music’s health, and so do others. So I’m trying to split the difference — reserve space for demonstrating how bad the problems are, but also jumping right in with something positive. Hence the riff. See what you think. Comments, as always, more than welcome (but completely optional).
And note that the copyright notice at the end allows all of you to spread this riff — and the outline — as widely as you’d like, subject to some fairly obvious provisions the notice sets forth.
Riff:
[from Chapter I --Rebirth and Resistance]
Let's look at the rebirth part.
So many changes in classical music, going off like fireworks. And nobody has ever catalogued them (which of course becomes one more reason why I'm writing this book).
All of these changes bring classical music right into the culture shared by the rest of the world. Just imagine what would happen if these changes gathered strength. Classical music could be reborn. It could rejoin the culture around it. Which would mean incisive classical concerts, with lots of new music, and a much younger audience. The musicians might look both sharp and informal. They'd talk to their audience. They'd be empowered -- controlling their concerts, playing for people much like themselves, playing the music they care about, in ways we can hardly dream of now.
Though if we want any hints, we can look at how freely classical music was performed in past generations. Or at what students at the National Orchestral Institute did when they took control of one of their concerts this summer. Or at alt-classical concerts in New York -- the Wordless Music orchestra concert, with two sold-out houses of 1000 people each, or the Bang on a Can marathon, playing one year to 1000 people, and the next to 2000.
Some other straws blowing in this strong new wind:
Maestro, classical music reality show on the BBC. Celebrities try to conduct an orchestra. OK, minor-league celebrities, like David Soul, sometime blonde hunk on Starsky and Hutch, a ghost from the '70s, now a folksinger. But the job they had to do was very real, and the judges -- who included two top conductors, Sir Roger Norrington and Simone Young -- were very serious, though of course fun. You haven't lived till you see a dance DJ told that he hadn't indicated upbeats clearly enough, when he conducted an aria from Cosi fan tutte. The payoff from this? The winner got to conduct a piece at a Proms concert, and viewers got to see -- and hear -- exactly what conductors do.
A concert I hosted and helped plan, on a Pittsburgh Symphony series called "Symphony With a Splash." We programed the "Bacchanal" from Samson et Delila, and -- shades of the Biblical Samson -- shaved the head of a volunteer from the audience while the music played. (I can't take credit for this. The idea came from the Symphony's VP of Artistic Planning, Bob Moir.)
Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, played at Le Poisson Rouge, the club in New York that's becoming a classical music destination. On a bill with two ambient electronic pop musicians. The audience of 275 or so equally split, or so I was told, among fans of all three acts. Which meant most of the crowd had -- it seems safe to guess -- never heard the Messiaen before, or even heard of it, or heard of Messiaen. The result? A restless crowd for the first five minutes, then silence. And then an ovation.
Commercials that use classical music. A huge new crop of them. Classical music no longer is used to signify something, elite, like Poupon Grey mustard. It's just used for fun, or because it sounds lively. Like the start of the first Bach cello suite, used in a terrific AMEX ad, where smiley faces show up unexpectedly on buildings and in the street, formed by windows and headlights. The message conveyed here, about classical music? That it's part of our lives, both classy and fun.
I could go on. Supply your own examples. We've all seen them, or heard of them. How many classical musicians these days play in clubs? Classical music, meet the real world.
***
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Which means that you may share this, redistribute it, and put it on your own blog or website, as long as you don't change it in any way. You can't charge money for it, or use it for any other commercial purpose. You also must include my comments on what's left out of the outline, and you must give me credit, which means naming me as the author, and providing a link to my blog, where this riff will also appear. (The link will be
http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2009/10/a_riff_from_the_book.html)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Greg Sandow's riff on a new book
Rebirth: The Future of Classical Music
by Greg Sandow
[Again from Chapter I, Rebirth and Resistance, extending my previous riff about how the chapter ‐‐ and the book ‐‐ might start. This is how the chapter might continue.]
So we've had a dose of heady inspiration. Rebirth! What a terrific concept for classical music. Where do we go from here?
Well, it might be time to step back, and ask some questions.
First:
If classical music really is changing, which it is — and if, through those changes, it might be reborn — why are the changes happening?
For two reasons, I think.
First, there's the crisis in classical music, the fear that classical music is slipping away from the contemporary world, and that its audience is shrinking. That leads people, even at the biggest classical music institutions, to wonder how they might reach out, and speak to the outside world.
Second ‐‐ and, I think, much more important ‐‐ there's the simple fact of change. Cultural change, going very deep, and gaining speed for the past two generations. Ever since the 1960s. Maybe since the '50s!
So who does that cultural change affect? More or less all of us. Including those of us who work in classical music. We've all changed. We think differently, we have different ideas. And so we want to do classical music differently. Thus, we ‐‐ individually, collectively, sometimes independent of each other, sometimes inspired by each other ‐‐ start doing new things.
And that's especially true of younger people in the business, music students, young musicians, younger people in classical music management. Younger people in classical music ‐‐ as I've seen from teaching them, for a start ‐‐ live in two worlds at once, the classical music world, and also in the wider cultural world they share with everyone else their age. They watch the same TV shows their friends do, go to the same movies, listen to the same bands.
