Search Results for: shostakovich in south dakota

The Creekside Singers performing with the South Dakota Symphony “There’s just a tremendous amount of caution, a tremendous amount of groupthink, in the orchestra world. So to see an orchestra really out on its own, forging its own identity, and bringing its audience along with it is just extremely impressive – even more impressive than I anticipated.” That’s Alex Ross, … [Read more...] about “Drastically revising our idea of who a music director is” — The South Dakota Symphony on NPR

There was a time – the 1990s, when I was running the Brooklyn Philharmonic at BAM – when the practice of speaking from the stage at symphonic concerts was controversial, both among audiences and orchestra leaders. And people debated whether or not thematic programing was a good thing.  Those days are finally over. But the next step – fundamentally re-thinking the … [Read more...] about Re-Thinking the Concert Experience in South Dakota and Minnesota

Since 2010 I have administered Music Unwound, a national consortium of orchestras and educational institutions funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. I assume that Music Unwound no longer exists – nor does more than $150,000 in Congressionally approved MU funding as yet unspent. To my knowledge, there has been no formal notification. The forces in play are … [Read more...] about R. I. P. : The National Endowment for the Humanities (1965-2025)

Delta David Gier conducts the Creekside Singers and members of the South Dakota Symphony in Derek Bermel’s “Lakota Refrains” [Photo credit: Dave Eggen/Inertia/South Dakota Symphony]  The topic of my latest “More than Music” program on NPR is the South Dakota Symphony’s Lakota Music Project. The last military engagement between United States troops and Native … [Read more...] about The Lakota Music Project vs. “Rootlessness” Today

Esa-Pekka Salonen Among my most-read blogs is “What’s An Orchestra For?" – Mulling Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Resignation from the San Francisco Symphony.” I posted it on March 26, 2024, and it still attracts readers practically every day. The topic is the abrupt departure of a genuine music director propagating a tangible and timely artistic vision. I wrote that this … [Read more...] about What’s An Orchestra For? – Mulling Salonen’s Resignation and a Dispiriting San Francisco Sequel