Anne-Sophie Mutter was playing the gorgeous slow movement of the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra when she.... suddenly lowered her instrument and stopped playing. The conductor turned and stopped—and then the orchestra stopped. And ASM started speaking to a woman who was sitting in the front row: "Either you put your phone away or I … [Read more...] about Violin vs. Phone
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Artistic Resistance in Our America
This weekend, the conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane played with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra—a spectacular jazzy Ravel’s La Valse, with an achingly lovely middle movement. But it was his encore that was unforgettable. He bowed his head before starting, waited a moment, we anticipated. It took several notes to recognize with his slow start. Ah, America the … [Read more...] about Artistic Resistance in Our America
What We Liked in 2017
When Doug McLennan asked me to write a description for my blog that ArtsJournal would begin hosting in 2017, I thought about the topics which move me to spend time writing—the things that I feel sufficient passion to write about without compensation. There’s no employer, no client, no contract, and no deadline. Looking at the writing I’d been doing for my own blog at … [Read more...] about What We Liked in 2017
The Aspen Pipeline
Today, a man elected last November is othering United States citizens, POC in Puerto Rico. We should stand up to that because it's important to call out our outrage—even though he won't be likely to stop. There are places where we have the power to make a difference—and it's a big miss (at best) when we don't use it. Like.... We hear all the time that the classical … [Read more...] about The Aspen Pipeline
Deleting the Formal at Classical Concerts
Music first. It’s such a simple idea. Last night I went to a symphony choral event: the Cincinnati May Festival with the symphony, a huge chorus, and some soloists. As we took our seats, the players were already onstage, as usual. We noticed the chorus filing onstage, a few minutes later the soloists wandered on too, then the concertmaster, and finally the … [Read more...] about Deleting the Formal at Classical Concerts