That's Showbiz

This past Sunday I performed in a concert in which I was the featured soloist. The concert raised funds for an apartment building's gardening committee and, as I wasn't paid for it myself, I decided to rehash some old material for it. An easy piece I added to the program was a sonata by boismortier which my accompanist, Alan, and I sight read through a few weeks before the show. Okay, not the smartest decision I've ever made.

Last week's uproar over the LPO on twitter

Early last week I was gazing at my twitter account when I stumbled across a tweet mentioning an uproar between the public and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The tweet linked back to the LPO's Facebook page (which I can't seem to find at the moment). Through social media, another continent could follow along to these events as they were happening. Not only that, but the opposition to the board's decision spread from orchestra subscribers and patrons to a completely untapped audience. Boy is the digital world both a blessing and a curse.

I had quite a detailed post for you this week on the subject, but I think it's best that I just give you a few links to start you off with and let you discover this for yourself. 

1. The letter that started it all

2. The Guardian

3. BBC article

Debate Disturbed by Union President

Last week I watched a debate hosted by WQXR in New York about the future of orchestral musicians and orchestras in America, which you can find here. I found it through the blog of the Savvy Musician, which is an excellent. Although I only got about three quarters in when my connection died, I learned quite a lot from the debate.
I thought the debate was very good, however, there was one portion which I found somewhat disturbing: Mr. Hair's talking points, or rather lack thereof. I'm very displeased with the idea that the president of the largest musicians' union in North America arriving to a debate about the future of the industry completely unprepared to take part in real discussion.

Cake&Reeds

My trip to Basel wasn't the simplest one. I decided to go on the cheap, which meant I bought an air ticket from Montreal to Paris and had to complete the journey on land. My journey started on Sunday the 21st when I bussed to Montreal and flew out.

 I arrived in Paris on Monday morning, and spent the day there walking from my hotel down le rue Strasbourg to notre dame cathedral. It was my first time in Paris, so I took as much as I could in an afternoon before I walked back to my hotel a tired wreck.