A reader has passed some important health news along:
Popcorn is good for us.
Here’s an article entitled “Popcorn’s Surprising Health Benefits” from foodchannel.com –
Popcorn has received a bucketful of bad press in recent years—movie popcorn in particular—but a new study confirms that popcorn has some surprisingly good nutritional qualities…
Filed under Blog Stuff
Was not expecting this…
Mayor R.T. Rybak and Minnesota Orchestra benefactor Judy Dayton today invited the public to a community celebration that they are hosting on Friday evening, February 1 to mark the Minnesota Orchestra’s nomination for a Grammy Award. The celebration will take place at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
The Minnesota Orchestra has been nominated for Best Orchestral Performance at the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards for its recording of Jean Sibelius’ Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5, conducted by Osmo Vänskä and released by the Swedish label BIS Records. The winner in the category will be announced on February 10.
Mayor Rybak and Ms. Dayton invited Minnesota Orchestra musicians and Music Director Osmo Vänskä to perform these nominated works at the February 1 community celebration. If the musicians and Music Director Vänskä accept the invitation, ticketing information will be announced to the public soon thereafter.
“The difficult labor dispute has taken its toll, but for this one night, we ask everyone to set negotiations aside and come together as a community to celebrate the Orchestra’s extraordinary achievement and listen to their beautiful, Grammy-worthy performance,” Mayor Rybak said.
“The Minnesota Orchestra is one of our premier civic treasures,” said Ms. Dayton. “We must not miss the opportunity to honor their nomination for this prestigious award, regardless of the circumstances.”
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Judy Dayton, a longtime arts benefactor, are hoping that both sides in the Minnesota Orchestra labor dispute will set down their arms for one night and celebrate the ensemble’s Grammy nomination.
Rybak and Dayton have invited the players and music director Osmo Vanska to perform the Sibelius Symphonies No. 2 and 5 on Feb. 1 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The orchestra’s recording of those two pieces have been nominated for Best Orchestral Performance. The Grammy winner will be announced Feb. 10.
“We are obviously in a complicated labor issue right now,” Rybak said in an interview Wednesday afternoon. “But it would be a tragedy in my mind if the dispute prevented this community from celebrating the fact that we have an institution that is up for a Grammy.” …
The Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra are honored to be invited by Mayor R.T. Rybak and Orchestra benefactor Judy Dayton to perform at a Grammy celebration concert on February 1st, 2013.
The Musicians recognize the significance this Grammy nomination holds for our community and the Orchestra’s reputation, as well as the importance of joining Osmo in performing these Sibelius works for our audience.
“This is a tremendous gesture by the Mayor and Ms. Dayton,” Principal Trombonist Doug Wright said. “It will be the Musicians’ distinct honor to accept their invitation and join our Music Director on stage for a performance of these Grammy-nominated works for our community. It should be a concert to remember.”
So.
Will you be there?
You could go to this.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
As we gear up for a hearing on January 23 that will focus on the economic impact of the NHL and orchestra lockouts, here is a post I wrote on my SOTL Facebook page (which, by the way, you should “like” if you haven’t already).
Orchestrate Excellence asks, “How has the Minnesota Orchestra lockout affected you personally or economically?”
Here are some facts about the economic impact of the Orchestra’s lockout…
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
Hey, kids! It’s time for another edition of Analyze This Press Release! As always, “Analyze This Press Release” is brought to you by Song of the Lark, the Minnesota Orchestral Association, and my obsessive nature.
The press release I’ll be analyzing today is the MOA’s most recent:
Minnesota Orchestra Board outlines four points to initiate progress in negotiations with Musicians’ Union
This headline makes it sounds like the musicians have been unwilling to talk, off on a tropical beach somewhere playing volleyball and sipping tequila, but…okay. If you need to save face by making the MOA look like the hero, be my guest.
The Minnesota Orchestra Board Negotiating Committee and Musicians’ Union representatives met this afternoon in a productive three-hour session, the first held since contract talks broke off on September 30. On December 21, the Orchestra Board invited the musicians to a meeting in early January, with no preconditions, in order to restart negotiations.
How generous of the MOA!
Something else happened on December 21st, too…I’m trying to remember exactly what…oh, yes, that’s right, the MOA replied to fourteen angry state representatives who had contacted the MOA in early December wanting to know if the MOA had misused public money. But I am sure there is no connection whatsoever between these letters and the MOA’s new offer. Do carry on.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
More proof that the MOA knows who I am…
The MPR article – in which I and my blog got more space than Michael Henson – is now listed in Industry News.