But their friends, often enough, don't pay attention to classical music at all. So younger people in classical music become a bridge to the rest of their world. They can leap the gap, if anyone can. They can find ways to present classical music, that will grab the attention of people their own age.
Which is a big reason why I'm hopeful for the future. But don't think classical music won't change, when younger people start giving classical concerts in their own way. Rebirth won't be rebirth, if it's only a new way of packaging something old.
More questions. How far have the changes gone? Not all that far, to tell the truth. So many exciting things have happened, as I've said (in my first riff). But you can still go to classical concerts ‐‐ as we all know ‐‐ and see more or less what we would have seen five, ten, or twenty years ago. Musicians in formal dress. An older audience. And, on the program, the same old lovely, familiar, comfortable classical masterworks. Nothing against them, but they just don't reflect our own time.
And yes, I know some things have changed. Musicians might talk to the audience. Program books, at least at a few of the biggest orchestras, might be designed to look like slick, professional magazines.
But guess what ‐‐ these changes, and others like them, aren't enough to make a big difference. A conductor can say a few words to the audience, and then turn around ‐‐ wearing formal dress ‐‐ and conduct the same familiar masterworks to the same older audience.
Same with other changes ‐‐ conductors not wearing formal dress, for instance. By themselves, these things don't change the essential concert ambience. Maybe they're first steps down the road of change, but they're only first steps.
Even new works ‐‐ classical pieces written this month, or this week ‐‐ may not make much difference. The audience might hate them. And, more crucially, they may taste like they were written for the classical concert hall, without any savor, not even a trace, of the world outside.
Which brings me, to end this riff, to what I think are the two kinds of classical music change. First, changes made by mainstream classical institutions. And, second, changes made outside the classical music mainstream, which, taken together, create a new kind of alternative classical music world, which I've been labeling (on the model of indie rock), alt‐classical, though maybe indie classical would be just as good, if not better.
The alt‐classical changes go a lot further. Here we see classical music starting to be fully reborn. But of course there are more of the mainstream changes, since there are so many mainstream classical music institutions, and alt‐classical is still something new.
There's also money. You can make a living in the mainstream classical world. If you're lucky, if you get an orchestra job, if you really hustle. It might not be easy, but many people (especially including musicians) do it.
But you can't make a living in the alt‐classical space. Maybe a few people can, but the financial models for doing it basically don't exist. If you're a string quartet, life might be hard, but at least, if you’re booked by a mainstream performing arts center, you get a fee.
Play in a club, and maybe it's a thrilling gig, with a new young audience right in front of you, but where's the money? Well, you're not doing it for money, but without your mainstream bookings ‐‐ and, most likely, your university residency ‐‐ you won't survive.
The mainstream is shrinking, though. So chances to make a living from it may well start to disappear. So here's a challenge for the future. How can we develop financial models for the alt‐classical space, so musicians (and everyone else who makes a living from classical music, managers, administrators, publicists, you name it) can survive in it? And even thrive.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Which means that you may share this, redistribute it, and put it on your own blog or website, and in fact circulate it as widely as you want, as long as you don't change it in any way. You also can't charge money for it, or use it for any other commercial purpose. And you must give me credit, which means naming me as the author, and providing a link to my blog, where this riff will also appear. (The link will be
http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2009/10/another_book_riff.html)
by Greg Sandow
[Again from Chapter I, Rebirth and Resistance, extending my previous riff about how the chapter ‐‐ and the book ‐‐ might start. This is how the chapter might continue.]
So we've had a dose of heady inspiration. Rebirth! What a terrific concept for classical music. Where do we go from here?
Well, it might be time to step back, and ask some questions.
First:
If classical music really is changing, which it is — and if, through those changes, it might be reborn — why are the changes happening?
For two reasons, I think.
First, there's the crisis in classical music, the fear that classical music is slipping away from the contemporary world, and that its audience is shrinking. That leads people, even at the biggest classical music institutions, to wonder how they might reach out, and speak to the outside world.
Second ‐‐ and, I think, much more important ‐‐ there's the simple fact of change. Cultural change, going very deep, and gaining speed for the past two generations. Ever since the 1960s. Maybe since the '50s!
So who does that cultural change affect? More or less all of us. Including those of us who work in classical music. We've all changed. We think differently, we have different ideas. And so we want to do classical music differently. Thus, we ‐‐ individually, collectively, sometimes independent of each other, sometimes inspired by each other ‐‐ start doing new things.
And that's especially true of younger people in the business, music students, young musicians, younger people in classical music management. Younger people in classical music ‐‐ as I've seen from teaching them, for a start ‐‐ live in two worlds at once, the classical music world, and also in the wider cultural world they share with everyone else their age. They watch the same TV shows their friends do, go to the same movies, listen to the same bands.
But their friends, often enough, don't pay attention to classical music at all. So younger people in classical music become a bridge to the rest of their world. They can leap the gap, if anyone can. They can find ways to present classical music, that will grab the attention of people their own age.
