Rude Awakenings
What do we do with the art of those who fail -- colossally -- to be elevated by it?
American Mirror
How Derrick Spiva wrote Americanness, as he feels it, into a string quartet for Salastina.
The Social Connection
Of all the arts, music connects us most readily to something beyond, and to each other. And yet, the culture around classical music can have a distancing effect.
How do we navigate this?
Fun with Marketing
What's in a logo? ... A whole lot more than we bargained for.
Our rebranding process was surprisingly fun, instructive, and humbling.
Tempest in a Teapot
This past June, I wrote a blog post about Salastina's new music programming philosophy. New Music USA picked it up. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of support it received. And I was only partially crucified.
Responses to my post were fascinating, and have a lot to say in and of themselves.
... But I Hate Modern Music
It's ok. I hate it sometimes, too. Trust us: we will never program music we don't truly love. Why else would we expect you to listen?
Thoughts on Starting a Concert Series
The fine people at iCadenza asked me to write a guest blog post about “How to Start a Concert Series.” I shared what I wish I’d known when we started -- and advice for anyone starting their own series.
Five Links I Love
Featuring auditions, National Parks, and the epidemic of over-coddling students.
Five Links I Love
My favorite links, musical and otherwise, from around the web this week.
Our Reply to Violence
Following so many senseless terror attacks, a Leonard Bernstein quotation makes the rounds through my Facebook feed. "This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." Truism, or platitude?