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Stand On Guard for CBC original blog
The original blog, reproduced on this page (without the original formatting), is a storehouse/archive of much of the commentary on the CBC Radio Orchestra issue as published from March 31, 2008 to April 25, 2008. You’ll find reprints of articles, Open Letters from concerned listeners, famous musicians and others, as well as links to various resources. The entire blog is reprinted on this page. Simply search by author, famous person, topic, etc.
03/31/08
Open letter from Jocelyn Morlock
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: morlock [at] 11:24 pm
An open letter from Jocelyn Morlock (to various politicians, also to the CBC…)
I am writing to express my disappointment and grave dismay about the destruction of the CBC Radio Orchestra and the many misguided changes to the programming of CBC Radio 2 and to ask your position regarding these developments at our public broadcaster. As an avid listener, a professional musician, and a proud Canadian, I am distraught over these changes and what they mean for our cultural life.
Aside from the disbandment of the CBC Radio Orchestra, CBC Records’ classical music budget has been decimated, the CBC Young Performers Competition and the CBC Young Composers Competition have been eliminated, and future cuts will leave us without any classical or jazz music in the early mornings, the evenings, or at night. If this disaster had happened 15 or 20 years ago, when I was a teenager, I would never have known that most art music, both classical and jazz, even existed. It was CBC Radio that was responsible for my musical education, as I’m sure is true for many young listeners whose parents don’t have the money to take them to concerts.
In short, any time when a non-retired person might be able to listen to the radio, the CBC will be playing the exact same music as can be found on other (commercial) radio stations. This does not fulfill CBC’s mandate and does not defend a distinct Canadian culture in any way. It is not educational, intelligent, or enlightening and it is not particularly Canadian.
I am particularly concerned at what appears to be brash nepotism exhibited by Mark Steinmetz, the director of radio music at CBC. In choosing to play mainly pop music supported by the Songwriter’s Association of Canada, the board of which his father Peter Steinmetz is chair, it seems that he is unabashedly flaunting his power at the expense of our Canadian culture and heritage.
I’ve heard - to take a couple of examples from Steinmetz’s new list of supported pop artists seen on the expensive full-page ad that CBC paid for in the weekend Globe and Mail - Feist and Tom Cochrane many places besides CBC. They’re played on pop radio stations, in shopping malls and food courts, Feist also in Apple Ipod commercials, and while they may be Canadian, there is no reason to play them on public, non-commercial radio. We’ll hear them regardless, like it or not.
If the public library chose its books from the bestseller list, and that was all they allowed, the homogenization would be stifling. I’m sure there would be an outcry because no one would allow that kind of limitation to our culture. What Mark Steinmetz, Jennifer McGuire, and the other “leaders” of the CBC management team are doing is, sickeningly, the same thing.
As a concerned Canadian, I would like to know what you will do to preserve and support our distinct culture and heritage in the form of CBC Radio.
Sincerely,
Jocelyn Morlock
comments (0)
Composer Michael S. Horwood’s letter
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 3:54 pm
On Mar 31, 2008, at 11:16 AM, Michael S. Horwood wrote:
Apart from the deplorable news from the CBC and its last radio
orchestra, I have a few other things to report that further drive our
coffin nails deeper.
The CBS news program, “Sunday Morning”, continues to go down hill to
establishment “culture”. Years ago viewers would get quality pieces with
Billy Taylor interviewing important jazz musicians. More importantly the
show actually had segments featuring people like Libby Larson, Joan
Tower, Richard Danielpour, Don Knack and other contemporary composers
and musicians. That was a long time ago. Yesterday we got treated to a
piece on Mic Jagger and another on R.E.M. On what used to be an
interesting little oasis from the televsion junk yard, rock has now
taken centre stage and those of our ilk are no longer considered
important enough for TV space. Bill Flannagan has replaced Eugenia
Zuckerman with the “must have’s” of rock CD’s and the “who’s important
now” from that genre. What’s really driving the nails deeper is that
“Sunday Morning” STILL covers all manner of progressive, contemporary
visual art, artists and gallery showings, but nothing on the musical
equivalent. Why is it that the media can feature all manner of
experimental visual art, but ignore anything pertaining to musical
experimentation? Instead we get more rock, pop, schlock purporting to be
THE important directions music is headed.
