Archives for 2005

  In today’s New York Times (“Arts” section, page E12), there’s an ad for a Live from Lincoln Center telecast. It’s a New York Philharmonic performance, and the text of the ad (or at least the parts of it that matter) reads like this: Shaham’s Sibelius New York Philharmonic   Lorin Maazel, music director Gil Shaham, violin Violin virtuoso Gil Shaham joins maestro Lorin Maazel and the New York Philharmonic for a spectacular performance of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto. Also on the program—Thomas Stacy, english horn. So now let … [Read more...]

I’ve gotten a lot of warm comments on my “Authenticity” post, and they’re inspiring me to say something further, something I should have thought through more carefully. I was hasty, I think, in saying that the New York Philharmonic could have made its “Visions of the Beyond” more honest (more authentic) by arranging panel discussions, involving theologians, and so forth. Accessories are helpful, but still might not be convincing. The orchestra would have to do this for several years, most likely, before any large number of people believed … [Read more...]

Thanks to my wife, Anne Midgette, for that title. She ought to trademark it! And maybe Oprah ought to start promoting opera. Anne thinks so, and so does Jason Hibbard (his own blog is here), who e-mailed as follows, and is happy to have me post his thoughts: On your point about what Oprah might champion in the music world, opera seems a logical choice. It has a long, glamorous tradition, fabulous people who would make good interview guests (Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Rolando Villazon, etc.), and a text to provide an extra measure of … [Read more...]

[I've revised this a bit.] Oprah’s book club is reading William Faulkner this summer. Yes, Faulkner. Deep, serious, difficult stuff. You can go to Oprah's website to see this talked about lightly, but there’s nothing light about Oprah’s commitment. She’s urging three Faulkner books on her fans, As I Lay Dying (June’s selection), followed by The Sound and the Fury and Light in August. And on the website, she has Faulkner scholars answering readers’ questions. Bravo for Oprah. And this ought to have serious implications for classical … [Read more...]

Note that I've refurbished the items on the right-hand panel -- all the stuff about me, and about things you can read on the subjects I cover here. This last -- the "Resources" section -- I'll expand a lot, I hope, now that I have some free time. About me: Read the list of things I've been involved with this spring. I've been busy! One "Resources" link I've added is important: It points you to a study that will tell you how the Melbourne (Australia) Symphony attracted a younger audience. This comes from a chapter in Innovative Arts … [Read more...]

On the Cleveland Orchestra's website you can read the program note I wrote about Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. Or, rather, about what Franz Welser-Möst, the orchestra’s music director, thinks about the piece and tried to bring alive in his performance. (The link takes you to a PDF file, which you can’t read unless you have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. It’s a free program, which comes with most computers these days. If you don’t have it, go here. Note that the first two pages of the PDF are something Franz wrote. My own program note begins on … [Read more...]

Authenticity—as a component of marketing, as I discussed it in a recent post—is a powerful concept. If you want to make a new initiative seem plausible, the spirit of it has to permeate everything you do, or else people won’t believe you. Case in point: the New York Philharmonic’s February announcement of a series of concerts it called “Visions of the Beyond,” and whose purpose, the Philharmonic said, was “to explore symphonic portraits of existence beyond our own mortality.” And right away there’s a problem. The Philharmonic isn’t an … [Read more...]

From David Ezer, Conference and Events Manager at Chamber Music America, comes the following: Greg, Since you're blogging of late about copy, here's some brochure copy I just found, which I found remarkable for its being conversational, direct, and reflective of a history between presenter and audience. It has asides, quotes the artists, doesn't treat the art like its rarefied -- it may not be sober, but at least it's different and much more engaging than the basic stuff. http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/CulturalPrograms/fall.asp … [Read more...]

I’ve been reading a lot of business books lately, and one of them—Seth Godin’s All Marketers are Liars: The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World (the "liars" part of this title is partly ironic, by the way)—makes a striking point. Grodin says that marketing must be authentic. It has to tell a story that the product being marketed really does fulfill. If you run an airline, and you want people to believe that your flights are truly special, then they have to be. And not just the flights. Also the way you advertise, the way … [Read more...]

How to write a press release, I mean. Or some ideas in that direction, since I’ve been complaining about classical music press releases that are dumb and empty. A few principles: 1. Classical music is full of depth and intelligence. Press releases should reflect that. Not just state it, but reflect it with intelligence of their own. 2. The classical music audience is smart. So are the people we’d like to attract to classical music, along with people in the media we wish would pay attention. Another reason why press releases have to be … [Read more...]

A reader -- Tom Lowderbaugh -- e-mailed to support what I'd said about the Caramoor press release. His marvelous e-mail put it all better than I knew how to. Here, with his permission, is what he wrote: Your comments on the Caramoor release are entirely on target. Why - in God's name - would any reporter or editor reading that release want to learn more? Or feel a need to read more? This release contains exactly the kind of useless language that George Orwell condemned more than half a century ago. (Granted, Orwell was examining political … [Read more...]

Drew McManus has, all this month, been running things from a delightful assortment of people about taking a friend to an orchestra. This is in his blog, of course. I should have mentioned it, but May has been a crazy month for me, and I've barely done my own blog at all. But I'm back now, and I want to give Drew a plug. Besides, my own contribution is now up, so I'm remembering to plug it, as well. (I'm amazed at how often I forget to mention things I've written, or things I'm doing.) I'm afraid my thoughts for Drew were about why people … [Read more...]

So I just made all this fuss (below) about a press release for Caramoor. Someone may very well say, “Well, sure, the press release might not be very good, but does that really matter? How many people read it? The public doesn’t see it!” And of course that’s right. The public doesn’t see the empty press material that so many classical music institutions send out. But the same kind of language also shows up in season brochures and advertising, which the public does see. So it’s good to root it out wherever it is. Besides, one very crucial … [Read more...]

I've commented here from time to time on bad press releases, but here's one that makes me lose my patience. It arrived as an e-mail today: Hello, Caramoor International Music Festival’s 60th anniversary season begins on June 25th at 7 p.m. with Ode to Joy,  a joyous musical celebration featuring Beethoven’s immortal Ninth Symphony in the Venetian Theater. Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Peter Oundjian leads the all-Beethoven program featuring the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and The Collegiate Chorale, with Janice Chandler-Eteme, … [Read more...]

Life has been rich, full, and exhausting. I've neglected the blog, for which I apologize (and also for not being able, yet, to answer some of the terrific e-mail I've been getting). But a lot of good things have been happening. My students at Juilliard have done some astounding stuff, which I want to share here -- presentations about works in their repertoire, aimed at people who don't go to classical concerts, and plans for concerts to appeal to this new audience. My students just blew me away with their ideas, and their feelings. If the … [Read more...]