Tuning Out The Crisis
Everywhere you turn these days, the news seems to be bad and getting worse by the hour. In the orchestra world, the most positive headline I've seen in weeks was from the Cleveland Orchestra, where they've just barely managed to balance their budget by exhausting a bridge fund which will now do nothing for their future financial situation, leaving them precariously balanced on the edge of a million-gallon drum of red ink. And that's the best scenario we're seeing for orchestras at the moment. (As I write this, the Minnesota Orchestra is holding our own annual meeting, where I'm told we'll also be announcing a balanced budget for 2007-08, but of course, we're preparing for the same kinds of historic challenges as everyone else in what are sure to be some lean years ahead.)
It's on days like this that I always make sure to turn off the news and put down the budget projections for at least a few minutes, and spend some time doing or watching something that reminds me of why I love what I do for a living. Thankfully, in the age of YouTube, such reminders are never too far away. Those of you who've been reading this blog almost since the beginning may remember my fondness for violinist Gilles Apap, he of the crazy Mozart cadenza. Say what you will about the dangers of not taking serious music seriously, but Apap is unquestionably a serious musician who never fails to make me smile. Even in days like these...
It's on days like this that I always make sure to turn off the news and put down the budget projections for at least a few minutes, and spend some time doing or watching something that reminds me of why I love what I do for a living. Thankfully, in the age of YouTube, such reminders are never too far away. Those of you who've been reading this blog almost since the beginning may remember my fondness for violinist Gilles Apap, he of the crazy Mozart cadenza. Say what you will about the dangers of not taking serious music seriously, but Apap is unquestionably a serious musician who never fails to make me smile. Even in days like these...
Labels: fun
posted by Sam at
1:03 PM
2 Comments:
sigh... I wish I could be a part of something like that. Being a spectator is nice, but just not the same.
(Still, it made me smile on a Friday afternoon that is NOT ending. Thanks)
I've been a bit under the weather this week, and am in anything but a fun mood. However, I do want to add my two cents in regards to the crisis. When I was in my early twenties I was a news junkie. That all changed for me a number of years ago when I realized that CNN, Fox, CNBC, etc, etc. are bad. They are bad in the sense that they are obsessive compulsive in their reporting tendencies. Now I rarely turn on a television news program, and will check online news only once or twice per day.
To fill a 24 hour programming day of just news is a task which of course is going to require discussing the same subject matter for hours on end. Thus it's incredibly easy to get obsessed with whatever story is at hand...and right now it's the economy. In issues of less seriousness they usually get covered non-stop for a couple of weeks until people are sick of it and then they move on to something else. I can grant you, there are other things going on out there as well, and there has to be a saturation point coming soon for this.
What this has effectively done is create an immense amount of panic in everybody. I have worked in the loan/banking world for the past 11 years, so I have been at the front lines of this mess for well over a year now, so nobody knows better the hardship that this situation has created. Nevertheless, I feel this is a good time for everyone to take stock of what is really important in their life and focus on that, instead of paying too much attention to what tickers CNN.com may be running.
If one of the things that is important to you is attending an orchestra concert, then I would urge everyone to keep going. Personal experience tells me that it's one of the few things in life that I can count on to help keep me on an even-keel. I can't tell you how stressed I would be if I didn't have classical music and the arts to turn to for relief. The bottom line is funds are going to be very tight for many people, but whatever your particular hobby is, I would keep going as best you can, and not close the valve entirely. The Minnesota Orchestra has been offering $25 tickets, so it's clear they are trying to work with us as best they can. It just seems to me that continuing to support what is most important to you is probably the best way to get through any crisis, and may actually make your days dealing with it just a little bit easier.
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