Which is a big reason why I'm hopeful for the future. But don't think classical music won't change, when younger people start giving classical concerts in their own way. Rebirth won't be rebirth, if it's only a new way of packaging something old.
More questions. How far have the changes gone? Not all that far, to tell the truth. So many exciting things have happened, as I've said (in my first riff). But you can still go to classical concerts ‐‐ as we all know ‐‐ and see more or less what we would have seen five, ten, or twenty years ago. Musicians in formal dress. An older audience. And, on the program, the same old lovely, familiar, comfortable classical masterworks. Nothing against them, but they just don't reflect our own time.
And yes, I know some things have changed. Musicians might talk to the audience. Program books, at least at a few of the biggest orchestras, might be designed to look like slick, professional magazines.
But guess what ‐‐ these changes, and others like them, aren't enough to make a big difference. A conductor can say a few words to the audience, and then turn around ‐‐ wearing formal dress ‐‐ and conduct the same familiar masterworks to the same older audience.
Same with other changes ‐‐ conductors not wearing formal dress, for instance. By themselves, these things don't change the essential concert ambience. Maybe they're first steps down the road of change, but they're only first steps.
Even new works ‐‐ classical pieces written this month, or this week ‐‐ may not make much difference. The audience might hate them. And, more crucially, they may taste like they were written for the classical concert hall, without any savor, not even a trace, of the world outside.
Which brings me, to end this riff, to what I think are the two kinds of classical music change. First, changes made by mainstream classical institutions. And, second, changes made outside the classical music mainstream, which, taken together, create a new kind of alternative classical music world, which I've been labeling (on the model of indie rock), alt‐classical, though maybe indie classical would be just as good, if not better.
The alt‐classical changes go a lot further. Here we see classical music starting to be fully reborn. But of course there are more of the mainstream changes, since there are so many mainstream classical music institutions, and alt‐classical is still something new.
There's also money. You can make a living in the mainstream classical world. If you're lucky, if you get an orchestra job, if you really hustle. It might not be easy, but many people (especially including musicians) do it.
But you can't make a living in the alt‐classical space. Maybe a few people can, but the financial models for doing it basically don't exist. If you're a string quartet, life might be hard, but at least, if you’re booked by a mainstream performing arts center, you get a fee.
Play in a club, and maybe it's a thrilling gig, with a new young audience right in front of you, but where's the money? Well, you're not doing it for money, but without your mainstream bookings ‐‐ and, most likely, your university residency ‐‐ you won't survive.
The mainstream is shrinking, though. So chances to make a living from it may well start to disappear. So here's a challenge for the future. How can we develop financial models for the alt‐classical space, so musicians (and everyone else who makes a living from classical music, managers, administrators, publicists, you name it) can survive in it? And even thrive.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution‐Noncommercial‐No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Which means that you may share this, redistribute it, and put it on your own blog or website, and in fact circulate it as widely as you want, as long as you don't change it in any way. You also can't charge money for it, or use it for any other commercial purpose. And you must give me credit, which means naming me as the author, and providing a link to my blog, where this riff will also appear. (The link will be
http://www.artsjournal.com/sandow/2009/10/another_book_riff.html)
Friday, October 16, 2009
60 years
I have read recently about how to assess age and experience. There is a theory afoot that 60 is the new 40 or 45 or 50. I would be sorry to hear this because I would hope that as humans begin to live to 70 and 80 and 90 and even 100 that they extend their fruitful lives rather than compressing it into immaturity.
I want to imagine that as humans gain lifetimes that extend into three digits that we begin to experience new insights and accomplishments possible only from having experienced more. Imagine someone gaining 60 years of experience and then continuing for another 60 productive years.
The phenomenon is already happening, I think. I went to a 60th birthday party last Saturday night at the gorgeous Antonello Music Hall at MacPhail Center for Music in downtown Minneapolis. The concert consisted of works from the catalogue of one of America's most talented and musical composers, Carol Barnett. Did I say that she was well-known? Pay attention because she is only going to gain in recognition among performers -- those individuals who can present a composer's music to wider and wider publics.
The wonderful performers from Saturday night included the premier soprano in the Upper Midwest (and some would say one of the leading lyric sopranos in the country) Maria Jette. Along with David Hagedorn and Brian Roessler, she gave a stunning performance of Sapphic Fragments by Ms Barnett. This was the highlight of the program will, doubtless receive much more attention in the coming years. If yo can imagine a jazz trio improvising a set on the melancholy and sensual poetry of Sappho, you have a good sense of what Ms Barnett is able to accomplish.
This is a work created in the last couple of years (when the composer was in her 50s) and one cannot imagine that someone younger understanding or expressing the complicated affect more completely. But, no matter. Ms Barnett defeats any attempt to hear "age" in her music. In fact, her music is becoming more humorous, more sensual and more confidently graceful as each year passes.
The closet of music must be full because Carol was able to find works she composed in graduate school for the event. The earlier works are less confident, I think; less likely to toss up their heels. But you can hear they contain the early attempts of an artist to hit stride, to execute complicated dance steps.
