Score Marking

by | Oct 31, 2006 | A view from the podium, Nuts and bolts

I thought I might wade in and try to slightly de-mystify the question of score marking by conductors. Orchestral players and audiences alike can often be quite overwhelmed by, and even suspicious of, the complex systems of red and blue, circles, highlights and so on...

Nottingham Philharmonic: Review

by | Oct 29, 2006 | A view from the podium

From the Nottingham Evening Post   NOTTINGHAM PHILHARMONIC    Albert Hall -Peter Palmer  The Nottingham Philharmonic have long been an orchestra to be reckoned with, but on Saturday there were signs that American guest conductor Kenneth Woods could give a new...

Audio goodies

by | Oct 27, 2006 | A view from the podium

There are few new audio items spread around my website, including the mock mini metal-opera “Mr. Potatohead” and the Berio Serenata for Flute and 14 Instruments. I can’t imagine anyone has ever put those two works in the same sentence before....

More on Felix

by | Oct 27, 2006 | A view from the podium, Performing Life

I’m happy to call your attention to a new blog, My Second Act, especially as the author had the good sense to use one of their first posts to call attention to my post on Mendelssohn- Felix Rocks.  The Balance of All Things Just as nature is said to abhor a...

Quote of the day

by | Oct 25, 2006 | A view from the podium

“To be truly contemporary we must use the best of the past to influence the present, not mindlessly disregard it.” Horn player Julian Baker, principal Royal Opera at Covent Garden...

The organic orchestra

by | Oct 24, 2006 | A view from the podium, Music and Media

I want to share some interesting thoughts from Greg Sandow  via email on my analogies of orchestras and organics…… “Ken,   Those are really good points… I love the organic food analogy. Made me ruminate a bit, and I came up with two thoughts.   1. If the...

UPDATED- Hello, I must be going

by | Oct 22, 2006 | A view from the podium

This just in-  Christoph Eschenbach has resigned as Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra and will be concluding his tenure at the end of the 2007-8 season.  More thoughts to follow.  UPDATE- This from Adam Shatzman suggests that Eschenbach has goten a raw deal...

NPO OCT 21

by | Oct 20, 2006 | A view from the podium

Just a quick reminder that I’ll be performing tomorrow, October 21st, with the Nottingham Philharmonic at the Albert Hall in Nottingham. I’ve heard from quite a few of you around the Nottingham area who’ve found out about the blog from the NPO website or their press...

Try something new

by | Oct 20, 2006 | A view from the podium

I was just writing this morning in another venue about the rewards of learning to love music you hate. I believe any great work of art has to have aspects which get under our skin, which frustrate us, which piss us off. That’s part of the difference between...

KW Unplugged

by | Oct 14, 2006 | A view from the podium

It’s a busy day for me here in Pendleton, with a rehearsal and concert to get through, but I want to take a few lines to clarify what I said about classical music as acoustic music.  Robert Gable at Aworks is quite right to point out that there are certainly important...