Anticipating a New Life in Academia

At the same time, this will of course end my formal, professional association with the League of American Orchestras. I put it that way, using the words "formal, professional association," because I know that I will continue to have a relationship with the League--a relationship that began back in the late 1970s.  

The administrators at Roosevelt have encouraged me to continue to do some consulting for orchestras, and I hope to remain active on faculties of League seminars, panels, and at conferences.  

And for the time being at least, the League will continue to be the organizing point for this blog, which will remain focused largely but not exclusively on matters orchestral and will reflect my thoughts about orchestral music and orchestral organizations as they continue to be refined and developed by experience. I have also written in the past about music education, and I am sure that as I experience that world more fully, I will have thoughts that I'll want to share with you as well.

For about five years now I have been teaching a course at Roosevelt for students majoring in performance on orchestral instruments. Called Orchestral Studies, the course attempts to explain to those students how symphony orchestras work, how they're structured, how the money flows, what the realities of life are in orchestras both large and small.

The experience of teaching this course, of interacting with these bright young musicians, has developed in me an even stronger passion for music education than I used to have, and I am thrilled by the opportunity to work in this arena.