Archives for November 2009

The New York Philharmonic is hosting a "Bloggers' Night" for their CONTACT! new music series on December 17th at Symphony Space. The evening promises free booze, specifically Finlandia Vodka in honor of composer-in-residence Magnus Lindberg (one hopes we would have gotten PBRs or "Natty Light" if it was an American composer-in-residence), and the opportunity to hang with the artists after the concert. Blog posts about CONTACT! will be aggregated on WNYC/WQXR's new Q2 website. I have an e mail in to the Philharmonic's press office asking whether … [Read more...]

I figured you'd all want my expert publicist opinion on Cameron Poole and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Here goes: one of your employees stealing £560,000 from your publicly-funded organization makes for Bad Publicity. And that's why they pay me the medium-sized bucks. But who couldn't love this headline?Orchestra boss 'on the fiddle to the tune of £560,000 to fund luxury lifestyle' Or this chipmunk-cheek probably-from-Facebook photo?I mean, really? The Daily Mail couldn't find a more official image? If any of my clients started stealing … [Read more...]

Though I have previously complained about people e mailing me personally with items that they should really post as comments, I have to admit that my afternoon was made when I received a personal phone call comment from Leila Getz at the Vancouver Recital Society. She said she had read yesterday's post on concerts being promoted as special events, and noticed that she actually uses the word "special" in her marketing materials. "And why am I telling my audience that one concert is more special than another??" she asked. She also pointed out … [Read more...]

It was cold, wet and windy in Manhattan on Friday night. I probably should have gone to see the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, but what I really wanted to do was dust on the minimum mineral make-up required to be viewed in public, garb myself in some kind of fashionably bulky wool and go to dinner with a friend I've known since we were 12. As usual, my old stand by Dinosaur BBQ was booked solid on a Friday night, so with an amazing quickness, seeing one of, if not the, best orchestras in the world at one of, if not the, best halls in the … [Read more...]

I'll be stepping in for someone on an OPERA America "Making Connections" panel tomorrow night, Shock of the Day being that the panel is on social media. My co-panelists are Brian Dickie, General Director of Chicago Opera Theater, and Erik Gensler, president of Capacity Interactive, both of whom are Famous on the Interweb. Here's the information:When: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., followed by a reception that I won't be at because I'll be at **DREAMGIRLS** at the Apollo. Where: 330 Seventh Avenue, 16th floor (at 29th Street) Fees: $5 for members/$10 … [Read more...]

A few awkward publicist things on a gloomy Wednesday!First, a journalist forwarded the following (amazing) press release the other day:Susan Boyle will return to the states this month to perform the title track off her forthcoming album 'I Dreamed a Dream' (Columbia) on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" on November 10. Then, to celebrate the album's global release, on November 23rd, Boyle will make her live morning TV debut singing "TK" on NBC's "Today Show." (FRAN - Can you confirm the song?)Produced by Steve Mac (Leona Lewis, Kelly Clarkson), … [Read more...]

I went to WhiskyFest NY with my dad last night (because WhiskyFest is the new Bronx Zoo?).  This photo is blurry, but you may notice the crowd at the Marriott Marquis last night bears an uncanny resemblance to Lincoln Center's "Mostly Mozart" soloists:I wonder how my Cecilia Bartoli castrato CDs would have sold there. … [Read more...]

First, a story: Once upon a time, there lived a fair(ly) young princess who blogged about classical music PR from her Happily Ever Harlem tower. On one particular morning, she used a word to describe a Dragon of Industry that angered him. In retrospect, a less cavalier synonym would have conveyed her point, but it was too late: the Evil Wizard Internet had swept up the post and the Google Alert Fairy had delivered The Word to everyone who would read it. Now the Dragon protects his cave, because the Blog Princess cannot be trusted and may … [Read more...]

From the Globe and Mail, headline: "COC Boss Scoops his Own Publicist": The Canadian Opera Company is usually tight-lipped about its plans beyond the current season. I thought the tradition would continue under Alexander Neef, the diplomatic young German who took over as the Toronto company's general director last year. Boy, was I wrong. Neef's blog on the COC website is chock full of hints, tips and informal announcements about his agenda for future seasons, including the following..."He's interested in giving some hints along the way," says … [Read more...]

I've been working on two ridiculous things. You know how CD release concerts are usually/mostly boring? Or at the very least, exactly the same as the last one you went to? Right, so, next week and the following week, two people I work for are mixing it up a bit. Both these events are free as birds.  On Tuesday November 10th, Cantaloupe Music is releasing composer Julia Wolfe's Dark Full Ride: Music in Multiples. To celebrate, there will be a series of free performances around Manhattan. Does everyone remember the amazing Angel Project from … [Read more...]

My client Eric Owens had a recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall last spring. Typically, I was doing seventeen things at once, two of which were working with Carnegie's Creative Services department on Eric's program and e mailing Hilary Hahn a photo of a dog wearing a yarmulke. No particular reason for that latter task.The person I was working with at Carnegie asked which photo of Eric I wanted in the program. I cut and pasted the URL of a recent photo of Eric from the IMG Artists website and sent it off to him. I received an e mail back … [Read more...]

Let me first say that I hope this blog entry doesn't ruin my sister's chances of marrying Jorge Posada. I noticed these Jorge Posada/Mayor Bloomberg ads on The Awl last Tuesday. "Did they press 'submit' on those ads the as soon as Posada caught that last Rivera pitch on Monday night?" I wondered. Some deft Google work on my part determined that no, the ads had been running since the end of September, neatly timed with the release of Posada and Mrs. Posada's (err...sorry, Aliza) book. New York Magazine reports that jointly, the Posadae endorse … [Read more...]

Maybe I was sleepy, but last night I was actually convinced Mel Gibson had named his new child "Media" and I thought, how amazing is that! Stick it to the press! Upon closer reading, I think ABC News just wrote a bad headline. … [Read more...]

As you may (or may not) have read, I signed up for that coy mistress Twitter a couple weeks back. Here's me, tweeting my life ((career)) away. I joined for the sake of research for this blog, but am actually rather liking it as an information conduit. It's much easier to read than my current Bloglines sprawl, and since I'm fortunate enough to have smart, funny friends, I enjoy their updates throughout the day. In the interest of full disclosure, though, you should know that I've chosen to unfollow my die hard Phillies phan of an ex boyfriend … [Read more...]