How Deep Is Philadelphia Orchestra’s Financial Hole?

“[B]etween now and Aug. 31 – about 15 weeks – the orchestra must raise $3.3 million more just to reach [its campaign] goal. It’s only after that $3.3 million is raised that the orchestra can begin to put a dent in the deficit. In other words, to break even this year on its $46 million budget, the orchestra needs to raise $8.3 million in 15 weeks.”

Detroit Symphony Begins Its Suburban Concerts Initiative

“Even before the six-month strike that gutted the current season, ticket sales at Orchestra Hall were in a long downward slide. The moment the strike ended last month, music director Leonard Slatkin made it clear the orchestra under his personal leadership would begin taking the music out to the DSO’s audience – which largely means the metro area – in an effort to reconnect with the public.”

Edward Villella, Ballet Legend And Boxer

“Long before it was trendy for pro athletes to dabble in training regimens outside their comfort zone,” the one-time New York City Ballet star and founding director of Miami City Ballet, “was the ultimate cross-trainer. A child dancing prodigy forced by his parents to put his ballet aspirations on hold … Villella needed a physical outlet. So [he] took up boxing.”

Can Instrumental Music Be Political?

“Art is pure, right? Celestial. To soil it with base, terrestrial politics feels improper, even rude, especially when one considers just how awful politics really is. “Politics is about winning,” the political composer and activist Bob Ostertag says, “a concept meaningless to art.” So how are these things expected to mix, if at all, without the supposed purity and nobility of art being compromised?”