10 Posts in 10 Hours #10: RCO Offers Free Downloads Until November 24

Via Classical Convert, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in conjunction with Radio 4 is offering free downloads of 10 well-known symphonies until November 24. After entering some personal data and responding to a confirmation email, away you go with free recordings of Schuber 8, Beethoven 2, Mendelssohn 4, Franck D-, Mahler 1, Dvorak 8, Saint-Saëns 3, Sibelius 2, Bruckner 8, and Brahms 2. Happy 120th, RCO!

Here's a recent video of the RCO with Bernard Haitink playing the last movement of Mahler's 4th Symphony. Christine Schafer is the soprano soloist.

10 Posts in 10 Hours #9: Freelancing Resources

How the economy is changing these days...here are some links to help you stay abreast and benefit from the shifting landscape:

-Cinncinnati-based pianist and teacher Joshua Nemith continues his series on how to retool your musical skill set with Freelancing in the "New" Economy series Part 2.  This time around, Joshua looks at getting a church job, pursuing a sessional faculty position, learning other keyboard instruments and musical styles, as well as the ever-present possibility of changing careers.  As an aside to Joshua's last point, I know an awful lot of musicians who have in the last year gone on to Teacher's College in order to pursue teaching at either elementary or secondary schools.  With K-12 positions (at least in Canada) offering better pay, benefits, job security, and satisfaction than most college positions, who can blame them?

-Worried about freelancing in a changing economic climate?  Why not simply become a better freelancer? Freelance Switch has a huge list of 50+ Ways to Improve Your Productivity as a Freelancer.  From having a clear set of objectives to cutting down distractions and utilizing better tools, there's something in Steven Snell's list for everyone.

-For a look at how arts organizations are navigating economic change, take a look at Chamber Music Today's Performing Arts, Free-Market Failure, and New Institutional Economics:

Should we change our ticket prices or booking fees this year? How much discounting or comping should we do to get more attendee butts in seats and, if we do more than we’ve done in the past, will that help or hurt sales of regular tickets or subscriptions? If our ensemble does pro bono or deeply-discounted performances in some cities, will that help or hurt our bookings for bigger-margin gigs elsewhere?

How have your freelancing experiences changed in the last few months, if at all?

10 Posts in 10 Hours #8: Studio Policies Galore

Studio policies--they always seem to be a work in progress, always being tweaked, always with grey areas, but an integral way to run a studio of any size, define expectations, and lay down the law if need be. Susan Todd has created a dedicated studio policy website taken from the archives of the Pno-Ped-L mailing list. Take a look at them, extract ideas and formats that work for your studio, fine-tune, and revise!

(Via Music Matters Blog)

More articles:

8 Ways to Improve Your Marks in RCM/NMCP Piano Examinations
9 Ways to Connect Online With Other Pianists
10 Ways to Compete With the Lowest-priced Piano Teachers in Town

10 Posts in 10 Hours #7: Canadian and American Orchestral Websites Compared

One of the most professionally written and designed classical music blogs over the last few years has been Adaptistration by Drew McManus.  Those in the orchestral field should definitely check out his rankings of both American and Canadian orchestra websites.  Drew has done an incredible amount of analysis, taking into account elements such as ease of navigation, biographical information on musicians, as well as the ability of audiences to both book tickets and donate online. He has put together rankings from both countries to create comparisons between orchestral websites in both countries.  And guess what?  It doesn't look too good for those websites north of 49, with only two orchestras receiving a mark above a C+.  Spoiler alert: the three highest rated orchestral sites in North America are those from Chicago, Nashville, and Edmonton.

10 Posts in 10 Hours #6: Two Composers of New Canadian Art Song

One of the hottest new classical music blogs in Canada of late has been From the voice of..., from the pen of soprano Elizabeth McDonald on the Queen's University faculty. A recent post about Martha Hill Duncan and Maria Molinari highlights the contributions of these women to the field of Canadian art song for developing singers, not traditionally an important niche market for composers, but one that can potentialy fill a tremendous demand throughout Canada.

Interested in knowing how new works for the voice are created? Read Creating Opera From Scratch at the 2008 Tapestry Composer/Librettist Laboratory.

