Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic just took another giant step forward in its establishment as a self-proclaimed goodwill ambassador for the U.S. Presenting two concerts in Hanoi last weekend. The event marked their first visit to communist Vietnam since the war between our countries ended over three decades ago. An estimated one-third of the tickets went to sponsors and government officials, with the remainder sold to the general public. Reportedly, the cheapest tickets were around two million dong, or $115 US.

Even though ticket prices were sky high, the concerts nevertheless did sell out. But this did not wholly exclude the remaining music lovers in the area, as they could watch for free on two large screens with speakers set up outside the Hanoi Opera House. AFP spoke with laborers and cab drivers who gave up a nights work to watch the concert.

The program included Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4, with Emanuel Ax as soloist, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. A full account from AFP writer Ian Timberlake after the break.

NY Philharmonic Holds Debut Performance In Hanoi

According to studies presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, “musical training can improve your hearing”. Go figure. Don’t worry it gets more interesting.

Studies in the past have determined that musical training does not help a person’s ability to pick out voices in a noisy room. This year, a similar study was conducted: but instead of picking out human voices, the subjects had to pick out their respective instruments. This time around the results were quite different.

Right now you’re thinking, thanks captain obvious. This is probably not surprising news. But it was interesting to some of the country’s top neuroscientists because of it’s implications into how we treat language disabilities in children. Pitch, timing, and tone quality: the three most important aspects of language recognition. Our ability to quickly detect these attributes determine our lingual cognition.

Nina Kraus, director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory at Northwestern University, explains that musicians are excelling where children with language disabilities are falling short. While nothing has been done yet using this theory, it opens up a gateway for experimental treatments of dyslexia and other impairments.

An excellent article from NPR below, please check it out. Credit to author Jon Hamilton.

Say What?! Musicians Hear Better

How do you get to Carnegie? Practice. How do you make the most money? Get off the stage.

An article on Bloomberg.com provides some astonishing information regarding employee salaries at the renowned venue. During the fiscal year ending in June 2008, the average income of the full-time stage crew (carpenters and electricians) was $430,543. Exempt from that statistic is Dennis O’Connell, who supervises props at the hall, and made $530,044.

While not mentioned in the article, I think it’s safe to say that no Carnegie Hall musician comes even close to matching that. The only employee of the hall which surpasses the stagehands is Artistic and Executive Director Clive Gillinson, who pulled in $946,581.

So where does this discrepancy come from? The union. Joshua Free, a labor historian from Queens College, suggests that the ability of the workers union to essentially shut down the nucleus of New York’s entertainment district give them the upper hand in contract negotiations.

For more information, check out the full article on Bloomerg.com.

Stagehand Moving Props Makes $530,044 at N.Y.C.’s Carnegie Hall

More hapless news, this time coming from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. In a press conference on Wednesday, Richard Simmons, chairman of the orchestra, revealed that even strong ticket sales cannot come close to balancing out the effects of the national economic crisis.

The PSO announced that ticket sales were up by roughly $40,000. Good news considering most orchestras are declaring the contrary. Unfortunately, the budget deficit is totaling nearly half a million. Fault can be attributed to a decreasing endowment, as well as the dismissal of a special tax deduction which the PSO had been cashing in on (for corporations giving to nonprofit organizations).

To help the deficit, 11 administrative jobs have been cut. Not exactly what we like to hear these days. Patrons have been more than helpful, as gifts to the orchestra total $279,000.

Hopefully this season will bring in some luck to one of the country’s top organizations. Original article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette below.

Economy took toll on symphony’s artistically bright year

A recent article published by Jay Nordlinger of the National Review describes his personal account of several days at the Salzburg Summer Festival. Each year, the festival plays host to some of the most highly regarded musicians in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is perhaps the star attraction for patrons, as they are both the symphony in residence, as well as the opera orchestra for the event. These weeks present the absolute crème de la crème of the music world, and to say the least, ticket prices are exorbitant.

But it was not his glowing review of the Vienna Phil’s performance of Bruckner No. 6, nor his brief history lesson on the life and works of Luigi Nono, that kept me thinking long past the final sentence. It was his canning of a voice recital, given by Patricia Petibon in the House for Mozart, which has this kid writing into the early hours of the morning.
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Along with the fame, wealth, and respect that came with winning the TED Prize (Technology, Entertainment, Design), Jose Antonio Abreu was granted a wish.

I wish you would help create and document a special training program for at least 50 gifted young musicians, passionate for their art and for social justice, and dedicated to developing El Sistema in the US and in other countries. -Abreu
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