The view outside my office window. Gotta love it. Blogroll The fellow bloggers I check in on when I have time: Arts & Culture The Rest is Noise (Alex Ross)ArtsJournal Sandow (Greg Sandow on the Future of Classical Music)About Last Night (Terry Teachout on the Arts in New York City)Deceptively Simple (A blog by Chicago
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The Filene Center – The Venn Diagram…
Any questions? Report on Holiday Festivities Wolf Trap’s Holiday Sing-Along was terrific. Thousands and thousands of people… hundreds of little children on the stage during “Jingle Bells”… good December weather… a huge truck filled to the brim with Toys for Tots. Unfortunately, I sang myself out and was in tatters for the second event of
Read MoreInterlude: ‘Tis the Season
Taking a break from talking about opera at the Filene Center. Today happened not to be all about opera, so the blog will reflect! ‘Tis the SeasonFriday, 12/ 2/2005 – A typical arts administrator December day: Morning – “Jingle Bells” and “Frosty”. Rehearsal with the Marine Band for this weekend’s Holiday Sing-Along at the Filene
Read MoreThe Filene Center – When Grand Opera Isn’t
I was more than a little fried when posting last night, and I should’ve known better than to try to discuss the complicated relationship between our young artist company and Wolf Trap’s amphitheatre. It’s a thorny issue even for a clear mind. So, if operas like Aida, Tosca and Madama Butterfly sell lots of tickets,
Read MoreThe Filene Center – Charting a Narrow Course
As we close in on repertoire for 2006, I’ll take a moment to share my pain. The subject is our large amphitheatre – the Filene Center. The dilemma: deciding which opera to produce in the Filene Center each summer. The facts: #1) The capacity for Filene Center opera (different than that for concerts because of
Read MoreFinalists
Feeling a little more human after a few days off. It always takes longer than I think it should to regain some sort of equilibrium. I am, however, getting much better at finding balance in my life over the last few years. Middle age has its benefits. Audition Results Notification As of this weekend, all
Read MoreCincinnati, then Home!
The last day of the audition tour dawned with a palpable sense of fatigue. But the level of singing in Cincinnati was so reassuringly high that the day flew by. A few real surprises – probably the biggest percentage of the entire tour. CCM always welcomes us so warmly, and their facilities are among the
Read MoreChicago & the Aria Frequency List!
Not an easy day. Started out with a voice mail from United Airlines telling us that our flight to Cincinnati tonight is canceled. The helpful reservations agent was happy to put us on a flight tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, it would arrive an hour after we’re due to start auditions tomorrow morning. Anticipate needing lots of
Read MoreDecompression
I can feel my brain reaching its pitiful saturation point, and I’m oh so thankful that there’s no singing in my Friday. Spent the day getting from Seattle to Chicago and catching up on some paperwork. And as if to make up for the fact that we couldn’t see Mt. Rainier from Seattle because of
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Caffeine I’m afraid that I would spend an obscene percentage of my food budget on coffee if I lived in Seattle. The coffee shops are so inviting, and who can resist the lure of free wireless access and caffeine?This is my second time here, and I haven’t seen Mt. Rainier yet. But the view from
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