Mark Likes Music

It's not the music you necessarily associate with the Appalachians, but today t he annual Moogfest kicks off in Asheville, North Carolina . Massive Attack will be there; so will Big Boi, and even a couple of members of Devo. What's a Moog? Why a Moogfest? Here's a video:

Sophia Ahmad posted her wrap-up on the NEA's Arts Journalism in Classical Music and Opera on the Des Moines Register website yesterday, a ten-day workshop with a couple of buddies of mine: Joe Horowitz and my colleague at Carnegie, Gino Francesconi. If the takeaway was "Speak your mind, support it well," I suggest that Ahmad--and all journalists--amend the mantra to include another line: "Expand your mind, and don't stop learning."

The Detroit News reported today that Detroit Symphony Orchestra management hired a lawyer to disuade local station WADL-TV from broadcasting a concert by striking musicians last weekend. And  the Wall Street Journal published a piece on the sad state of the Detroit orchestra . A few points stuck out for me that underscore just how out of touch everyone in that orchestra has been for years: Since 2008, the Detroit Symphony has cut 30 managerial positions.   The base pay for musicians entering the group was $104,650--and a pension and health insurance.  The orchestra was $9 million in the hole last season, and were $10 million in the red in each of the previous two seasons. They owe $50 million in interest alone.  This is the fifth DSO strike since 1969.  It looks as if a lot of people in that organization--and the board has to take a hit here too--weren't keeping watch, and were deluded about the state of the orchestra and the city as a whole. It's not ...

I was thinking of going to Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake’ at City Center, but then I read on NYTimes.com that the production was using recorded music. I can't go for that. I really miss having a live band with dance. Of course, the local American Federation of Musicians agrees. They demonstrated against City Center, handing out leaflets: "There is no music tonight" and "This is going to be a fake performance," they said. Is this really the best the union can do? In a sensible, oganized, adult way, AF of M needs to start making the case for music. This doesn't cut it.

As reported on dfw.com today, the Fort Worth Symphony contract negotiations are growing contentious . The musicians, who have been without a contract since August 1, silently protested management's proposed cuts on stage last weekend, although most audience members probably missed its significance. Which is part of the point: it sounds as if the Fort Worth community just doesn't care very much. Concert sales are down $120,000, and the orchestra had to cancel a number of concerts this year. The municipal arts council sharply cut its funding as well. The musicians are probably, as orchestra president Andrea Koonsman notes, out of touch with financial realities (including the lack of community support), but it's also worth looking at the way she and her team has overseen things. Last year, the orchestra lost $242,000 on a $11.9 million budget, according to the article. And they're paying their music director over $300,000.

Stereogum pointed out just how often that Train song "Hey Soul Sister" has been used in commercials .

The sad orchestral situation in Detroit just got worse this past weekend, when Sarah Chang announced that, because of an outcry from striking Detroit Symphony musicians, she would not perform her recital  scheduled for tonight. According to Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press, she also received offensive and threatening e-mails from the musicians' supporters . The musicians are publicly claiming that the cancelation shows that Chang is demonstrating her solidarity with them, but it sure looks like intimidation. And a missed chance to creatively make their case to the public (who, after all, are the donors and concertgoers that help pay their salaries). Chang scheduled the recital when her appearances with the orchestra were canceled as a result of the strike. She wanted the money made off the concert to go to the musicians' pensions fund, showing that she was at least a little sympathetic. Trying to enlist her as an ally--to pressure orchestra management, to make publi...