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I like the idea of the CSO live stream; I live about an hour from music hall and never find the time to get to a concert. I don't think it is nessicary to offer students free streams, rather give it at a discount rate. The CSO could give it a trial offer for one season, advertise it online, WGUC, etc.
If I choose to be a private music educator, I'd find oppertunity to go to schools and attend the schools music teacher's class'; young elementry children would love the experience and would leave excited about classical music.
If I become a performer I'm not sure what I'd do.

CSO tour

To the questions "Why should the Cincinnati Symphony tour? Do you think they should? Why is it worth it?" Besides the obvious need to put yourself in front of an audience so as to sell yourself; a tour puts you in front of different faces which could help build up popularity. This might give the audience a chance to hear a different interpretation of a work than what their home symphony offers. Without such performances an artist ability to make a living is limited, they need venues to meet customers. I am concerned whether or not our symphony should tour. There is also the potential for a negative backlash from touring. If they can't have a good showing at home how can we expect them to do any better on the road? They may be well received in a city that is more culture centered such as New York or Los Angeles; but if they try to go to cities like Kansas City or Little Rock the reception may be like that of home. Also, if they perform at a larger venue, can they perform to the level of difficulty that the audience is accustomed to? I don't doubt that the CSO is a great group, but they are no New York Philharmonic or the Boston Pops. Our symphony can be compared financially to that of our baseball team. If the Reds want the best players, they must have the money to compete with the teams of the big cities. They can't afford to pay one player fourteen million dollars, they can barely afford three million. The same goes for the symphony, the big city groups have the money to buy the best musicians and carry the prestige to keep them. As far as touring goes, I believe that they should improve the situation here before they travel. I was taught that before you go out to play, make sure that you have your room cleaned.
mrbortlein

Go blog yourself!!!

Since the assignment is to blog about my last entry, I will try to not argue with myself.
As far as making live feeds via the Internet available to the public, I agree with myself about having them. The difficult part is making money off of it. The CSO currently has many sponsors, those sponsors would still have a place to advertise on that web page. Internet ads are growing ever popular to businesses as a viable way to attract customers. Also, the CSO already broadcasts on PBS and public radio, so this might be another off-shoot of that type of broadcasting. Also, just because the feed is on-line doesn't mean that has to be free. If the hall still sells season tickets, this could be an option for those patrons. There are certain marketing techniques that offer free items in order to get customers attracted to their product with just the hope that the customer will eventually buy into their product. So in this case, at first there may be fewer people coming to the hall, but the "virtual attendance" might out number the actual number of people in the hall. With the hope that one day some of these customers will come to the hall and see a concert first hand. How many people first buy a CD or hear songs on the radio of a group before they see a live performance? What ever the hall decides to do to attract more people to the CSO, they must do it soon. That's a fact.
mrbortlein

Tasmin Little

For this blog assignment I downloaded Paul Patterson's
Luslawice Variations op.50 for violin. This was a very interesting piece with several sections where Tasmine is plucking the violin. I liked the piece enough to play it twice, so as to hear some of the more intricate sections. The basis of the website is that of good faith. It's a lot like trying out a new pair of shoes; if you like them, keep them. Then the next time you need shoes, you know where to get them. I think that it's great that someone out there wants so desperately for everyone to not only hear classical music, but also what's us to appreciate that music. If there was a live feed of music hall for performances, I would be more likely to be a part of the experience though not in the hall. It's not hard to do, the internet is there and just waiting for us to use it. They could charge a membership fee for access, and give students free access through their schools like how we have access through the Steely library. It's a hard question to face; whether musicians should donate their abilities to allow free downloads to their music. Wasn't there a writers strike that dealt with similar issues? One of the most important aspects of sales is making the product as valuable or more valuable than its' cost. If the classical music was free, then is there any value in it? I feel that not all classical music should be free. We must consider all of the other people involved in the music making process; there's just too many variables. The issue boils down to this: No matter what the cost, if people don't want to listen to classical music, they won't. I think that people would be more likely to give the IRS extra money than to give up listening to what they call music and listen to Bach.
mrbortlein

