Okay, yes, it's a commercial for notebooks. The paper kind. But in my high school world, the day after Labor Day was the "back to school, hope you practiced some, orchestra auditions were coming to get you" signal. For as horribly nerve-wracking as it all was, I get all nostalgic for the work and pressure of that time around this time even to this day. For those out there getting or giving out the education, best wishes for a great year. … [Read more...]

More than any new string quartet or opera premiere, I confess that often it's this kind of art that more deeply affects me. I don't think I have any kind of ADD (I also love novels of the 2000-page, tissue-paper print variety) but expressions of the sort below, these kind of quiet, very personal, "glimpse and then it's gone" peeks behind some very heavy curtains, have always worked their way much deeper into my psyche than more grand gestures seem to penetrate. In this case, a used and abused … [Read more...]

A t-shirt created for students in Sedalia, Missouri, to promote the Smith-Cotton High School Tiger Pride Marching Band and "portray how brass instruments have evolved in music from the 1960s to modern day" has devolved into controversy due to the shirt's allusion to evolution. Students were asked to turn the shirts back in after parents complained. Choice quotes from the story published in the Sedalia Democrat: "I was disappointed with the image on the shirt." [Band parent Sherry] Melby said. "I … [Read more...]