Um. Why is management even obliquely promoting this blog? Is this a sign that the Industry News page is starting to post others’ viewpoints? What’s next? A link to SOTL? Is this a shift in strategy, or just a dumb mistake?
I don’t get this, at all, but I guess it wouldn’t be the first time I don’t get the logic behind the MOA’s PR tactics. So, um, thanks for the shout-out, MOA. If you want to…you know…actually contact me…………feel free. I’ve got a shiny Facebook page now through which you can do that.
Filed under Blog Stuff, Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
Graydon Royce’s latest:
Fresh talks signal thaw in Minnesota Orchestra dispute
The rhetoric softened noticeably on Wednesday. “I was encouraged by the meeting,” said board chairman Jon Campbell.
A spokesman for the musicians said only that the players “agreed to a fresh start.”
The board offered a four-point plan for musicians to consider:
• Return to the organization’s former mission statement, with two changes to emphasize community service and financial stability.
• Share more financial data with musicians, including forecasts through 2015.
• Invite musicians to submit a proposal for a “mutually agreeable independent financial review” to verify the orchestra’s financial condition.
• Offer a schedule of dates for more meetings.
“We had good dialogue around the four ideas that we had, and agreement on the concepts of financial sustainability and artistic quality and the fresh start,” said Campbell.
A fresh start
I need to sleep on the news and mull it all over. But obviously the first thought that struck me…
Five weeks ago, financial review = a frolic and detour
But now, apparently financial review =
A fresh start
So, hmm. What happened in the interim…. I wonder…
Anyway, I’m sensing a new SOTL catchphrase, folks! One that would be at home in an advertising campaign for deodorant or detergent.
What do you think? Are we being played? Is pressure being applied behind the scenes? Is the MOA scared of the state legislature? What do you think? Unfortunately right now my cynicism meter is on high. So I’m waiting for the trick and the catch.
More analysis to come, after I dream of “mutually agreeable independent financial reviews.” Whatever those are.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
My favorite performance from the Song of the Lark Advent calendar. Ella Fitzgerald in “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”
2012 is over!
Thank crap!
GUYS! WE MADE IT!
I have some housekeeping stuff…
2012 STATS!
Every blogger worth his salt is writing something about his 2012 stats today. So I will, too, but with a twist… Following the example of the Minnesota Orchestral Association, I will release a number to you, completely out of context, which has been independently audited, by WordPress:
Traffic at Song of the Lark has increased by roughly 1600% from last year.
Here’s what this statistic looks like on a satirical graph I made to advance my pre-ordained narrative that this blog is doing fabulously.
Seriously, though. Traffic did increase by 1600%, and my readership has grown beyond my wildest dreams. There are a lot of people reading this blog. Want to know how many? Drew McManus is currently running a poll, asking readers to guess about various statistics about Adaptistration. Under the question “Which culture blog referred the most traffic to Adaptistration in 2012?” Song of the Lark is one of the options (along with Slipped Disc). I won’t tell you if it’s the right answer, just in case you want to take the quiz yourself, but the fact that Drew even considered using SOTL as an option… Craziness! Craziness, all of it.
So anyway, thank you thank you thank you, all! And how about a special shout-out to Michael Henson? He’s a huge reason why this blog is so popular!
In the continuing vein of British GIFs…
MOST POPULAR POSTS!
In case you want to take a trek down memory lane… (Entries are listed in reverse order for optimal countdown excitement.)
5) Great Female Violinists: A List. Proof that before the Orchestral Apocalypse, I mainly wrote about Victorian violinists. If you’re remotely interested in the history of music, and you’re a reader who came aboard after August (and most of you are), you should check out this page. I’ve written about some really amazing inspirational women who are very unjustly neglected.
4) A Layman’s Guide to the Minnesota Orchestra Lockout. What the title says. As an update, yesterday I wrote and posted a sequel: A Layman’s Guide to the Minnesota Orchestra Lockout, Part 2.
3) Violinist Jill Olson Moser Writes About Minnesota Orchestra Subs. Proof that my readers like it when I shut up once in a while and bring aboard amazing guest writers. A big thank you not just to Jill, but to all of my 2012 guest bloggers. You brought perspectives I don’t have, and I’m so thankful.
2) Is Minnesota Orchestra management lying to us? Ah, yes, the good old days before we knew they were…
And of course…
1) The Key And the Lockout: Minnesota Orchestra Musicians In-Concert, Oct. 18. Well, of course. This is the essay that led to the great Alex Ross Recognition of 2012.
Possibly the GREATEST TWEET OF ALL TIME.
NEW FACEBOOK PAGE!