CSO concert review

As I entered the parking lot, I reminded myself to park next to an expensive car; makes me a lesser target. Once I found a BMW, I paid the parking attendant an excessive amount of money and entered the hall. Upon entering the building I was wondering why all of the signs were printed in very large fonts. Then I remembered that a majority of their audience are older folks with diminished eyesight. Once the program began, conductor Susanna Malkki, immediately started the first piece. Her jaunty movements did not seem to match the bouncy triumphant hero melody that the orchestra was playing, as if they were going to play however they wanted. Even though she was directing a beat ahead, she still looked as if she was swatting at a large killer bee. During slower sections of the piece, there were passages that were of soothing tempos, other times it felt as if she was pushing the orchestra back. There was a very exuberant clarinet soloist whose body movements were more of a jazz/blues clarinetist’s movement. At the end of the piece the return of the triumphant hero melody reminding us that this is still an exciting piece of music to hear.
Before the second piece begins you would think that the instrumentalists would tune to the piano, well that wasn’t so; there were some serous intonation issues between the trumpets and the piano. The rest of the concerto was pretty standard, nothing stood out making it great except for the triangle. Never before have I ever heard a triangle player have such an integral part. I wonder how many hours he spent practicing. As a bonus feature, pianist Peter Jablonski, after accepting a second round of applause plays an encore solo. The piece sounded as if he was trying to kill a mouse with the piano hammers. The A tonal qualities that came screaming out of the big black box on stage lead me to believe that this was a twentieth century piece. It sounded like one of those types of pieces that were written to show how fast a pianist can play minor second chords in succession. I’m pretty sure that all eighty-eight keys were struck at least one time or another.
The Tiensuu piece had a synthesizer playing some outer space like sound effects underneath the strings that seem to impose an image of fireflies. This piece called for muted trombones to play at the lower end of their range, and stringed basses looked as if they were holding their strings at the tuning keys giving an earth moving effect, like the pulling of the tide. The shrieking of the violas and violins were like katydids arguing. The deliberate striking of the strings sounded like an old carousel that was in desperate need of repair. The piece transition into an echoing chant between muted trumpets (as they should always be) and the strings and the flutes gave the appearance of the wind blowing through the autumn trees.
The first movement of the Strauss piece seemed uneventful, it sounded as if each member knew its part and like the workings of the body, each moving independently yet uniformly to the greater good of the whole. The piece moved through a disjunct brass section to a lyrical string section, showing the best attributes of both groups; both loud and articulate, and in opposition smooth and mild. It then moved into a traditional German waltz style section; the piece kept reinstating the subject several times, ever increasing the intensity of the mood. Then there was a slight intonation problem between the reeds and strings followed by a clarinet player swabbing his instrument out. It was interesting enough to see the timpani player meticulously checking and re-checking his pitches on the drum throughout the performance. The end of the performance was easy to spot, the conductor stopped directing a beat ahead and directed in time to control the holds and releases. To be honest, I find all of the pomp and circumstance of the whole going to see a performance unnecessary. The driving into a not so nice neighborhood, getting ripped off to park, paying too much for an eight ounce cup of ice with four ounces of drink, walking on floor boards around the atrium giving the feeling that at any moment they could give way, and the smell of embalming fluid. Yes, the smell of a funeral home envelops the hall because of it’s’ patrons. In ten years when these patrons are either no longer able to drive down to the hall or have the ability to hear the programs or even alive; this past time will be a thing of the past. For a generation that is used to instant gratification, waiting between songs to applaud the musician is an eternity. If you had a CD or MP3 player that took three minutes between songs, you’d throw it out. Much is the way I feel about waiting for the audience to stop clapping. When listening to the performance you can close your eyes and convince yourself that what you hear is a really good recording. The only difference is that you don’t have audience members rustling about. In conclusion, I am the type of person that would be happy to live in the woods without human contact for a year at a time. Because of that mentality, I would much rather listen to a recording of a performance in the privacy of my home. I understand there are those that believe a live performance is better; but having to go to Music Hall, though full of history and beauty, not worth the trip. I did enjoy the program; the music was played with precision. Seeing people I knew did make the experience more enjoyable. Going to see a performance might not be my cup of tea, but the performance its self was a good experience.

mrbortlein

My greatest musical influence

Growing up in the middle of nowhere Indiana, I found a great positive influence in my elementary music teacher. He made music fun and worth learning. Unfortunately, he was also a great negative influence in my musical life. One of the greatest lessons I learned was having a sense of humor. I firmly believe that having a good sense of humor will allow you the opportunity to share your music on multiple levels and makes it easier to express yourself through that music. Some of the negative influences I took on from him was how little I actually understood about music. By the time I reached High School, the influences he had made were so strong that it wasn't until last year that I started to change my bad habits.
A few years after I graduated from High School, he was transferred from the elementary school to High School where he literally destroyed the music program. He retired about 3 years ago. The scars that were left from the few years he spent at the High School are still felt today. I appreciated everything he did for me. This was the man that spent hours a day helping me prepare for state solo competition; but something happened that changed him. I believe that the 30 plus years of teaching in public schools finally took its toll on him. Like many schools, the music program at my High School has been always over-shadowed by its sports programs. Not just sports, but anything but music is the unspoken creed of the school system. It would stand to good reason how any great teacher could implode and leave a music program in shambles. It seems to me that when we're young the people we set up on pedastals so high, when we grow up and look our childhood heros in the eye we feel disappointed.
mrbortlein

