Given my impending recital and then cross-country move, my blogging schedule is about to become wildly erratic, so instead of putting out Yet Another Take on the Orlando shooting (let’s be real, there are already more than enough white voices involved in that conversation anyway), I want to outline what my plans are as far as the blog goes so that we’re all on the same page and no one is surprised by a lack of Content they were expecting.
Read MoreI have never been shy about my opinions on the logistics of running a concert. I think they’re tremendously important, and also often overlooked, with the result that many classical music concerts are considerably more tedious than they need to be, a state of affairs that does nobody any favors. Like it or not, presentation matters. Concert presenters who don’t take these details into account come across as disorganized and inadequately prepared. My frustration is amplified, I think, by the amount of time I’ve spent in the theatrical world. As anyone who’s done a play or musical can tell you, the rehearsal process devotes a lot of time to hammering out logistical details like set changes and lighting cues, a hammering out that’s almost never been done for the classical concerts I’ve been a part of. Granted, the logistics for classical concerts are usually less daunting — most string quartet performances don’t call for hundreds of light and sound cues along with various large pieces of scenery flying in and out from above, after all — but that makes it all the more irritating to see them muffed again and again and again.
Some time ago, after listening to me gripe about a concert that was particularly bad at this, a composer friend of mine asked if I wouldn’t be willing to put together some kind of checklist or document that outlines specific things that concert presenters should keep in mind when hashing out the logistics of putting on a show. This is that document.
Read MoreI’m still getting over the intensity of the audition on Tuesday (and the (very mild — don’t worry, Mom!) downtick in physical health that inevitably followed on Wednesday), so I’m going to do a lighter post this week. Instead of my usual essay-ish format, I’m going to post about what i hope to accomplish in the next little chunk of time.
So yeah. These are things I’d like to do. Some of them are super vague, some of them are super concrete, but all of them feel pretty plausible to me. Sometimes it’s nice to take a larger view of where I am and what I’m doing. It doesn’t all have to be the breathless rush of the moment.
Regular posting resumes next week!