Interchanging Idioms

The danger in getting news from Fox News is the perception that what you hear is the truth. In April 2015, the CEO of Fox News admits they are not in the news business, but in the entertainment business.  Fox News is registered with the FCC, not as news, but as entertainment.  There are a number of reasons for this, one being entertainment programming outperforms news programming. So, in terms of advertising dollars, Fox News does better as entertainment. But, another aspect of being entertainment rather than being news is the requirements set by the FCC. The FCC requires news outlets to be able to substantiate 45% of their news content. This means they have to employ staff to find the sources to corroborate what they report as fact on their broadcast. By not registering as news, Fox can do away with the staffing needs to substantiate what they say. This doesn't mean what they say isn't true, they just haven't done the due diligence to back it up. According to the 2006...

Dear Mr Graham, You say, “Our prayers are with the families of the victims and the people of Charleston. We are all heartbroken by this tragedy,” but I don’t believe you. You made a joke about shooting Bernie Saunders with an interview on MSNBC. You thought imagining the skeet was Bernie Saunders was a good idea, a funny joke - but in truth your joke just allows people like Dylann Storm Roof to justify their actions. You say the Confederate Flag is part of who we are - and it is part of what made Dylann feel his actions were acceptable. YOU need to start forcing a change in South Carolina--and yourself. You need to ask yourself just how much your own actions contributed. You're a public figure and so people like Dylann listen to you, respect you and take what you say to heart. YOU may have been joking about shooting Bernie, but what if one (just ONE) of your listeners felt you meant it? YOU feel proud to wave the Confederate Flag, but what if just ONE of those sensing yo...

There is more to orchestras balancing their books than just selling more tickets It is hardly news anymore to hear of an orchestra struggling to balance their budget. Atlanta musicians are locked out for the 2nd time in two years over contract negotiations - the musicians have been asked to take yet another pay cut. The Philadelphia Orchestra declared bankruptcy a couple of years ago. Colorado Symphony has been operating with a deficit for years. These are not isolated examples. When ever the news reports the demise of an orchestra, there are a half dozen articles that pop up to discussing what changes need to be made in order for orchestras to be profitable again: - raise ticket prices to cover costs - lower ticket prices to get more people into the concert hall - program new music - program old music - attract a younger audience - better leverage the existing audience (particularly the donor base) The list goes on and on, yet the real problem is: based on the  typ...

Symphonies are becoming increasingly aware that the average age of their patrons and ticket buyers are aging, with no real increase in getting a younger generation of symphony goers to replace them. Why??? It comes down to how we communicate with this younger generation. If your concert hall does not have people under the age of 35, it is because of the culture you have established. They do not feel comfortable in your hall and until they do, they have no desire to attend your concerts.  This is, of course, a generalization, but overall, people under the age of 35 have a few things in common that we need to be aware of in order to effectively market to them. There are roughly 79 million Millennials in the United States—25 percent of the population. The Millennials exceed the number of Baby Boomers (often their parents) by about 3 million. They have been through two recessions: one at the beginning of the millennium, another in the great recession caused by the mortgage c...

Taking a page of music from today to create music that fits with a modern audience When Bach wrote multi-movement works, he used dances of the day as a basis, a framework for this music. Moving further back there are numerous examples of composers using "popular" tunes folded into religious works so listeners would hear familiar elements in the music of the church, adding layers of meaning and pleasure for all involved. Mozart and Haydn framed their music with styles popular in their day. Beethoven and Liszt were performers as well as composers, getting rave reviews from their improvisational styles, which (again) echoed music of the day. All of these composers took the music of their day and made it something more, but they started with the familiar, with the current music of the day. We do have examples of this same sort of treatment. Lee Johnson wrote the "Dead Symphony No. 6" as a tribute to the Grateful Dead. There if FuGaGa (Lady Gaga Fugue) by Larry Moo...

Musicians lead busy lives, particularly classical musicians. It takes hours and hours (and hours) of practice to hone our craft, to really be at the top of our game. Add to that many classical musicians juggle multiple jobs, from teaching students, to random gigs and large ensemble rehearsals just to make ends meet. Time is at a premium for many of them, so when do they have the chance to be a fan? When are they suppose to spend time on Facebook and Twitter talking about what their ensemble is up to? However, many musicians are on Facebook and Twitter, thousands of them! They are talking about their lives just like everyone else. The root for their favorite teams, share recipes, post pictures of their travels - but seldom do they talk about the organization they play for. Knowing a lot musicians, connecting with them on Facebook and Twitter, and talking to them on (and off) line, I believe there is a culture in the American orchestra that stifles musicians from sharing their passion ...