Carol Barnett is 60 and one is confounded. How can she be halfway through her career, already. Her best works have been created in the last five years, unlike the trajectory of most creative artists who blaze early in their careers and then slowly decline to a smoldering ember. She has continued to create, to explore musical paths that interest her, to break-through into new song.
Happy Birthday to Carol Barnett. And start paying attention to this composer's work because it is becoming more and more compelling with each passing year.
I want to imagine that as humans gain lifetimes that extend into three digits that we begin to experience new insights and accomplishments possible only from having experienced more. Imagine someone gaining 60 years of experience and then continuing for another 60 productive years.
The phenomenon is already happening, I think. I went to a 60th birthday party last Saturday night at the gorgeous Antonello Music Hall at MacPhail Center for Music in downtown Minneapolis. The concert consisted of works from the catalogue of one of America's most talented and musical composers, Carol Barnett. Did I say that she was well-known? Pay attention because she is only going to gain in recognition among performers -- those individuals who can present a composer's music to wider and wider publics.
The wonderful performers from Saturday night included the premier soprano in the Upper Midwest (and some would say one of the leading lyric sopranos in the country) Maria Jette. Along with David Hagedorn and Brian Roessler, she gave a stunning performance of Sapphic Fragments by Ms Barnett. This was the highlight of the program will, doubtless receive much more attention in the coming years. If yo can imagine a jazz trio improvising a set on the melancholy and sensual poetry of Sappho, you have a good sense of what Ms Barnett is able to accomplish.
This is a work created in the last couple of years (when the composer was in her 50s) and one cannot imagine that someone younger understanding or expressing the complicated affect more completely. But, no matter. Ms Barnett defeats any attempt to hear "age" in her music. In fact, her music is becoming more humorous, more sensual and more confidently graceful as each year passes.
The closet of music must be full because Carol was able to find works she composed in graduate school for the event. The earlier works are less confident, I think; less likely to toss up their heels. But you can hear they contain the early attempts of an artist to hit stride, to execute complicated dance steps.
Carol Barnett is 60 and one is confounded. How can she be halfway through her career, already. Her best works have been created in the last five years, unlike the trajectory of most creative artists who blaze early in their careers and then slowly decline to a smoldering ember. She has continued to create, to explore musical paths that interest her, to break-through into new song.
Happy Birthday to Carol Barnett. And start paying attention to this composer's work because it is becoming more and more compelling with each passing year.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
Remember the character played by Ben Stein in the movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off? He was taking attendance in class and kept repeating "Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?"
I feel the same way about my interest in forming a team of people who have a special set of skills. I want to create a new economic index. You know what I'm talking about, right? There is the Consumer Confidence economic index created by, I think, the University of Michigan.
I want to test the correlation between live performances of music and the health of a regional economy. Could you begin to forecast the business climate based on how much live music can be heard in a narrowly defined geographic area? This is really interesting to me.
I have often used the "canary in the mineshaft" analogy to talk about the significance of the arts as a barometer of the economic storm fronts -- to mix a few metaphors. But there has been no way to measure that barometric pressure, that I know about.
An endeavor like this would take a team of people designing an economic index that would be intuitive and sensitive to the realities and exigencies of the music business. And then there would need to be a cadre of field researchers to gather accurate information.
Does anyone reading this have any suggestions how to proceed? I want to take the initiative and would be happy to be responsible for most of the organizational work. Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
I feel the same way about my interest in forming a team of people who have a special set of skills. I want to create a new economic index. You know what I'm talking about, right? There is the Consumer Confidence economic index created by, I think, the University of Michigan.
I want to test the correlation between live performances of music and the health of a regional economy. Could you begin to forecast the business climate based on how much live music can be heard in a narrowly defined geographic area? This is really interesting to me.
I have often used the "canary in the mineshaft" analogy to talk about the significance of the arts as a barometer of the economic storm fronts -- to mix a few metaphors. But there has been no way to measure that barometric pressure, that I know about.
An endeavor like this would take a team of people designing an economic index that would be intuitive and sensitive to the realities and exigencies of the music business. And then there would need to be a cadre of field researchers to gather accurate information.
Does anyone reading this have any suggestions how to proceed? I want to take the initiative and would be happy to be responsible for most of the organizational work. Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?
Wisdom and where to find her
What passes for wisdom in the music business is usually the sad and brutal stories recounted by musicians who have endured long drives in the middle of the night to the next town on the band's tour. Last night, the Intro to Music Business class that I teach had the pleasure of hearing wisdom.
She was wearing black and had a leather coat and a pair of glasses tangled in her blonde hair. She spoke with a dead-pan alto voice that only exceeded the interval of a minor third when she would crank up her story-telling. Wisdom was patient and kind. Wisdom was not jealous as much as she was curious about the digital age and what was going on in the Twin Cities music scene. She did not boast -- on the contrary, she kept down-playing her accomplishments to the point that you might have missed that when she decided to move on with her life (and away from the Rock 'n Roll road show), she finished a Master's degree in creative writing. She began to teach. She had a family. She figured out how to be a grown-up.
