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...]

I'm working on the US press for the new Cecilia Bartoli album, Sacrificium, which not unlike Michael Jackson's new album, came out this week. Buy it here to support this blog. Just kidding: album sales have nothing to do with this blog, but it's a good album so buy it anyway. Somewhere along the line we came up with the idea for a "virtual archeological dig," and today the thing actually happened. SO, La Cieca over at parterre.com kicks things off. Follow the clues to 8 other sites and answer questions to reveal puzzle pieces here. Last clue is … [Read more...]

So this happened: Kanye West mentions (cute and good) Norwegian pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on his blog. Here are the comments:No one ever comments about "all that coke" on Life's a Pitch. Lame, team. Lame.Let's just hope this doesn't go to LOA's head. His management probably doesn't want him showing up two hours late to summer festivals. … [Read more...]

We have this thing "Site Meter"--which is exactly what it sounds like--set up for our ArtsJournal blogs, so we can see how many people are reading us, from where, at what time, so on, so forth.One of the intriguing aspects of Site Meter is that I can see what people have Googled to get to me. "Amanda Ameer" Google Image searches crop up every once and a while and totally creep me out, but most Google searches that get you to home sweet Life's a Pitch are "how to find a publicist," "classical music publicity," etc.. This one, in addition to the … [Read more...]

I carry around big purses a lot, so sometimes I'll see a cute dog on the street and actually think I can scoop him or her up, mush him or her into the bag with my computer, lip plumper and blotting tissue, and continue on my way. These are the things that drift through my head, and for a split second I'm certain I can pull the off the dog heist without getting arrested. If I suddenly stop blogging, it probably means I've actually done it and, in fact, gotten arrested; apologies in advance. I lugged this white leather and plastic Jill Stuart … [Read more...]

Knowing my penchant for quotes, my friend Abigail sent this over this afternoon from Bloomberg News: [Clive] Gillinson, who came from the London Symphony Orchestra in 2005, made less in 2007-08 than two other New York performing- arts leaders with more complex tasks. Lincoln Center President Reynold Levy made $1.1 million to oversee a 16-acre complex that houses 12 resident companies. Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb earned $1.5 million to produce 219 opera performances...Gillinson oversees management, raises money and … [Read more...]