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Less is lessNews: How many professional musicians can you cut? How many rehearsals can you take away? Link to a NYT article.
How many professional musicians can you cut? How many rehearsals can you take away? How many educational programs can you pare back? How many artist performers can you do without? And then, what's left? Here is a New York Times article about the budget-trimming efforts among orchestras in the New York area, and how it affects musicians' livelihoods, the music-making process, and the final result.
From Marina Fragoulis
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 04:51 PM It's chilling to think that I can't remember the last time I played in a fully orchestrated gig. There's usually less than half the string section needed and the 1 percussion player gets a full aerobic workout at the 1 rehearsal he/she is allowed to come for. Wind players are carrying multiple instruments with them, and some conductors even re-orchestrate music for less brass. Many orchestras I know are cutting back players, scaling back concerts, replacing at least one symphonic concert per season with an all-strings program instead, and worst of all: cutting rehearsal time. That means that we have to work at anxious pace during rehearsals and performing with less confidence than we need. Personally I've never had so many rehearsals run 5-20 minutes past the end of rehearsal time without massive uproar, which means we're putting in extra effort and time and still feeling nervous. Large scale works are also taking a back seat. I've been playing a lot of lesser-known works for smaller orchestrations. It's hard to say when smaller budget orchestras are going to be able to play Mahler, Sheherazade, or Requiems again. From Emily Grossman
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 07:20 PM I got cut this month, thanks. From Tom Holzman
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 08:15 PM Emily - Oy! I am sorry to hear that. From Ray Randall
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 09:06 PM I'm so very sorry. Hang in there. From Emily Grossman
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 09:52 PM Ah, didn't make much money there anyway. They may use me again in the future, but until then, I'll probably accept a few more students. I really do like playing symphony music, though. From E. Smith
Posted on March 23, 2009 at 10:52 PM [Sometimes other people use my computer...] The NYT article was very thought-provoking. I read it yesterday sitting in a freezing cold car outside my daughter's viola lesson. Thanks for posting it, Laurie. I'm interested to hear what those in the trenches have to say about, for example, the orchestra managements' responses. From Royce Faina
Posted on March 26, 2009 at 03:00 PM Emily- There will be better horizons! It's their loss! you are in my thoughts. royce |
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