10 Posts in 10 Hours #5: Auditions Schmauditions

Here are a few articles from the last while on the subject of auditioning for singers:

First of all, a first person account of going through the process from an aspiring choral singer on a mission to infiltrate her favorite school of music:

Finally, my name was called and it was time to go in. I was surprised by the number of people in the room. They were a mix of grad students and professors, probably ten or eleven people in all. I brought my music over to the accompanist, realizing as I did so that it had come off the copier slightly askew and that it was hard to tell what a couple of notes were. "I hope this is readable," I apologized as I handed it to him.

Erica Hansen in the Deseret News hosted a panel of theatre experts in Here are some audition tips to get you a callback instead of a brushoff. Although the article is from the musical theatre point of view, there is still plenty of great information for classical singers as well.

Kim Witman on Wolf Trap Opera has recently written an incredible amount of information on auditions, much of it in response to reader inquiries. Articles worth a gander include Reruns Welcome, In the Audition Room, Naked Toes and Aria Advice, Opening the Screen Door, and More Aria Questions and Audition Guidelines. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Kim for being the first person ever to link to the CPB in November 2005.

More audition stuff on CPB:

Audition Strategies for Singers
Am I Too Soft?
Professional-level Singing and That Certain Je ne said quoi
The 2008 Aria Frequency List

10 Posts in 10 Hours #4: Koldofsky Benefit Memorial Recital

On Tuesday, October 28th at 7:30pm, the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music will be presenting the annual Koldofsky Benefit Memorial Recital, an evening dedicated to the legacy and memory of the great Gwendolyn Koldofsky, who pioneered the world's first Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying.  On the program will be Kevin Fitz-Gerald, Alan Smith, Rod Gilfry, and a selection of special musical guests.  Suggested donation is $25 with proceeds to benefit Keyboard Collaborative Arts at USC.

More Madame K mentions on CPB:

Read her famous six-step method for learning a song in Some Ideas on How to Learn a Song or Aria

Rare Footage of Gwendolyn Koldofsky Playing in Lotte Lehmann Master Class
Erlkönig Hacks for the Schubertian Pianist

10 Posts in 10 Hours #3: Hive Call for Career Options Updates

One of the things I've always been fascinated about in my field is the nature of its work, and how musicians are always finding new and unexpected ways to both make a living and satisfy their muses.  One of the most popular pages on this site is the large list of Career Options in Collaborative Piano, covering everything from life in opera companies, to universities, to freelance work, to admistration.

Take a look at the Career Options list.  In light of the changing nature of professional life, influenced as it is by factors such as technology and the overall health of the economy, are there any other career options that you are noticing either in your own work or the work of your colleagues that need to be mentioned?  Bear in mind that the original posting was created nearly 3 years ago, and a lot of things have changed since then.  Leave a comment below or send me a quick email (collaborative piano [at] gmail dot com) describing any work niches in our field that are worth a mention, as well as observations or anecdotes that you would like to share with the CPB readership.

10 Posts in 10 Hours #2: Guerrilla Musical Theatre Performance in London's Stansted Airport

What a surprise it must have been for the unsuspecting Stansted Airport travellers in this viral video. I'm not crazy about the pastiche style of the music (nor am I too excited to see it's a thinly disguised ad for an online travel agency), but it's always refreshing to hear music taken out of its traditional venues and taken to places one doesn't usually associate with live theatre.

(Via Classical Convert)

More musical performances in unexpected places:

Impromptu Opera Performance Spotted in Vancouver's West End

Los Angeles Food Court Musical

10 Posts in 10 Hours #1: The 5 Browns Play Stravinsky--in the Desert

It's dawn in the Bonneville Salt Flats.  The sun rises over a massive salt pan incapable of growing plant life.  What a perfect locale for the music of Stravinsky--here's a video of the 5 Browns playing an excerpt from Stavinsky's The Firebird, arranged for 5 pianos.



The 5 Browns previously on CPB: Not Your Average Piano Quintet

Starting Friday at 1pm: 10 Posts in 10 Hours

Friday afternoon starting at 1pm EDT I will be posting an article every hour for 10 hours on a variety of subjects near and dear to the hearts of CPB readers.  Stay tuned...