My Juilliard course this fall is well underway, and its title (slightly shortened for clarity) is “How to Speak and Write About Music.” We read descriptions of music, by critics and others. We practice describing music I play in class. And, in the spirit of entrepreneurship, we study press releases, bios, and program notes to see how they’re written. And — you knew this was coming, if you’ve read me on these subjects — how they could be written better. They do a terrible job, so many of them, describing the music they’re trying to … [Read more...]

There are new things you have to do now to publicize your work. This is something that most publicists, I fear, may not understand. But one of my former Juilliard students provides a good example of what needs to happen now. (He's given me permission to blog what he and I talked about — you could call it informal consulting — but asked me not to use his name.) What not to do My former student is a composer (whose music isn't only classical), and he has a new CD out. He asked me how he could publicize it, saying that the publicist he'd worked … [Read more...]

I'm going to reprint this right from my latest newsletter… I'm humbled by the response I've gotten from my consulting clients. I've been working with musicians, helping them build their careers, especially by focusing their branding, the ways they describe and promote themselves. And how they pitch themselves for gigs. I love doing this work, and I've felt that I've been helping. But then when Paul Haas — a unique meld of conductor, composer, and installation artist — sent me a testimonial, I almost fell down: If you’re willing to put in … [Read more...]

I'm often asked what I think the future of classical music will be. Here's a summary of what I think. It's been sitting quietly in the Resources section of my blog, but it's time to give it some bigger play. Here we go: I Classical music is in trouble, and there are well-known reasons why. We have an aging audience, falling ticket sales, and — in part because our audience is shrinking — persistent financial woes. And behind the numbers lies a deeper problem. Classical music has grown distant from our wider culture. We don’t connect well … [Read more...]

The talks at the important — and inspiring — DePauw School of Music Symposium — have started to stream. I gave the keynote, but that’s not as important to me as what others said. For instance, David Wallace, chair of the string department at the Berklee College of Music. What he said in his talk was life-changing. He showed us a new way to teach — in which the string department functions as a community, and every student can (and very likely does) work with every teacher. Across many genres, incorporating world music as well as everything … [Read more...]

Well, I think it’s thrilling that Bob Dylan won his Nobel prize. One of the most profound artists alive today. Someone who goes very deep in me. dylan-blog And I’m also thrilled because by choosing him the Nobel people validated something I’ve been talking about for quite a while — that art has migrated beyond the arts. “The arts” in this case being defined as an industry (made up of institutions offering high art) that claims to represent all art. But doesn’t, because art — and this started long ago — has migrated outside it. And is found all … [Read more...]

Four things the National Symphony could have done to bring diversity to the classical half of their season-opening gala: Instead of opening with Dvorak’s festive Carnival Overture, they could have opened  with the Festive Overture by William Grant Still, the leading African-American composer of the 20th century. Instead of Lang Lang, they could have had a black soloist. They could have started the concert not only with the "Star-Spangled Banner" (which they always play at their season opening), but also with "Lift Every Voice and Sing," an … [Read more...]

Let's agree, first, on one thing. A gala that opens a symphony orchestra’s season should feel like a gala. Should be fun and lively, with some glamour and glitz. But to create a gala like that, you have to do some planning. And — for their gala last Sunday — it seemed like the National Symphony didn't do that. Their problems First, the board chair. She come onstage after the first piece on the program, and the air went out of the show. Nothing against her — maybe she’s a fine board chair. But she’s not a public speaker. And apart from some … [Read more...]

Only one event at the seminal 21CMposium at DePauw University (see my last post) was in standard conference format — a panel discussion. That was deliberate, and was one reason the symposium was so pwerful. It presented conclusions, inspirations, action points. Rather than pondering big questions and not finding any answers. But that one panel… …was in a quiet way sensational. When Sarah Robinson (see my post) gave her presentation — about how she’d made a joyful career they didn’t prepare her for when she was a student — she was wearing … [Read more...]

A piece of mine will be played in the spring at a university. (More later on that.) The conductor and I were talking about how I might be there for the performance. I suggested a visit to the school, to do some of the speaking I've often done. Here are some things I suggested. Which, needless to say, I can do anywhere. Speak about the future of classical music Of course I do this all the time. Some things I talk about: We all know that classical music is in trouble, but the exact nature of the data isn’t well known. I can clarify … [Read more...]

…that I’ve ever been at… This was the DePauw School of Music 21Cymposium, held the weekend before last. I gave the keynote talk, but…later for that. What inspired me about this event wasn’t anything I said, but who I said it to: an audience of classical music changemakers. And, even more, the other presenters were inspiring. Like my friend Sarah Robinson. Someone who’s built a new kind of classical music career, starting with playing classical music in clubs. And who knows club gigs inside out, so much so that she wrote an essential book on … [Read more...]

I'm flying today -- so happy to say this! -- to DePauw University, where I'll take part in a big event at the School of Music. Their pathbreaking (as I'm sure it will be)  21CMPosium. And why that name? Because DePauw (as longtime readers here know) created a pathbreaking music curriculum, which they called 21CM, because it prepares students to be 21st century musicians. They've got a 21CM site, not so much about the curriculum, but instead an exploration of the ideas they've got. And which they promote from others. And now they're … [Read more...]

Updated to include links to my last post and to a recording of the music I'm writing about. And one comment added about what the harps play.  So, yesterday I blogged about how complex Wagner’s orchestration is in Götterdämmerung. Far more complex than it is in earlier Ring operas (apart from the last part of Siegfried). Today, a quirky orchestral detail. So quirky.Weird! Something I’m not sure would be audible in performance, and which, as I’ll explain, we most likely won’t get any chance to hear. How crazy is this? You might want to look … [Read more...]

And so, about Wagner’s orchestration… I’m back from vacation. Including two active weeks in England, where Rafa announced he’d like to stay “all day,” meaning forever. Here he is, looking at the landscape through binoculars, next to the ruins of an old barn, on a hillside. And yes, Wagner, Before I get back into future of classical music things on my blog — serious stuff — I wanted to extend my vacation in my mind, by talking about some things I found in the full orchestral score of Götterdämmerung. Maybe you remember how excited I was by … [Read more...]