nick @ myorch

READ

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:53:00 +0000

Clarke Childhood's End
Block Amy Beach
Burnett-James Sibelius
Engler Nick Engler's Wood Working Wisdom
Wynne I Was Vermeer

AMBROSE PIERCE

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:49:00 +0000

"Bore, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen."
The Cynic's Word Book (1906)

JUST DO IT!

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:35:00 +0000

Our recently posted remix contest is getting international attention. Yeah - YOU - MYO members are being heard around the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Our hits on our web site have dramatically increased and it is being announced in various rags and webs everywhere. WAY TO GO MYO and thank you Michael Fernandez and our sound engineer, Jon Horton. BRAVO!

AMBROSE BIERCE

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:33:00 +0000

"Achievement, n. The death of endeavor and the birth of disgust."
The Cynic's Word Book (1906)

KUDOS

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:16:00 +0000

Are extended to AYO member, Peter Leitten. Peter was accepted into the Bard Conducting Seminar for the summer. Way to go, Peter!

KUDOS

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:16:00 +0000

Are extended to MYO member, Peter Leitten. Peter was accepted into the Bard Conducting Seminar for the summer. Way to go, Peter!

THE LATEST

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:27:00 +0000

Sunday's vote determined that guys will wear jackets and ties. Ladies B&B or W&B. This is for the AJHofF concert 5/11. Danke!

The prize for the remix contest was set at $250. Cold, hard cash!

There will be a MYO rehearsal Sunday 4/27. S U there!

AMBROSE BIERCE

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:19:00 +0000

"Admiration, n. Our polite recognition of another's resemblance to ourselves."
The Cynic's Word Book (1906)

Hono-LULU

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 14:16:00 +0000

In today’s (4/18) Honolulu Advertiser, Loren Moreno reports that the Honolulu Symphony owes musicians and staffers more than seven weeks of pay. “Last December, symphony officials disclosed that 83 musicians and other staff members were forgoing pay checks as a result of decreased ticket sales and increased expenses. At the time, however, officials were convinced that several large private donations and Legislative support would help turn the tide. But with just weeks left in the symphony’s 2007-08 season, officials say the century-old institution needs $1.5 million to $2 million to pull itself out of debt. … Musicians have made unofficial agreements with management to continue to play through the end of the season, even if pay is delayed, said Paul Barrett, chairman of the orchestra committee and principal bassoonist.” A request for $810,000 in emergency funding from the state didn’t come through, so the orchestra is now lobbying for that money in the form of a grant, but some lawmakers are skeptical. Financial troubles are also due in large measure to a tour of The Lion King, which pushed the orchestra out of its normal venue, Blaisdell Concert Hall, increasing costs. “The symphony will need at least $750,000 by the end of the fiscal year to pay back what is owed in payroll, [Spokeswoman Kristin] Jackson said.” Nonetheless, musicians and staff members remain positive.

Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:17:00 +0000

"My mind to me a kingdom is."
In Praise of a Contented Mind

L8 Readings

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Katz Mastering Audio
Garden To My Best Friend
Bradbury Farenheit 451
Michener Space
Ambrose D-Day

OVID

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:47:00 +0000

"Time the devourer of everything."Metamorphoses bk. 15, l. 234

CELLISTS TOO?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:32:00 +0000

Metalhead cellists

“If you think a cello ranks somewhere between a bassoon and a glockenspiel on the list of instruments to rock out to, you haven’t heard Apocalyptica,” writes Maxine Shen in Tuesday’s (4/15) New York Post. “The trio of classically trained cellists—who attended Finland’s prestigious Sibelius Academy—head-bang their way through songs heavy enough to give modern metal acts a run for their money. Oh, and there’s also a drummer. … To imitate guitars, bass and even vocals, Apocalyptica invented its own way to play the traditionally melancholy-sounding instrument, because ‘playing riffs is hard to do with the purely classical technique,’ [the group’s primary songwriter Eicca] Toppinen says. Ultimately though, ‘the main change is in the attitude, the way we handle the instruments,’ he says, referring to how he and his fellow cellists stand, strut and run around stage while playing delicate, wooden celli.” Most fans of the group discovered them after their 1996 album of four cellos covering Metallica songs. Since then, they’ve lost one cellist and added a drummer. The group’s new album of original music (some songs with vocals), came out Tuesday and is titled “Worlds Collide.”

CHARLES EDWARD MONTAGUE

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:26:00 +0000

"There is no limit to what a man can do so long as he does not care who gets the credit for it"
Disenchantment ch. 15 (1922)

FROM ASHVILLE

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:24:00 +0000

In Wednesday’s (4/9) Asheville Citizen-Times (North Carolina), Fred Meyer writes about the impact an Asheville Symphony Orchestra program is having on local schoolchildren. The highlight was a composition by Richard Danielpour titled “Pastime,” based on poems by Michael S. Harper; the poems and Danielpour’s score take inspiration from the Negro Baseball Leagues. Teachers state that while students “had previously studied the history of civil rights and integration, the study of the Negro Baseball League allowed them to view the players’ lives in a much more personal way. A number of children who had previously not been interested in reading are now actively engaged in it, [teacher Nicole] Kintz said. She also found that class members became very supportive of one another in the process of writing for the [accompanying] poetry contest. Lisa Sessions said her … students also realized a much more personal connection to the civil rights movement, especially when they understood the Asheville connection to many of the events of that era. The stories of the players’ experiences brought home the reality of segregation in a manner few within the class had previously experienced.”