After she had left class, we had a chance to process the words of wisdom. One student observed that she didn't seem proud enough of what she had done. Maybe she wasn't as happy with herself.
Here is what I think. Wisdom comes in small hand-made batches. It is not something mass-produced for consumption. That's why we shouldn't be looking for wisdom on the news or from our politics. Wisdom is personal and thoughtful and open-ended because wisdom is never complete. In class today, wisdom went by the name Laurie Lindeen.
Laurie's book, Petal Pusher, is something that rockers and jazzers and every other kind of musician should read aloud to each other. Wisdom resides there and it has got a sense of humor and a personal narrative that disguises its universal messages. I would suggest that those looking for wisdom about music, business, and life should take a few hours of thoughtful reading. It will be worth the effort.
She was wearing black and had a leather coat and a pair of glasses tangled in her blonde hair. She spoke with a dead-pan alto voice that only exceeded the interval of a minor third when she would crank up her story-telling. Wisdom was patient and kind. Wisdom was not jealous as much as she was curious about the digital age and what was going on in the Twin Cities music scene. She did not boast -- on the contrary, she kept down-playing her accomplishments to the point that you might have missed that when she decided to move on with her life (and away from the Rock 'n Roll road show), she finished a Master's degree in creative writing. She began to teach. She had a family. She figured out how to be a grown-up.
After she had left class, we had a chance to process the words of wisdom. One student observed that she didn't seem proud enough of what she had done. Maybe she wasn't as happy with herself.
Here is what I think. Wisdom comes in small hand-made batches. It is not something mass-produced for consumption. That's why we shouldn't be looking for wisdom on the news or from our politics. Wisdom is personal and thoughtful and open-ended because wisdom is never complete. In class today, wisdom went by the name Laurie Lindeen.
Laurie's book, Petal Pusher, is something that rockers and jazzers and every other kind of musician should read aloud to each other. Wisdom resides there and it has got a sense of humor and a personal narrative that disguises its universal messages. I would suggest that those looking for wisdom about music, business, and life should take a few hours of thoughtful reading. It will be worth the effort.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Agreements, convenants, contracts, promises
Students in my Intro to MuBu class are just now beginning to think about the prospect of putting together a letter of agreement between a "manager" and an "artist." In most cases, the manager is someone with an interest in (or a major in) business. The artists are, for the most part, music majors. I have asked them each to consider realistic projects that they need to think about and then to create a letter that would articulate their deal.
Hard part is, that the students are slightly confused about whether they are working in Fantasyland or RealityWorld. Rather than put the managers in the position of authority, I have asked the students to think about what music projects appeal to the artist. This puts music first, where I believe it belongs. We call the field and practice Music Business, not Business Music. Can you imagine what it would be like if the world of music put business ahead of the music? Oh, right. Sorry. I was losing my mind there for a second.
I guess I have skewed the world to reflect my fondest wish -- or I am trying to teach the students that music comes first, the deal follows.
So how does someone build a business plan around the feathery wispiness of a musical ambition, dream, or idea? In my own experience, good people have tried mightily to create business around some of my ideas. Where it has worked best is when the music is in existence and then the business has a commodity that can be "exploited" (in the best sense of that word). When a work is in the process of coming into existence and is not a commodity yet, the business people can get involved in the creative process -- this is usually bad news.
I can imagine that my students are slightly confused as to how to proceed when music has not been created yet. I have asked the managers to listen to their artists' music and to get engaged in the excitement of creation. If we can find a way to teach the business end of MuBu to get passionate about music, then I think we should figure out a way to bottle it. We could sell that for considerable amounts of money.
But first, we have to be creative. How to teach passion?
Hard part is, that the students are slightly confused about whether they are working in Fantasyland or RealityWorld. Rather than put the managers in the position of authority, I have asked the students to think about what music projects appeal to the artist. This puts music first, where I believe it belongs. We call the field and practice Music Business, not Business Music. Can you imagine what it would be like if the world of music put business ahead of the music? Oh, right. Sorry. I was losing my mind there for a second.
I guess I have skewed the world to reflect my fondest wish -- or I am trying to teach the students that music comes first, the deal follows.
So how does someone build a business plan around the feathery wispiness of a musical ambition, dream, or idea? In my own experience, good people have tried mightily to create business around some of my ideas. Where it has worked best is when the music is in existence and then the business has a commodity that can be "exploited" (in the best sense of that word). When a work is in the process of coming into existence and is not a commodity yet, the business people can get involved in the creative process -- this is usually bad news.
I can imagine that my students are slightly confused as to how to proceed when music has not been created yet. I have asked the managers to listen to their artists' music and to get engaged in the excitement of creation. If we can find a way to teach the business end of MuBu to get passionate about music, then I think we should figure out a way to bottle it. We could sell that for considerable amounts of money.
But first, we have to be creative. How to teach passion?
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Back @ it
Hello, again. I know that someone is following this blog and will read it whenever I post. So here is the first post in a long time. I'm gearing up for next semester (Fall) with the intro to mubu. The course will be streamlined -- I tried to do too much the first time through.
