Several European orchestras have abandoned American tours in recent years, after the U.S. government introduced aggressive screening and work visa procedures that made the movement of a large group of musicians expensive and logistically unfeasible. But the BBC Wales Orchestra is headed for American shores this week after agreeing to participate in a trial program that expedites the visa process with digital fingerprinting technology.
Tag: 01.20.07
Nagano To (Finally) Leave Berkeley
Kent Nagano has been a bona fide star conductor for a couple of decades now. And yet, even as his conducting gigs have grown in stature, Nagano has remained faithful to the Berkeley Symphony, the tiny California ensemble that gave him his start in the business. Now, after 31 years, he has finally announced that he will step down from the Berkeley podium.
Are The Inmates Running The Orchestral Asylum?
The era of the dictatorial conductor has been over for decades, and musicians now play a large role in setting the direction of many orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. “With power, of course, comes its misuse. No one wants to go back to the old orchestral days of part-time employment, miserable pay and little or no benefits; the days of sexism, racism and exploitation; days of imperious conductors doling out abuse. Still, a couple of uppity American orchestras have gotten out of hand.”
More Than Just A Florida Vacation
The Cleveland Orchestra’s new annual residency in Miami kicked off this week, and the orchestra’s musicians have apparently thrown themselves into the educational aspect of the trip. “They’re performing educational and family programs, playing side-by-side rehearsals with the New World Symphony and – in an endeavor they’ve yet to undertake in Cleveland – reading new works by student composers.”