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America's struggling orchestras face a double need with a single obvious but controversial solution. The first need is to play fewer concerts. In countless communities, large and small, the concert supply outstrips demand. Orchestras are burdened with contractual obligations that compel them to produce - laboriously and expensively - concerts without a ready audience. … [Read more...] about Why Memphis Matters to Every American Orchestra

The recent Cleveland Orchestra strike has produced a flurry of commentaries about the financial woes of American orchestras and the impact of declining urban centers on declining audiences. A longer view and a larger picture will be pursued at the forthcoming "Orchestral Summit" at the University of Michigan. I remember when the annual conference of the American Symphony … [Read more...] about Looking Beyond the Cleveland Strike

As anyone who is a parent or teacher keenly appreciates, the cultural vocabulary people of my generation (b. 1948) once took for granted is fast disappearing. High school students and college freshmen can no longer be expected to know Marlene Dietrich, or Rodgers & Hammerstein, or Porgy and Bess. Such knowledge was once instilled at home, or via Life Magazine or the Ed Sullivan … [Read more...] about Dvorak Teacher-Training