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ATL SYMPHONY MUSICIANS

Robert Shaw April 30, 1916 - January 25, 1999

1/25/2015

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Remembering the legacy of Robert Shaw today.
April 30,1916 - January 25, 1999
Please feel free to share any remembrances of Mr. Shaw in the comments.

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The Legacy of Robert Shaw, Music Director (1967–1988)

For twenty-one years Robert Shaw served at the artistic helm of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
When he arrived in Atlanta in August 1967, he found the ASO already in the midst of an effort to upgrade itself. Atlanta’s cultural leaders had long been working toward raising the Orchestra’s budget, extending the length of its season and building a permanent hall for its performances. They turned to Shaw because he was both a musician of international stature in both orchestral and choral realms and a rising conductor who could bring the ASO to prominence as his own reputation grew.


He came in like a whirlwind, presenting ambitious concerts of difficult music, speaking about Atlanta’s need for a conservatory of music, looking for black musicians to play in the all-white orchestra, successfully lobbying to have black members added to the ASO’s Board, and introducing the city to more contemporary music than it had ever heard before. Hard though he may have driven his players and singers, he pushed himself harder. His attention to detail and his capacity for endless hours of score study and preparation were phenomenal. Unlike most high-profile conductors, he had no other orchestra half a globe away, and he accepted few dates to conduct elsewhere. Shaw had come to Atlanta to be Music Director, and he considered it a full-time commitment.

Full Biography
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Keith Buncke, Principal Bassoon Chicago Symphony

1/22/2015

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News: ASO principal bassoonist Keith Buncke named principal bassoon of Chicago Symphony Orchestra
By Mark Gresham @ArtsATL.com
It seems almost like a game of musical chairs.


In a huge turn of events, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s new principal bassoonist, Keith Buncke, has now been named principal bassoon of the famed Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Buncke will replace longtime CSO principal bassoonist David McGill, who retired last August. Buncke’s exact start date has not been determined.

Buncke had been appointed to his current ASO position only this past spring, while still a junior studying at Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. Because of the delay in the orchestra’s season due to the three-month lockout of musicians this past fall, he did not begin playing onstage with the Atlanta orchestra in Symphony Hall until mid-November. Now, at age 21, and having played as part of the ASO only a matter of weeks, Buncke will prepare to assume his new position under the baton of Riccardo Muti in Chicago.


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ASO’s Keith Buncke (center) will join the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. (Photo by Delmar Williams)
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Houston Grand Opera Raises 172.9 Million Dollars

1/19/2015

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Houston Grand Opera's Inspiring Performance fund drive breezed past its $165 million goal, attracting $172.9 million.

The campaign, which will support the company's operations and endowment, launched behind the scenes in 2007 and publicly in 2012. It attracted gifts from 6,648 donors, 4,558 of them first-time contributors. The drive ended Dec. 31.

As the money came in, the company said, it helped fund world premieres, new productions of established operas and the company's first staging of Richard Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung." The revenue helped the company's annual budget grow from $18.2 million in 2007-08 to $27.8 million in 2013-14.

The company is using $94.2 million for what it terms artistic excellence, such as commissioning operas, creating new productions and performing "Ring." The breakdown of the rest of the money includes:

$17.1 million for the company's endowment. The majority of those pledges have been paid, bringing the endowment's total to about $51 million as of Dec. 31.

$13 million for the Nexus affordability program, which has funded more than 175,000 free or reduced-priced subscriptions and single tickets since 2008.

$11 million for HGOco, whose projects have included the East & West multicultural operas and partnerships with Writers in the Schools and other groups.


$6 million for the Houston Grand Opera Studio training program.

The campaign total includes $31.6 million in bequests the company will receive on their donors' passing.


John Scott Arnoldy, chief executive of Triten Corporation, co-chaired the drive with Albert Chao, chief executive of Westlake Chemical Corporation. Both men serve on Houston Grand Opera's board.

"Thanks to the tremendous generosity of donors from across Houston, the great state of Texas and beyond," Arnoldy said, "Houston will have great opera for years to come, and a stronger future as a great American city."


Details: houstongrandopera.org.


