Wow! What an amazing thing! A symphony orchestra comprised of musicians around the world selected through video auditions posted on YouTube!
This is an absolutely wonderful thing! Our youth today spend countless hours online, and many of those hours are spent watching YouTube videos. While the ensemble itself is a fantastic group, just the fact that the process of audition and selection are now visible to the entire world. Now anyone can see the work that dedicated musicians put into making their passion enjoyable for the entire world and their dreams come true. The countless hours spent in the practice room now can be seen by today's youth through video auditions, instead of inferred by the aging audience of our major orchestras.
This orchestra can undoubtedly help to reintroduce classical music to youth of today, and show the world just how much a musician cares.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Public Schools
I feel that the underfunding of music in the public schools is detrimental to the survival of classical music in the world. Many school music programs fall every year to budget cuts, seemingly because many educators don't recognize that music is an immense part of our society and that it is just as important to the education of the nations children as math, science, and literature. Literature itself is an art form, no?
Perhaps the underfunding of the arts in public schools is just another side effect of the current deplorable state of our public school system. Public schools must be defended, as well as the appreciation of the arts which should be fostered within their walls.
Perhaps the underfunding of the arts in public schools is just another side effect of the current deplorable state of our public school system. Public schools must be defended, as well as the appreciation of the arts which should be fostered within their walls.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Sincerity
In addition to the previous post, this immersion of community orchestras into the massive masterpieces once thought to be reserved for only the major orchestras restores a sense of sincerity to this struggling art form.
Now that one can go to a concert just a block from ones house and watch their neighbor play a masterpiece that normally one would have to will help to bring this music back into the spotlight and may help reverse the major orchestras ticket sales woes. This is a fantastic thing to emerge from this terrible slump in the industry. It may not be long before the symphony is one of the hottest concerts in town.
Now that one can go to a concert just a block from ones house and watch their neighbor play a masterpiece that normally one would have to will help to bring this music back into the spotlight and may help reverse the major orchestras ticket sales woes. This is a fantastic thing to emerge from this terrible slump in the industry. It may not be long before the symphony is one of the hottest concerts in town.
The Burden
This past Thursday I was in rehearsal for a performance of Mahler's epic 5th Symphony. Prior to beginning rehearsal, the maestro commended us for how well we were learning the piece. He also spoke to us in regard to the magnitude of what responsibility we had assumed.
Responsibility? Interesting.
This is a community orchestra, not a massive major orchestra that is seen by many thousands of people throughout the world. However, with the industry in such a slump (Cleveland Orchestra strike in 2008, the near-death experience of the Columbus Symphony, and the recent Detroit Symphony strike), many of these orchestras cannot afford to perform the massive and beloved masterworks like Mahler's 5th, Mahler's 2nd, Wagner's Operas, and the many other works we know and love. The burden of performing these works and continually introducing the public to these fantastic works falls on the shoulders of the community orchestras and may continue to fall on their shoulders.
This is quite interesting. We may now see many more of these community orchestra playing massive works to the community and exposing more people to the magnificent masterpieces that they not get to see played by major orchestras in the next few years.
Responsibility? Interesting.
This is a community orchestra, not a massive major orchestra that is seen by many thousands of people throughout the world. However, with the industry in such a slump (Cleveland Orchestra strike in 2008, the near-death experience of the Columbus Symphony, and the recent Detroit Symphony strike), many of these orchestras cannot afford to perform the massive and beloved masterworks like Mahler's 5th, Mahler's 2nd, Wagner's Operas, and the many other works we know and love. The burden of performing these works and continually introducing the public to these fantastic works falls on the shoulders of the community orchestras and may continue to fall on their shoulders.
This is quite interesting. We may now see many more of these community orchestra playing massive works to the community and exposing more people to the magnificent masterpieces that they not get to see played by major orchestras in the next few years.
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