And I'm starting to think about how the intro course pours into internships. The course is required for all mubu majors but not everyone wants to go into mubu. This simple little fact has taken a little time to soak into my head and now that I can see that internships have to be customized for each student I will work a little less strenuously in developing opportunities ahead of the demand.
The large, industrial-strength music businesses continue to realign and consolidate themselves. The problem continues to be how to innovate and re-invent the business models. The most interesting ideas are happening outside of the business offices and taking place in out-of-the-way places. I recently became acquainted with an adjunct at MCAD (Mpls College of Art & Design) and his work in a Minnesota association of social networkers. I'll be bringing this into the next class.
Anyhoo, I'm back @ it. Hope you all have had a good Spring. Summer's a-comin'.
And I'm starting to think about how the intro course pours into internships. The course is required for all mubu majors but not everyone wants to go into mubu. This simple little fact has taken a little time to soak into my head and now that I can see that internships have to be customized for each student I will work a little less strenuously in developing opportunities ahead of the demand.
The large, industrial-strength music businesses continue to realign and consolidate themselves. The problem continues to be how to innovate and re-invent the business models. The most interesting ideas are happening outside of the business offices and taking place in out-of-the-way places. I recently became acquainted with an adjunct at MCAD (Mpls College of Art & Design) and his work in a Minnesota association of social networkers. I'll be bringing this into the next class.
Anyhoo, I'm back @ it. Hope you all have had a good Spring. Summer's a-comin'.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Warner's success
Warner is one of the big four music companies in the world. Warner is beating the competition these days by avoiding paying out too expensive fees (goodbye Madonna) and finding talented new music/musicians. They are winning (with 5% profits) at the old music business model and they are trying as much as they can to re-invent themselves in the new music business model.
What a great story. Can't wait to read the next chapter.
What a great story. Can't wait to read the next chapter.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
classicLive
Last week, we had a visit from Eeva Savolainen who was on the marketing and communication staff of classicLive.com until recently. The website is created in and run from Finland. Eeva made a short presentation on the features of classicLive.com and talked briefly about the business model. Here is her recent note which is published here with permission:
"It was fun to meet your class, now I'd like to hear any comments you or the students have about classicLive. I forgot to mention that cL now has two competitors, which is good for the business. medici.tv and monteverdi.tv, check those out too and let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Eeva"
The invitation to compare and contrast these three classical music video sites is very generous. Please post your reactions here.
Medici.tv is here.
Monteverdi.tv is here.
classicLive.com is here.
"It was fun to meet your class, now I'd like to hear any comments you or the students have about classicLive. I forgot to mention that cL now has two competitors, which is good for the business. medici.tv and monteverdi.tv, check those out too and let me know what you think.
Cheers,
Eeva"
The invitation to compare and contrast these three classical music video sites is very generous. Please post your reactions here.
Medici.tv is here.
Monteverdi.tv is here.
classicLive.com is here.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Entertainment & Sports Law Symposium
Entertainment & Sports Law Symposium
Lommen Abdo and its entertainment attorneys are presenting The Entertainment & Sports Law Symposium on Thursday, November 13, 2008. The CLE will take place on the 50th floor of the IDS Center in Minneapolis and is presented in cooperation with Minnesota Law & Politics® and the GRAMMY® Foundation.
The Symposium is $50 for lawyers and other professionals, and $25 for law students. Five CLE credits have been requested, including one ethics credit. The fee includes the CLE, lunch and reception.
This inaugural symposium is designed for attorneys, industry professionals and law students who want to know more about substantive legal and business issues addressed in the practice of entertainment and sports law.
Schedule
9:00 a.m. - Welcome
A special presentation on the Entertainment Law Initiative
By Scott Goldman of the GRAMMY Foundation®
9:15 - 10:15 a.m.
Careers in Entertainment Law: A Panel Discussion of Lommen Abdo Entertainment/Sports Lawyers for Law Students and Curious Lawyers
Moderated by Bill White, Publisher of Law & Politics®
Entertainment and sports law is a deceptively broad legal practice field. Opportunities range from solo to large private practices, from in-house positions in major companies to minor/independent companies. The recipe for a successful law practice includes part law, part business and a healthy measure of art. This session explores the variety of fields of the practice including music, film, TV, sports, book publishing, on-line, litigation, financing, business structures and intellectual property and the opportunities therein. Practical questions will be addressed such as what to study in law school, how to network, how to learn about the industries, and how to develop a practice.
10:15 a.m. - 15-minute break
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Music: The Exclusive Recording Agreement in the Digital Age
Presented by Ken Abdo, Bob Donnelly and Paul Bezilla
The exclusive recording agreement was once the nexus of an artist’s music career. Over time, customs developed in the negotiation of the agreement based on a body of law and an “analog” economy. With the onset of the digital music economy, the rules and the documents have changed. This panel will review the changes in technology and law that have sent the music business and the concomitant exclusive recording agreement negotiations into uncharted territory. The anatomy of a digitized recording agreement will be dissected.