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Tradition & Maintaining Excellence

1/17/2015

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From the Cleveland Orchestra philosophy

Tradition & Maintaining Excellence Richard Bogomolny Cleveland Orchestra

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an edited transcription of the address delivered by Richard Bogomolny at our inaugural The Future of the Symphony Conference in September 2014. View the VIDEO of this presentation in its entirety.

http://www.futuresymphony.org/conference-2014-videos/

Excerpt:

"Let’s begin with Excellence. We believe that everything we do – every plan we form, every expenditure that we make – must be tested against what that action will do for or against the standard of musical excellence that we have followed for decades. In times of financial difficulty, only those activities not related to what we call being a world-class orchestra may be cut without consent of the board.


"The other thing we believe in is the fact that it’s very hard to play an instrument at the level of the members of our orchestra, how very good the musicians have to be in order to get in in the first place, and how hard they must work in order to stay at that level and to uphold our artistic traditions. While growing up, many of these musicians were thought of as child prodigies in their own communities. It’s been my objective over the years to make sure that the trustees understand and believe that our musicians are special and that they, collectively, are the reason we’re in business.

"We also believe that classical music is not dead, nor will the ability to hear any amount of music free on the Internet bury us. Our unwavering belief is that the live concert experience, with the audience being emotionally involved and connected to music, is enduring. You can ask our musicians and you’ll find that none of them buy into the proposition that classical music is dead."

http://www.futuresymphony.org/tradition-and-maintaining-ex…/

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Photo: The Cleveland Orchestra in Severance Hall
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BPO Finished 2014 On Financial High Note

1/14/2015

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by James Fink
Buffalo Business First Reporter- Buffalo Business First Email  |  Twitter

Both on and off stage, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra had a banner year.

According to the just-released "Report to the Community," which covers the orchestra's 2013-2014 fiscal year, the orchestra finished with a significant increase in ticket sales and performed to approximately 200,000 people while seeing its endowment fund surpass the $32 million mark. The BPO's fiscal year ended on Aug. 31, 2014.

Among the highlights from the annual report, ticket sales during the 2013-2014 season topped the $3.367 million mark, a 6.2 percent increase from the $3.170 million tickets sold the previous fiscal years. As recently as the 2010-2011 season, the BPO sold $2.843 million in tickets. Ticket sales cover both classical and Pops series shows.
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YOUR aso at the capitol

1/13/2015

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This morning, we played a short concert at the Capitol where Governor Nathan Deal presented the ASO with a proclamation in honor of the ASO's 70th Anniversary Season. May this be the start of a renewed appreciation and interest for all the Arts in Atlanta and the State of Georgia. Our Arts organizations need support from all our Local governments. This proclamation is a start to what we hope will be recognition that will truly benefit all Georgia arts organizations.

All photos by Jeff Roffman.
(4 photos)

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 by Trudgemusic @trudgemusic.wordpress.com

1/2/2015

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New Year's Resolutions, part I

1. I resolve to exercise.
I resolve to involve myself more physically in every performance. I’m not going to sit there like a statue, all stern seriousness. I will ask myself: when I’m on stage, do I look like I want to be there? Do I look like I’m enjoying the music I’m playing, or do my expression, posture, and demeanor suggest that I can’t wait to get out of there? How can I possibly be appealing to an audience when I look like I don’t even enjoy playing for them? I know, it’s a serious job, I play serious music, it’s not frivolous, but think about the audience’s experience. Most of them are not musicians, not on the professional level, anyway, and most of them imagine that what an orchestra does is special, that we must really love music and enjoy playing it. This feeling may seem remote for many of us, since playing music has been our profession for so long, we forget why we got involved in music in the first place. But I resolve to recapture that joy and wonder and make it visible. I’m going to allow the music to move through me like I actually enjoy it, because I do! I’m going to behave as though the music and I are unified in rhythm and motion, in muscularity and momentum. I’m going to be carried along on the inertia of the composer’s intention.

Another simple exercise: I’m going to smile more. I’m going to smile when I see audience members walk down the aisle to the seats they paid for, I’m going to catch someone’s eye between movements and share that moment of anticipation: I know what’s coming next, and I can’t wait to share it with you! I’m going to beam with pride when the performance ends, knowing that I just brought joy or solace or beauty into someone’s life. I’m going to embrace their applause, I’m going to show gratitude for their support. I’m going to make it plain by my expression that I’m glad they came, and that I’m eager for the next time I get to share great music with them.
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