And why we need to change the preception of new classical music A hundred years ago classical music was going through growing pains. It had been in a 'Romantic' style of music since Beethoven premiered his 3rd symphony in 1805. Composers of the early 20th century were looking for something new, to make a change from the previous hundred years. Society was also going through changes from the industrial age to the age of steel. New inventions for the home and for the battle field were flooding Patent Offices - a new world was dawning. Some of these changes lead to two world wars and the invention of nuclear weapons which many still consider the ultimate deterrent. Now, in the 21st century, we are discovering a new kind of warfare - terrorism. While the 20th century saw drastic changes in the way we wage war, it also brought changes to the music industry. Early on the invention of the phonograph brought music into the homes of people who couldn't play an instrument - music b...

It shouldn't matter the sex of the person on the podium, but it's nice to see some 'traditions' are being broken. I remember seeing Marin Alsop conduct the Colorado Symphony way back when she was still the Music Director. I remember the headlines when she moves from Colorado to Baltimore to become the first female conductor of a major US orchestra. I started following her career watching what she did with the Cabrillo New Music Festival in California, and reading about her exploits in Europe and Asia. She was quickly becoming the woman to watch on the podium. Several years later I was treated to a brief conversation with her about new music and her advocacy for composers and the performance of new music. As a composer, her support was trilling. She continues to thrill audiences around the world proving it isn't the sex of the person on the podium, but their passion for the music that makes the difference. Over the past 15 years, I have been blessed to see many of ...

My response to the NewMusicBox blogpost: Why Women Aren’t Equals In New Music Leadership and Innovation Women are not treated on equal footing in either the corporate or music world and much of this is outlined in the article above. Social stigmas go a long way to treating women unfavorably for exhibiting the same behavior as men - while men get favorable treatment for the same behavior (see #1 from the Sandberg research). Many of the other elements discussed in the research can be put up to cultural stereo types and environmental learning we foist on our young men and women as they grow up, putting women at a further disadvantage. One key to getting out of this hole we have dug for ourselves, at least in the music industry, is finding a way to give musicians a chance at success without regard to anything but their performance. TwtrSymphony holds auditions for musicians. There is no discussion as to sex, race, religion or other aspects of the musician. All we require are two things: ...

The power of social media is driving music in a new direction - people are choosing what they want, rather than being dictated to by major media Times are changing and with it the way new music finds an audience. Change in inevitable. The real question: who will follow the trend and catch the wave of this new way of thinking? Over 1800 years ago a man wrote down his thoughts about his relationship with God. St Augustine is considered the first person to write about having a personal relationship with God. His writings eventually became the seeds for the reformation (almost a thousand years later). There were lots of reasons for the strife surrounding the Reformation, but a key element was the quest for people to have a direct communion with God, rather than have to seek it through an intermediary (or priest). People began seeing their relationship with God as personal, something they could determine what works for them as an individual. The printing press also had a great deal to d...

TwtrSymphony wants to bring Classical Music back into the forefront of our musical experience. The other night I was at a hockey game. It was amazing how much a part of the whole experience of the game was the music that played during the breaks. The music was what got the crowd roaring and excited for the event, the music was what peaked emotions during the game and the music was what encouraged the chanting for the victory. Sometimes the music was hard pounding rock, sometimes it was elements of film scores with the sweeping strings driving people to a frenzy. The audience was experiencing music and responding to the music physically. Classical music has this power and (IMHO) more ability to achieve this than any other music form due to its rich complexities and possibilities. Disneyland has a show, "The World of Color" which features a light and water fountain show set to music from Disney movies. The most enthusiastic moment in the show is when the music of "Pirat...

Hard decisions by both management and union organizers affecting classical music I'm going to make a lot of enemies with this post. I'll probably get told I'm unreasonable and it may even affect my future in terms of orchestra administration, but sometimes it's important to take a stand. THESE OPINIONS ARE MINE AND MINE ALONE Composing music is my real passion. So, I'm not sure I really fit with either the administrative camp or the musician camp. When I get paid by an orchestra (not including my day job) it's for a piece of music. It's a one time payment whether it's for a commission or performance rights to an existing work. However, the musicians are the core to the orchestra. As Music Director for TwtrSymphony, I am certain I spend more time worried about the details of orchestra operation than any of the musicians. I might even go so far as to say I worry about it more than all the musicians put together. But that doesn't change the fact, the...

"For the first time in history, children are growing up whose earliest sexual imprinting derives not from a living human being, or fantasies of their own; since the 1960s pornographic upsurge, the sexuality of children has begun to be shaped in response to cues that are no longer human. Nothing comparable has ever happened in the history of our species; it dislodges Freud. Today's children and young men and women have sexual identities that spiral around paper and celluloid phantoms: from Playboy to music videos to the blank females torsos in women's magazines, features obscured and eyes extinguished, they are being imprinted with a sexuality that is mass-produced, deliberately dehumanizing and inhuman." — Naomi Wolf (The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women) "Although the sexual sell, overt and subliminal, is at a fever pitch throughout all forms of the media, depictions of sex as an important and potentially profound human activity are no...

