The first time I donated to the arts, it was through my university. DePauw had a really amazing music school and visual arts programs, so it seemed fairly obvious to me to earmark the small donation for use by the arts. 

Obvious might be the wrong word here, because I was also the only one of my friends who, even for my limited involvement with the arts, had actually allocated the donation.  I still find, my friends and I take advantage of free classical concerts, lectures or outreach, and don’t ever follow-up with a monetary donation or in-kind support.  So what gives?

This seems to me like a fairly big challenge, and also an incredibly important one for all art and culture institutions, because donor bases for the arts are aging.  My generation is going to be even more important to hook as donors now, rather than later.

One of the things that is particularly exciting to me about Chicago is learning about the classical music and cultural history here.  Many of the organizations have been established for decades, and it is so interesting to learn about how each has grown, changed, and make their mark in the community.

This week, I caught up with a co-artistic director and trumpeter of Chicago Chamber Musicians, Charlie Geyer, to chat about the organization’s twenty-fifth anniversary and what audiences can look forward to during the remainder of the 2011-2012 season and in the future.  The Chamber will be performing several pieces in the “Memories of Vienna” concert scheduled for November 6-7. For details visit www.chicagochambermusic.org.


How is Chicago Chamber Musicians celebrating its 25 anniversary?

We really tied our season around this idea of “collaboration”.  We thought about collaboration as a vision for the future of our organization also.

A contemporary phrase about flamboyant jewelry? An overused hip-hop reference?  Further proof that language is in a constant state of flux?  Yes, to all of the above, and also the title of composer Michael Daugherty’s most recent piece entitled Bling Bling for Full Orchestra and Break Dancers.  You can catch a short video excerpt of this work at www.thecereallist.com

Ah, technology!  It seems that the National Symphony Orchestra’s conductor, Emil de Cou, has prepared real-time program notes to Beethoven’s Sixth that will be beamed via Twitter to people sitting on the lawn of Wolf Trap on July 30. According to an NSO press release, “The messages will begin during intermission and provide facts about Beethoven’s life and work. Once the concert begins, the tweets will be sent at specific points in the score, becoming streaming program notes that mark musical signposts depicting Beethoven’s symphonic tribute to a day in the country.”
 

Since the League of American Orchestras changed how they sent out their weekly media and industry updates, I don’t get to read them as often as I used to.  Too bad because it was a nice, easy way to quickly see what was happening with other orchestras.  I had a few moments today to visit The Hub (where they keep this info nowadays) and stumbled across an article I found interesting and amusing.  It’s about branding - a topic I think about fairly regularly.