Nostalgia is a collective memory, apparently. Annual visits home now always remind me to check in on the awesome work of composer and fellow-Ohioan Brian Harnetty. I'm a fan. This then also usually leads me pretty quickly back to my stash of Bonnie "Prince" Billy records, and albums like The Letting Go with string arrangements courtesy of--can it truly be?--Nico Muhly. Yes, forget six degrees. The world is a very crazy game of Twister, and we are all pretty much touching at this point. … [Read more...]

Wow, I asked for your thoughts and you responded. A lot of amazing dialog has emerged here on Mind the Gap re: that ASCAP VS EFF PK CC BY-NC-SA fundraising letter in particular and the state of copyright in the digital age in general. If I were a member of Congress, perhaps I would have a catchy name for this battle of the acronyms by now, but as commenter Blik pointed out about halfway through, "The problem is there really is no secret war and now you just pissed off the internet." Indeed, we … [Read more...]

This post is in part motivated by the fact that "Google's YouTube just annihilated Viacom in federal court," but I've been meaning to link to this piece by Christina Mulligan which explains--using big round numbers--what the fictional students on the hit show Glee would actually be on the hook for if they wanted to perform their mash-ups and upload their video remakes from an actual high school in Ohio. It's an issue that apparently has never even been mentioned on the show; no inspiring Will … [Read more...]

If you, like me, are actually not attending a national performing arts convention this week, you can still consume an inspirational keynote address (while steering clear of certain conference dangers--kidding!) by checking out this archived copy of Ben Cameron's remarks to the members of the League of American Orchestras. Cameron is the smart/funny/charming program director at The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and here he hits so many great points square on the head it's dizzying. Sorry, … [Read more...]

After a couple weeks trying to think outside the box about the future of orchestral performance in America (without getting too ridiculous about it), I kinda couldn't take it any more. Was this just an exercise in futility? Was the case of the modern-day symphony just so screwed up that it could never be fixed? My psychic's line was busy, so I asked Google for a prognosis. Based on my highly unscientific analysis of search results for things that are dead, I feel that while it may be true that … [Read more...]

Last night, Ann Powers' review of that little ol' LA production of Wagner's Ring popped up in my blog reader. The frame-up on this post was that Powers is the Los Angeles Times' awesome *pop* critic (gasp!) and here she was slumming it with the classical people. She used her review to present a window into how music fans who consider themselves predominantly pop people might hear and react to the Sturm und Drang of Wagner. Conclusions in the piece we might mull over: The music could have been a … [Read more...]

Along with the death of classical, jazz, rock, hip hop, et al., is even crossover (or at least the critical angst surrounding it) dead? Maybe it's headed that way. Then again, maybe not. Based on the interest Renée Fleming/Dark Hope is churning up, I'm thinking this patient is still breathing. But in a way, that's kind of the hook, right? More than anything, people are in a lather to find out what she actually sounds like when doing this new thing she's doing, whether whatever that turns out … [Read more...]

I've been reading Shannon Hayes's newish book Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture, and I'm really getting a lot out of the related thinking/reflection on lifestyle choices it inspires. Hayes interviewed quite a few people in rural-to-urban situations about how they are creating their lives (less spending, making doing) and the book includes many of their stories and a lot of interesting history about homemaking before the word became so loaded. It's both an … [Read more...]

Ah, the next long, hot summer begins. Even if you didn't BBQ anything or drive to the shore to celebrate the arrival of the season, a three-day time out from the usual topics is an important reminder of how powerful a thing a mental break can be. Sure, we need to think super creatively about the challenges facing our field, but we sometimes also think about them from the same exact angle for too long and get a little buried in the muck of the details, no? We started playing with this idea over … [Read more...]