Music of Now Marathon Begins Composers Now Series is HARDLY music on NOW. The above article by Steven Smith starts out, "No concert, however epic in duration, could encompass the entirety of the contemporary classical world, which has grown too broad and variegated to sample in one sitting." Ok, I agree. But then the article goes on to highlight some of the pieces performed Libby Larsen’s 1991 string quartet “Schoenberg, Schenker, Schillinger” Bernard Rands "Memo 5" written in 1975 Looking through the rest of the program on composers-now.org , there are pieces from the 70's, 80's, 90's and even a few from the early 21st century. This seems incredibly odd to me for a festival to be promoting itself as music now, when only a small percentage of the pieces are from the last decade. Composers go through periods of music. Beethoven has his early, middle and later period of music. The style of music he wrote in each one is fairly different from the o...

While more and more orchestras and classical music artists venture into the social media space, they lag behind other industry artists in leveraging their fan base. This has less to do with use and more with how their fans respond. If you follow classical music artists on Twitter and Facebook, you'll get the feeling they are keeping up with the times. Numerous orchestras posts daily on Facebook and several times a day on Twitter. Compare that with how often Justin Bieber or Miley Cirus post on either and you'll see classical music artists are far more active. So, why aren't classical music artists getting the millions of fans of their pop counterparts? It has to do with fan leveraging. Pop music fans tend to share posts, re-tweet and are far more fanatical about spreading the word for their idols. Miley has only three posts on Facebook this past week. But, each post was shared by her fans a minimum of 64 times. One post was shared over 648 times. Justin Bieber is a bit...

People think there is a catch to TwtrSymphony TwtrSymphony is an orchestra founded because I write orchestra music and need an orchestra to play it. The problem I face getting my music played by other orchestras is simple: Music Directors and Conductors are extremely busy. Even if they're willing to give my music a glance (and few of them are willing unless they already have a personal relationship with me), they often don't do more than listen to the first couple of minutes of music. If the music doesn't grab them by that point, they're done and my score goes no further. While some will accept midi realizations, again, these who do are by far the minority. Even those who accept midi realizations prefer live recordings. So, composers need live-orchestras to record their music if they have any hope of getting music played by a live orchestra — rather a catch-22. I believe TwtrSymphony is the perfect solution to this conundrum. We perform 140 seconds (or 2 mins, 20 ...

Following up on some of what was discussed yesterday: What are some of the way TwtrSymphony can effectively communicate the different dynamic levels to the various musicians considering none of the musicians are in the same room? Right now these are all issues resolved in the editing room. A number of musicians commented about the struggle to get the right dynamic levels for their recording not playing in the same room with the rest of the ensemble. So... how we do resolve this: It has already been suggested we create principal chair positions, who play the first parts to provide a guide for the rest of the musicians. Are the other options? What does this mean for the principal players and how do we get them to have the same dynamic levels? The conversation wasn't as active today, but still some good points to take away. We even had a comment from someone outside of TwtrSymphony — of course, those comments are welcome too. More dynamic markings in the score Use composite m...

TwtrSymphony examines what's it like to play in a virtual orchestra with today's Twitter Topic (TwtrTpc) We'll be following TwtrSymphony musicians today to see how they respond to today's topic. - so come back tomorrow to see what they've said - and catch tomorrows TwtrTpc As the Music Director/Composer-in-Residence, I'm familiar with the tracks as they come in. It's surprising to me how good two individual tracks can sound. Yet put them together and the slight differences between attack and release are extremely noticeable. Trying to write music that allows musicians a chance to express themselves and yet capture that ensemble, everyone playing together feeling is a real challenge. It was a lively discussion today &#8212 obviously one we should have done months ago. We chatted about: the difficulties of not being in the same room potentially using skype or Ninjam as an alternative struggling with the concepts of dynamics (and tempo) lots of inform...

Inspired by the Anthem Rock bands of the 70's and 80's – groups like Yes, Kansas, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. Anthem Rock has hard driving beats with intricate melodic lines and layers of different sounds – all features of the classical music I gravitate toward. This is not a pastiche of any particular song or band, but rather a homage to the artistry of these musicians. Skimming Rock & Skipping Stones has three movements. As word play, colloquialisms, and double entendré are common for song and album titles in the rock world, I indulge in the same practice. "Taken for Granite" - 1st Movement "Salt of the Earth" - 2nd Movement "Clean Slate" - 3rd Movement Even the title of the entire piece is a play on words "Skimming Rocks & Skipping Stones" In geological terms there are three types of rock      Igneous      Sedimentary      Metamorphic Granite is igneous, salt is se...

Turning Point by Chip Michael We romanticize vampires, but what does the soul go through when turning? It can't be pretty. The experience isn't death of the body, but rather death of the soul, which has to be, in its own way, extremely painful. "Turning Point" is a solo violin work (in progress) examining that moment.