My Favorite CD

My favorite CD, is a compilation album of classic rock music from the legendary Eric Clapton. Released in 1995, The Cream of Clapton strings together a great collection of songs from the various groups that Mr. Clapton has been apart of. From the first song, I Feel Free (1966) shouts the general theme of the time. Many of the songs on this CD made Clapton the house hold name that he is and inspired the writting of "Clapton is God" on city walls in England. (http://www.rocklibrary.com/images/EntityImages/1200/1242/Clapton%20is%20god.jpg)
Songs like Layla, After Midnight, Sunshine of Your Love, Wonderful Tonight, and Cocaine have inspired many of today's guitar thrashers and smashers. One song I really enjoy in particular, is Bell Bottom Blues (1970) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3X1uNSku-I) I'm not exactly sure why I like this song, but there's just something about a break up song that makes me smile. As for now, the songs on this album are played the most in my car, and I hope to never tire of them.
mrbortlein

Azmari Review

The Azmari performance of Shostakovitch's 9th symphony, movements 3, 4, and 5 was a very enjoyable experience. These movements are filled with textual emotions that tell a wonderful and yet sorrowful story of life under the iron curtain. Like many composers through out time, their music reflected the toils and troubles of life around them. Many commentators write about what they know of the child like melodies carried over the daunting, dark, and devilish ways of Stalin characterized in this work. This review however, will try to interpret the piece as someone that knows nothing of the history behind it.
The third movement has a theme that can be described as very consistent rhythms, like that of a train or a galloping horse. The Different textures of the individual parts bounced back and forth between the players in ratios of 3:1, 2:1:1, and 2:2. This movement resembled the struggle between good and evil with the repeating rhythm of TA ta ta TA. The plucking of the strings transition the melody to a sorrowful movement. This plucking motion seems to beat out a visual and audial stabbing of a loved one.
During the piece, the lead string player seems to conduct the group by exaggerating her breathing, though there is no physical connection to the playing of the music. The piece now transitions into a traditional sounding Russian melody. The visual story in the faces and movements of the players gives added depth to the conversation that they are having on their strings. As the selection comes to a close, the composer looks back upon the previous movements and weaves a tapestry of the memories using rhythms like 1 e and, 2 e and, 3 e and a, 4. The Azmari group made a wonderful piece of music come to life. It was something pleasant to the ears and easy on the imagination.
mrbortlein

Columbus S O response

"Is the theater really dead?" To answer the question wheither if the Columbus orchestra can survive in this age of downloading music for next to nothing; IMHO (in my humble opinion), no. I don't opologize for having this belief, it just doesn't seem like there's any hope to salvage, not save, this program. Why should a person pay an exorbant price to go hear live music when today's technology allows of to hear the same quality sound at a fraction of the cost. Not to mention the cost to drive, park, eat, and depending on what part of town the concert is in, your safety. So now in order to supplement the funds to keep this failing past time alive, the patrons must give more money? They would be better off just throwing dollar bills into the fire, it would at least do some good by helping them stay warm.
Lack of funds is only part of the problem in Columbus, the bad string of personnel running that program seems to have played a big part of its demise. We all know that poor leadership decisions will most likely drag any good program down into the mud of red ink; making it very hard to return to its glory days. The business model of the CSO (Columbus) is not just wrong, it's non-existent. The city has obviously forgotten about it and apparently so have many of its past patrons. Columbus has a thriving Science Museum, it draws people from all over the state. Why not let the Columbus orchestra merge into a part of the Cincinnati or Dayton music programs. Thus reducing costs and bringing the revenue of the few remaining patrons to another city and using the combined funds to create better shows that might attract bigger over all audiences.
duckworthm1

My worst performance experience

Fall 07 recital, performance of Marcus Duckworth. Performer seems nervous, about singing infront of group. His body language tells the viewer that he's tense. Music seems well perpaired but his stage presence is diminished with a small sounding voice.
mrbortlein

My best performance experience

My best performance experience was for the Spring Concert band performance of Lasses trombone Composed by T.K. Fillmore. I was asked by the conductor to perform at the last second, only having 1 day to practice. The most exciting part was that the whole trombone section was to be standing at the front of the stage playing this song. http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B0000287YR001017/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_017/103-2010236-5607037
This link might not work. Amazingly everything went well.
mrbortlein