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sports (A Working Luncheon): Representing Professional Athletes in Marketing, Negotiations, and Post-Play Realities
Presented by Lee Hutton III
Addressing the needs of athletes, both on and off the field, requires attention to the rapidly changing sports industry and knowledge of the athlete’s rights in many areas of the law, including contracts, employment, sports, unions, estate planning, and the laws and regulations on ethics. This session also discusses the role sports attorneys play in the holistic representation of an athlete, the challenges they face in meeting these obligations and, in particular, the ethical issues faced by lawyers and non-lawyers.
1:00 p.m. - 15 Minute Break
1:15 - 2:15 p.m.
Film: From Book to Screen
Presented by Dan Satorius and Christie Rothenberg Healey
What goes into making a film adaptation of a book and what legal issues does that create? Many of Hollywood’s greatest films are based on books. Follow the perilous journey from book to script to the silver screen as the presenters address option and purchase agreements, writer employment agreements, book authors as screenwriters, characters rights and more.
2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
IP Litigation: Litigating the Scope of Intellectual Property Rights in Entertainment Transactions
Presented by Tim Matson and Barry O’Neil
Disputes over the ownership of rights of publicity, trademarks and copyrights and the scope of any related licensing agreements are prevalent in the entertainment industry. Whether in professional sports, the music industry, the film business or the software industry, an awareness of the issues and the potential ways that problems can be avoided is useful to both the transactional entertainment lawyer and the litigation attorney. Trial lawyers Barry O’Neil and Tim Matson will address substantive and procedural issues that arise in litigation involving intellectual property rights.
3:15 p.m. - 15 Minute Break
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Entertainment Law Ethics: A Roadmap for the Entrepreneurial Entertainment Lawyer
Presented by Ken Abdo and Bob Donnelly
The rules of professional conduct apply equally to all lawyers in all fields. For lawyers building and maintaining an entertainment and sports practice, the rules of professional conduct present uniquely challenging practice considerations. The panel will address these challenges head-on with references to applicable statutes, rules and judicial decisions.
4:30- 5:30 p.m.
Grammy Foundation®/Law & Politics® Post-Conference Social
Click on this link to register for the event. For more information, contact Theresa Abdo Whelan at 612-336-1277 or theresa@lommen.com.
* Business
* Entertainment, IP & Sports
* Litigation & Appeals
* Medical Malpractice
* Personal Injury
* Services for Individuals
* Terms of Use
* Privacy Policy
© 2008 Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A. Professional Corporation Attorney Advertising
Lommen Abdo and its entertainment attorneys are presenting The Entertainment & Sports Law Symposium on Thursday, November 13, 2008. The CLE will take place on the 50th floor of the IDS Center in Minneapolis and is presented in cooperation with Minnesota Law & Politics® and the GRAMMY® Foundation.
The Symposium is $50 for lawyers and other professionals, and $25 for law students. Five CLE credits have been requested, including one ethics credit. The fee includes the CLE, lunch and reception.
This inaugural symposium is designed for attorneys, industry professionals and law students who want to know more about substantive legal and business issues addressed in the practice of entertainment and sports law.
Schedule
9:00 a.m. - Welcome
A special presentation on the Entertainment Law Initiative
By Scott Goldman of the GRAMMY Foundation®
9:15 - 10:15 a.m.
Careers in Entertainment Law: A Panel Discussion of Lommen Abdo Entertainment/Sports Lawyers for Law Students and Curious Lawyers
Moderated by Bill White, Publisher of Law & Politics®
Entertainment and sports law is a deceptively broad legal practice field. Opportunities range from solo to large private practices, from in-house positions in major companies to minor/independent companies. The recipe for a successful law practice includes part law, part business and a healthy measure of art. This session explores the variety of fields of the practice including music, film, TV, sports, book publishing, on-line, litigation, financing, business structures and intellectual property and the opportunities therein. Practical questions will be addressed such as what to study in law school, how to network, how to learn about the industries, and how to develop a practice.
10:15 a.m. - 15-minute break
10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Music: The Exclusive Recording Agreement in the Digital Age
Presented by Ken Abdo, Bob Donnelly and Paul Bezilla
The exclusive recording agreement was once the nexus of an artist’s music career. Over time, customs developed in the negotiation of the agreement based on a body of law and an “analog” economy. With the onset of the digital music economy, the rules and the documents have changed. This panel will review the changes in technology and law that have sent the music business and the concomitant exclusive recording agreement negotiations into uncharted territory. The anatomy of a digitized recording agreement will be dissected.
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sports (A Working Luncheon): Representing Professional Athletes in Marketing, Negotiations, and Post-Play Realities
Presented by Lee Hutton III
Addressing the needs of athletes, both on and off the field, requires attention to the rapidly changing sports industry and knowledge of the athlete’s rights in many areas of the law, including contracts, employment, sports, unions, estate planning, and the laws and regulations on ethics. This session also discusses the role sports attorneys play in the holistic representation of an athlete, the challenges they face in meeting these obligations and, in particular, the ethical issues faced by lawyers and non-lawyers.
