The Orpheus Orchestra. Conductorless full chamber orchestra. A World Class Orchestra that is slowly discovering that there are certain areas of work that belong to the Conductor.
Unfortunately most orchestras are made up of experts who will destroy a conductor who doesn't do the Alpha Male routine. However, it isn't necessary if the performers are mature about their expertise. I accomplished it by making the performers responsible for running the company. The Berlin Philharmonic does the same. Remember they fired Von Karajan. The Magic Circle Opera Repertory Ensemble is a Chamber Opera company. Look up the Donald Shoen Books on reflective practitioners or the Peter Senge 5th Discipline books on business which are based on the ensemble model of a learning. The point is that it is an expertise and if the conductor doesn't have it the orchestra will eat you alive. I've been in the business for 43 years and that is my experience but perhaps you have other experience. I also have a free web site at http://mccony.freeyellow.com/ I would also suggest pages 2 and 3 on the links "Why a Magic Circle?" and "MCCONY Development" The Magic Circle Chamber Opera is the performing arm of the Magic Circle Opera Repertory Ensemble which has a Training, a Project Development, a Management and a , Network arm of the Company. It is self sustaining through our own contributions and it is performer run. Sometimes well, oftentimes we wish we knew more before we acted but our record is substantial over the 23 years of MCORE's existance. You might enjoy it. It is not a professional site but was my first play at making a web site. REH ----- Original Message ----- From: Brad McCormick, Ed.D. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Ray Evans Harrell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2001 6:56 PM Subject: Re: Appendix: Distance-working/Low-rise buildings > Ray Evans Harrell wrote: > > > > Brad said: > > The "hidden > > > curriculum" of Beethoven's 9th is: obey the conductor > > > or else!, however "humanistic" may be the words thus > > > generated by the chorus. > > > > Not true. The hidden message is "listen to your colleagues and stay WITH > > them no matter what." Conductors are like train conductors, they just try > > to keep the balances even and the collisions from happening while shaping > > the whole of the textures and form. You learn to think together and that > > means everyone. > > I don't believe this. There may be an occasional conductor who > has genuine humility and only *serves* his or her > musicians, but most of them look to me like their heads > are so big it's just luck they fit into the performance hall. > > That's why I cited chamber music: It is order without a boss. > It is peer coordination of social life. > > > Chaos and Anarchy are not practiced because in the > > orchestra they are seen as silly foolishness up in front for the whole world > > to see. > > If, as is probably true, an orchestra is too big to > self-govern, my proposal is simple: no more symphonies. > > Maybe an octet is the upper limit? > > I am being entirely serious here. The older I get and > the more I learn and experience, the more I see how degrading > and impoverishing and alienating, etc. are all non-peer > social structures. They may be necessary to feed ourselves > in gigalopolis, but we need not celebrate them. > > And, as I said, I think a *big* part of the problem is the *audience*. > Chamber music should be performed in a living room. > > I am also against a chamber group or solo performer performing > in front of an auditorium audience. It's not just the > form of the art which degrades, but the form of its performance. > > Any anonymous crowd is a misfortune and a lower form > of existence than I-thou, peer-with--peer sociation. > > I don't expect people to receive such ideas gladly, just like > I wouldn't expect most Southern Whites in 1800 to find owning slaves > beneath their dignity (we still haven't even got to the point > where people are ashamed of *renting* persons, AKA hiring > employees!). > > [snip] > > As for working conditions. It is tremendously expensive to maintain an > > orchestra since there can be no productiviy increase in the way that lean > > and agile manufacturing works today with downsizing. Orchestras and > > choruses are lean no matter what. Very few of today's business leaders, > > management types or economists truly understand the orchestral model. > > Peter Drucker after studying it said that it was the model for all > > corporations in the future because of the level of expertise, individual > > initiative required and intimate connection with the conductor. To call > > the conductor fascist or into obedience is like only considering sex as such > > and I don't. > > Some individual conductors may be genuine persons who > go home and cry each night that they have to work in so > primitive a society where there are still leaders and followers, > and where they have to lead so that the followers will not > go astray. And hopefully they are trying their best to eliminate their > line of work. > > "Where I'm coming from" is a growing understanding that > the form of life of the workers and, by that way, of the > society as a whole, is a co-product of > every workplace, whatever its nominal product. Lawrence > Kohlberg coined the term "hidden curriculum" to refer to > what the schools teach by example rather than the > surface content of the texts in the courses. > > Perhaps we are still too primitive to be able to > do away with leaders. Perhaps 6,000,000,000 persons, > no matter how culturally evolved, can't live on one > small planet together except under some kind of asymmetrical > "government". There is no guarantee it is possible to be > human in any other than an ethical sense, i.e., to > suffer in sacrifice -- there are ample opportunities for *that*! > > One of my relatives runs an artistic "company". He is > indeed, a little "boss", even though he gets off on > anti-establishment subject matter. > > Nothing personal about it. For all I know you > may be very kindly and nurturing to the people > in your organization. But isn't the goal of all > tutelage for the tutee to grow to the point he or > she no longer needs tutelage? > > I think the following thought experiment might be helpful for all > persons in positions of power: Ask yourself if how you > treat the persons "under" you (or in your care...) if each > of them was the son or daughter of a billionaire and could bring > to bear on you overwelming legal and other force, or, > more likely, since thay would generally not be "into" masochism, if they > could *just walk away* and leave you with nobody to teach? > > Yours in the hope for a genuinely human world, in which there are > neither victims nor executioners, neither leaders nor followers, > but rather universal peer collegiality. > > +\brad mccormick > > -- > Let your light so shine before men, > that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16) > > Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21) > > <![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ----------------------------------------------------------------- > Visit my website ==> http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
