Conductors or lack there of

Jimmy Levine's withdraw from the Met and BSO schedules continuing to get press, this time from Anne Midgette who is generally up there with the other big names in music journalism (Anthony Tomassini and Alex Ross). Before Maestro Levine's announcment there was a discussion going on fueled by Norman Lebrecht's (another big name) book "The Maestro Myth" which essentially stated that conductors were egotists and unnecessary. Anne simply connects the two discussion points and adds her own brief but to the point comment in the last paragraph of the article.

Semi conductors? - Classical Beat - The Washington Post

The fight for "Public Domain"

Early on in my career I had no problem copying music at will. There was a certain disconnect between the people who created this music, the "big" music publishers and me. Perhaps I had that same feeling about recorded artists, record companies and consumers. The older I've become the less that holds true, in large part due to meeting some of my favorite artists/composers and getting to know more about the system.

I now have a lot of respect for what people create and the idea that they deserve to be paid for what they do. The margin of "profit" for music publishers and composers is razor thin and although the costs add up, the price per piece of music is rather nominal (around $2 per choral octavo per person). I was recently told that for a composer to make a "living" they need to have about 50 pieces currently in print. That may not seem like that much but when we are talking that some of the best composers in history had perhaps four times that number of pieces over a 30 year career it looks a bit different. If you were quite industrious and were able to crank out 10 publishable pieces a year, you'd have to keep that up for five years before you could quit your "day job". Incredible.

All that being said, I do think that once a piece enters the public domain it should stay there. I don't think there is any reason a composer or writers great great grand child should be receiving money for a work created 100 years ago. The tricky part comes when you try to obtain the printed music. A new edition or a more recent plate (for printing) can have a separate copyright which I believe needs to be respected. There are two primary ways around this; to enter the original composition into your own music notation software and publish that on the internet, or to scan the original edition (now in the public domain) and publish that on the internet. The former method is found on the CPDL or the Choral Public Domain Library, a wiki site and the former is found at the IMSLP or the International Music Score Library Project

The highest honor for a choir in the United States is to be invited (via application process) to perform for the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association. This is the best of the best and is usually dominated by choirs in academic settings, particularly college. In the program notes for each piece the composer, publisher and catalog number are cited, like an endorsement of the musical selection.I attended the convention this year in Chicago and it was my third time at an ACDA event; two national and one regional.  This was the first time that I had ever seen program notes which admitted use of scores from the CPDL. To me that seems remarkable that directors would admit to using these scores which are none to be less than scholarly and full of errors but I guess times have changed.

Don't get me wrong though, I think this is one of the best things that could happen for students of music and in a way democratizes access to some of the finest literature. As digital archives improve and user based libraries expand the musical and indeed cultural fabric becomes more rich. I believe that everyone should have access to the worlds best art but I also believe in the artists right to benefit from their creations.

Restoring Copyright to Public Domain Works - Adam Liptak - NYTimes.com

Another interesting article, this one about the Music Director of the Toronto Symphony.

I like this paragraph.
“Peter had music in his bones,” Mr. Shaw said in an interview at the orchestra’s offices in a stately building across King Street from its performance home, Roy Thomson Hall. “He had the highest standards. All this requires a little bit of gray hair, but he also had an enthusiasm to grow. He wasn’t in a position to say, ‘Oh, another music directorship.’ He wants to grow as a music director.”

Peter Oundjian, Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director - NYTimes.com

On a somewhat related note, New York Times are going to be changing their online viewing policy starting March 28th. Readers will be limited to 15 articles a month which really sucks. So far the only way around this that I've found is if click on the link via twitter which will be a mess. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and I predict that it will be messy and not all that favorable for most folks.

Football to Opera

Interesting story about footballs players (generally pro or college) transitioning to opera. It is obviously unusual for people to crossover but it certainly doesn't have to be a one or the other type mentality. The article may be of interest to music teachers who are looking for ways to recruit males or reinforce and support the ones they have.

Feel Locked Out? Can’t Find Work? Try Opera - NYTimes.com

the Steinway Diaries

Journals and diaries are rarely as interesting as one might hope but this one certainly has promise. The diary of one of the members of the American Piano dynasty at an interesting time in the nation's history. What is really cool is that the manuscripts or rather transcriptions will be available to all online. In all honesty I probably would be willing to by an edited and annotated version of this because undoubtedly there will be a lot of useless info without some historical and/or personal context.

A Gateway to the 19th Century: The William Steinway Diary, 1861-1896, at the National Museum of American History | Steinway on the Superhighway | By Stuart Isacoff - WSJ.com

From tragedy to beauty...

Japanese Cultural Fest Will Go On at Carnegie Hall - NYTimes.com

San Diego City Arts Cuts

Although I am no longer associated with San Diego City Schools or even a resident of that district, I do connect to this story.

I am a product of the SDUSD arts education program. In fourth grade I had class recorder instruction, in fifth grade I played saxophone in the band. In high school I joined the marching band, jazz band and choir. My music teachers were very supportive and instrumental (couldn't resist) in my development as a person and as a musician. I was encouraged to try anything and went on to participate in honor choirs, honor orchestra and honor jazz band. After I graduated I worked as a music instructor at my former Middle School and assisted in an honor choir performance.

As a professional musician and as a music educator it is sad to see young people denied these opportunities. I believe children should be exposed to as many possible positive influences whether that is organized sports, arts, literature or whatever. Even if the influences don't seem to "stick" I do believe they come back around as adults.

Any how, I hope to expand this blog at a later date possibly to submit in defense of these programs.


School music, arts programs on chopping block - SignOnSanDiego.com

Performance Practice

I was just talking to the church choir about how "early" music and "performance practice" are the trend now in classical music so it is interesting to see this article which more or less says that the early music genre has arrived in the mainstream.

Early Music and Period Instruments Are Having a Moment - NYTimes.com