FROM BALTIMORE

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:24:00 +0000

In today’s (4/10) Washington Post, Julie Rasicot writes, “The gymnasium at Fallsmead Elementary School in Rockville took on the sounds of a concert hall as nearly 85 fourth-graders lifted their recorders to join a trio of oboists from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.” The trio, making its second visit this year, includes Katherine Needleman, Michael Lisicky, and Sandy Lisicky. “The program is part of the BSO On-the-Go education outreach initiative in county schools. The free program, started last April, brings small groups of BSO musicians into schools for classroom-based music instruction. This year, musicians have made 77 appearances at 38 county schools. … The trio had first visited March 3 to present Themes and Variations, a special program this year in which musicians visit five county schools to introduce a musical theme and leave sheet music for students to learn on recorders with their music teacher. The musicians then return to play the music with the students in front of the student body.”

MYO Rehearsal Schedule

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:37:00 +0000

2-3 Beethoven - Sym. 5 and Prometheus
3-3:45 Smoke "Variations" and "Mambo"
3:45 Special "FUN TIME" in honor of the beginning

I promise you don't want to miss this one!

Mr. Greene

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:36:00 +0000

"Learn to earn."
Principal, Hill Elementary School, Birmingham, AL

COLORS - WHAT IF?

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:35:00 +0000

On Tuesday (4/8) at Wired.com, blogger Eliot Van Buskirk reports that the music site Guitarati “unveiled its dramatically different method for organizing music Tuesday and it turns out to be ... color. … Guitarati, which launched its public beta Tuesday, assigns one of a set number of hues to each MP3 uploaded to the site. To find music that suits your current mood, you first decide which color best represents it. Clicking on the color ostensibly brings up music that fits your state of mind. While browsing any color, you can switch to a shade lighter or darker, narrow your focus by genre or change to an entirely new color. Listeners can hear free samples, pay 1 cent to hear a full song stream or download MP3s for whatever price was set by the artists who have been uploading their MP3s to the site.”

NOT NOW

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:34:00 +0000

“A German orchestra has dropped a composition from its programme after its members claimed the music was so loud that it gave them ear problems and headaches,” writes Kate Connolly Berlin in today’s (4/9) Guardian (London). “The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (BR) said it had little choice but to drop the world premiere of Swedish-Israeli composer Dror Feiler’s Halat Hisar (State of Siege), from a concert because it was ‘adverse to the health’ of its musicians. Members of the 100-strong orchestra said they could only contemplate playing the piece wearing headphones, after several suffered buzzing in the ears for hours after rehearsals. The 20-minute composition starts with the rattle of machine-gun fire and gets louder.” The orchestra’s manager, Trygve Nordwall, “was guided by new EU rules that forbid more than 85 decibels in the workplace. He said readings were taken during rehearsals and even when toned down, Halat Hisar measured about 130 decibels, equivalent to hearing a jet aircraft taking off.”

IT'S TOO LOUD

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:08:00 +0000

UK orchestras prepare to reduce decibels

In today’s (4/4) Times (London), Debra Craine reports that orchestras and opera and ballet companies across the UK are preparing “for amendments to EU legislation relating to noise in the workplace. For most industries the regulations came into effect two years ago, but music and entertainment were granted an extra two years to find ways to adapt to the limits. That extension expires on Sunday, and orchestral managers have been thrown into a tailspin.” They’ve been consulting acousticians and rearranging schedules in the hopes of addressing the issue before the regulations come into effect. “And all without leaving audiences feeling that their musical night out has been compromised as a result. The regulations are designed to protect factory workers and other employees forced to carry out their jobs against a backdrop of loudly humming machinery. The irony is that for orchestras noise is their business, which makes it doubly tricky for them to function within the EU directive, especially when a Swan Lake clocks in at 90 decibels. … Those most at risk are the ones whose careers are spent in the orchestra pit, where more than 100 players can be crammed into a confined space with sound reverberating around them in a kind of sonic trench.”

MUDDY WATERS

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:44:00 +0000

"Got My Mojo Workin'"
Song Title

JOHN MAYER

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 12:44:00 +0000

In Saturday’s (4/5) Connecticut Post Online (Bridgeport), Phyllis A.S. Boros writes about the strings program at Waltersville School. “Although Waltersville—a kindergarten through sixth-grade facility—may be one of Bridgeport’s least affluent schools, it’s certainly among the richest in spirit—thanks in part to Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter John Mayer and the Music and Arts Center for Humanity [MACH]. Mayer’s Back to You Fund, administered by the Wilton-based Fairfield County Community Foundation, has provided $22,000 for the 2007-08 academic year for MACH’s Music Zone strings program, established in 2002 at Waltersville and Luis Munoz Marin schools. … Music Zone provides weekly small-group lessons on cello, violin or viola by two MACH-employed music teachers during school hours for about 80 children in kindergarten through sixth grade. (The program at Marin school is on hiatus, but is expected to be revived next year.) MACH, a Bridgeport nonprofit arts school, offers various after-school programs and summer camps for inner-city children, the economically disadvantaged, at-risk youth, special-needs students, children in foster homes and the handicapped, along with ‘general population’ students and the artistically gifted.” Miriam Giannone, a violinist with the Greater Bridgeport Symphony who works with MACH, notes, “Music develops the mind, concentration and coordination and improves socialization skills.”

Readings

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:53:00 +0000

Persichetti 20th Century Harmony
Asimov Foundation
Pastorius The Essential Jaco Pastorius
Remini The Life of Andrew Jackson
St. John Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington

noreply@blogger.com (Nick) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:50:00 +0000

"Jazz was like the kind of man you wouldn't want your daughter to associate with."
N. Y. Times Magazine, 12 September 1965.