1:00 p.m. - 15 Minute Break
1:15 - 2:15 p.m.
Film: From Book to Screen
Presented by Dan Satorius and Christie Rothenberg Healey
What goes into making a film adaptation of a book and what legal issues does that create? Many of Hollywood’s greatest films are based on books. Follow the perilous journey from book to script to the silver screen as the presenters address option and purchase agreements, writer employment agreements, book authors as screenwriters, characters rights and more.
2:15 - 3:15 p.m.
IP Litigation: Litigating the Scope of Intellectual Property Rights in Entertainment Transactions
Presented by Tim Matson and Barry O’Neil
Disputes over the ownership of rights of publicity, trademarks and copyrights and the scope of any related licensing agreements are prevalent in the entertainment industry. Whether in professional sports, the music industry, the film business or the software industry, an awareness of the issues and the potential ways that problems can be avoided is useful to both the transactional entertainment lawyer and the litigation attorney. Trial lawyers Barry O’Neil and Tim Matson will address substantive and procedural issues that arise in litigation involving intellectual property rights.
3:15 p.m. - 15 Minute Break
3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Entertainment Law Ethics: A Roadmap for the Entrepreneurial Entertainment Lawyer
Presented by Ken Abdo and Bob Donnelly
The rules of professional conduct apply equally to all lawyers in all fields. For lawyers building and maintaining an entertainment and sports practice, the rules of professional conduct present uniquely challenging practice considerations. The panel will address these challenges head-on with references to applicable statutes, rules and judicial decisions.
4:30- 5:30 p.m.
Grammy Foundation®/Law & Politics® Post-Conference Social
Click on this link to register for the event. For more information, contact Theresa Abdo Whelan at 612-336-1277 or theresa@lommen.com.
* Business
* Entertainment, IP & Sports
* Litigation & Appeals
* Medical Malpractice
* Personal Injury
* Services for Individuals
* Terms of Use
* Privacy Policy
© 2008 Lommen, Abdo, Cole, King & Stageberg, P.A. Professional Corporation Attorney Advertising
Friday, October 24, 2008
IODA
To quote the site:
"IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance) is the industry-leading digital distribution company for the global independent music community.
Run by an experienced team of digital music and technology experts with a passion for independent music, IODA is the premier digital distribution and marketing company for independent labels who want to build and grow their business."
I cannot vouch for their success at marketing...because I've never used their service. The business model inhabits the world where music is a product -- but they seem to be positioned to exploit (in the best sense) the opportunities of "music like water."
There are many things that can be learned from these guys' website if you were a student of music business!
"IODA (Independent Online Distribution Alliance) is the industry-leading digital distribution company for the global independent music community.
Run by an experienced team of digital music and technology experts with a passion for independent music, IODA is the premier digital distribution and marketing company for independent labels who want to build and grow their business."
I cannot vouch for their success at marketing...because I've never used their service. The business model inhabits the world where music is a product -- but they seem to be positioned to exploit (in the best sense) the opportunities of "music like water."
There are many things that can be learned from these guys' website if you were a student of music business!
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Corporate sponsorship
Dell Computer's corporate sponsorship of music festivals like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Festival is an example of how a large corporation reaches out to younger audiences when it wants to launch a new product. It looks like Dell Computer is trying to create buzz for a new consumer product by working with a media story about their corporate sponsorship of rock festivals around the country.
This is an example of someone writing a story about one thing while creating a story about something else. Smart marketers are tricky this way and I think it's important to examine the story of tell-tale signs of the corporate hand: the opening paragraphs about the Dell at the festival, it wheels quickly into news of Dell's purchase of Zing, a quote from a marketing director about how Dell can establish direct contact with customers because there is going to be a new product launch, followed immediately with a description about that new product.
As we like to say, there's nothing wrong with any of this. Except you need to use your critical mind when you read news stories and understand that there is always a hidden agenda, an unspoken but clearly articulated narrator and audience for every story. The questions should be:
Who is the narrator?
What is the story?
Who is the audience?
You can check out the Reuters story by Michael Ayers here:
This is an example of someone writing a story about one thing while creating a story about something else. Smart marketers are tricky this way and I think it's important to examine the story of tell-tale signs of the corporate hand: the opening paragraphs about the Dell at the festival, it wheels quickly into news of Dell's purchase of Zing, a quote from a marketing director about how Dell can establish direct contact with customers because there is going to be a new product launch, followed immediately with a description about that new product.
As we like to say, there's nothing wrong with any of this. Except you need to use your critical mind when you read news stories and understand that there is always a hidden agenda, an unspoken but clearly articulated narrator and audience for every story. The questions should be:
Who is the narrator?
What is the story?
Who is the audience?
You can check out the Reuters story by Michael Ayers here:
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
"Bumpin' into Geniuses" book review
This is a good history of rock from the 60s through the early 80s. A lot has changed in the music business, but there is something real about the relationship the author (Danny Goldberg) had with the artists. This wonderful review by Jody Rosen appears in the NYTimes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/books/review/Rosen-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/books/review/Rosen-t.html?_r=1&ref=books&oref=slogin
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