I’ve had one for a while but I only revved it up yesterday. Here it is. You can also like it by checking out the link on the right-most column of the blog. There you can connect with other readers, share stuff, and message me privately. It’ll be interesting to see how the page evolves. Just a quick reminder to be respectful to everyone. Remember that important people are reading what you write.
Once the lockouts are over, and I go back to blogging about historical female violinists nobody has ever heard of, you have my permission to un-like me. ;)
OPEN THREAD!
Feel free to talk in the comments about what you want to see in the blog in the new year…ideas for mobilization…what exactly you want to see state representatives do in the new year… Anything, really.
Thanks for being my readers. You’re the best. xoxo
– Emily
Filed under Blog Stuff
Here’s a sequel to my Layman’s Guide to the Lockout. The first Layman’s Guide covered events from August to mid-October. This one will summarize events from mid-October to late December.
***
After the extraordinary sold-out gala concert at the Convention Center on October 18, there was a vague hope among patrons that maybe negotiations would start moving again. But unfortunately, if anyone thought that the Minnesota Orchestral Association, or MOA, would stop canceling concerts, their hope was misplaced.
Prior to canceling the next stretch of shows, the MOA put up a new page on their website called “Misrepresentations vs. Reality.” I fact-checked the MOA’s statements in an essay called “Misrepresentation, Reality…Misrepresentation of Reality.” In that essay, I asked:
The only interesting thing about this crap is the fact that management found it necessary to post it. Is this a sign that they’re having difficulty winning over their public? Or that they’re gearing up to pull an SPCO and cancel concerts through December 31st within the next few days, and they want to be prepared for the surge of confused PO’d patrons who will be coming to their website looking for an explanation?
On November 8, the MOA canceled concerts clear the way to the end of 2012. As I wrote in my next blog entry, “Either I’m psychic, or management is laughably transparent.” A flood of patrons surged to the Minnesota Orchestra’s Facebook page, expressing their anger and frustration at the stalemate. Most of them laid the blame squarely at the feet of the MOA.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
The conflict between the Minnesota Orchestral Association and its musicians is obviously a hugely complicated one. Consequently, it’s full of lots of names, specialty terms unfamiliar to lay audiences, and even the occasional in-joke (popcorn?). So if you’re ever confused about a name or a term or an in-joke, let me know, and I’ll add it to the SOTL Glossary.
Bold phrases indicate names or terms that are explained elsewhere in the glossary.
***
990s. Forms the Minnesota Orchestral Association (or MOA) has to file with the IRS. More information about 990s here. Thanks to Drew McManus, we have the MOA 990s from FY 1998, 2000-6, and 2009-2010. The 2011 990 is available on the website Guidestar. I’m still waiting on a copy of the 2012 990.
Advent calendar. I sent an Advent calendar of questions to Michael Henson in December of 2012. He didn’t acknowledge it. (I also sent Christmas cards to Jon Campbell and Richard Davis; I never heard back from them, either.) You can read about my foray into Advent-calendar-based-activism here.
One side of Michael Henson’s homemade Advent calendar
Filed under Blog Stuff, Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
Many patrons, like Emily Hogstad, were left wondering how it will all play out.
“I have no idea yet,” she said. “I think it is way too early for anybody to know, as crazy as that sounds because it’s been going on for a while.”
Hogstad writes The Song of the Lark, a detailed and deeply researched blog that has explored the intricacies of the Minnesota Orchestra dispute. She supports the musicians’ cause and is frustrated by the lack of progress.
“I think if there are changes, they are happening behind the scenes,” Hogstad said, “and we have to do all we can to pressure those who we disagree with to maybe come around to our point of view.”
Hop down a couple of paragraphs and we hear from Michael Henson…
In Minneapolis, Minnesota Orchestra President Michael Henson agreed that the issues will take time to resolve. Musicians have not made a counteroffer to a contract proposal first put on the table in April.
When asked directly if his negotiating team might make a new offer to break the logjam, he said: “We’ll continue to evaluate the most appropriate solutions to find a resolution to this.”
However, he returned time and again to the board’s belief that the orchestra needs to reduce its annual budget to $26 million in order to survive.
So helloooooo, Michael Henson! Any time you want to stop pretending you don’t know who I am, feel free! I promise not to hold your silence against you. All I want is to hear from you and have you answer a few questions. That’s all. I promise.
Maybe if I greet you with some British GIFs gleaned from the Internet, you’d be more likely to return my greeting…? Well, it’s worth a shot. Here goes.
Filed under Labor Disputes, Minnesota Orchestra
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