* *
I recently came back from a wonderful vacation in South America. But….
In Buenos Aires I asked around for the best CD stores in the city. I was
directed to three stores. I can sadly report that there were NO
contemporary composers represented in the bins. I would have though that
there would have been at least a few by Ginastera, Villa-Lobos, or
wouldn’t-it-be-nice, Marlos Nobre, but no - nothing. Ok, there are
probably some interesting side-street places, but the general hotel
staff, store clerks etc. would never know about THESE kinds of specialty
stores. I must say, though, that I’m not really surprised. It just
reinforces how large the problem is and that it is not confined to
Canada or N. America, but is really a global issue.
Am I the only composer on this list that feels I’m part of a dying
profession, like a type-writer repairman? Or are you just going to tell
me: “Oh Michael, you are so pessimistic.”
=====>
Michael S. Horwood - Composer, retired professor of Music and Humanities.
Member of the Canadian League of Composers. Associate Composer of
the Canadian Music Centre. SOCAN Performing Rights affiliate.
Please visit my fantastically UPDATED Website: www.HorwoodComposer.com
(contains biography, reviews, list of works and instrumentation,
performances, discography, sound clips, search options)
comments (0)
Composer Chris Harman’s letter
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 2:42 pm
From: chris harman [mailto:REMOVED]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 11:55 AM
To: mark.steinmetz[at]cbc.ca
Cc: jennifer.mcguire[at]cbc.ca; robert.rabinovitch[at]cbc.ca;
pherrndo[at]nac-cna.ca; Neil Gardiner CLC; Elisabeth Bihl
Subject: Dismantling of the CBC Radio Orchestra
Dear Mark,
It was with profound disappointment that I read over
the weekend about the impending demise of the CBC
Radio Orchestra.
The CBC Radio Orchestra has played a very important
role in my development as a composer, both
professionally and artistically. In the 1990’s and
early 2000’s, the orchestra gave the premiere
performances of my works Irisation, Concerto for Oboe
and Strings, Catacombs and Mabushii Sora E. All of
these works, (with the exception of Concerto for Oboe
and Strings) were commissioned by CBC Radio Music. In
addition to these premiere performances, the orchestra
also performed my work Iridescence as part of the
Avison Series in 1994.
The performance and recording of my Concerto for Oboe
and Strings brought recognition to all involved when
the piece was chosen as a Recommended Work at the
International Rostrum of Composers in Paris in 1994.
I am aware that the CBC Radio Orchestra has had a
similarly positive and influential role in the
development of many of my composer colleagues, most
notably Brian Current, whose work For the Time Being,
(performed by the orchestra as part of the CBC’s
competition for young composers in 2001) was also
recognized as a Selected Work at the 2001
International Rostrum of Composers.
Although I have not collaborated as often with the
orchestra in recent years, I remember well that it was
one of my favourite orchestras to work with, both for
the superior quality of their performances and for the
warm and amicable character of its musicians.
It is my opinion that the orchestra is something in
which the CBC should take enormous pride, and should
fight to preserve.
From the point of view of a classical musician living
and working in Canada, I see the dismantling of the
CBC Radio Orchestra as the culmination of a series of
steps (along with the dismantling of the competitions
for young composers and young performers, the dilution
of the music commissioning program, and the
dismantling of CBC Records) towards the complete
renouncement of a noble aesthetic that was once very
important to the CBC.
In the 1990 program booklet for the CBC National Radio
Competition for Young Composers, Denis Regnaud (former
head of Radio Music for Radio-Canada) wrote: “Through
commissions, recordings, productions and
co-productions of concerts and records, our public
radio network has played a major role in fostering
musical creativity in Canada.”
It seems to me that the CBC Radio Orchestra, more than
any other single entity perhaps, has successfully
embraced this aesthetic, and has been proactive in all
of the aforementioned activities, to the benefit of
many within the national musical community. To
dismantle the orchestra in one fell swoop would
suggest that the long-held aesthetic of “fostering
musical creativity in Canada” is something that the
CBC now deems to be irrelevant.
As a professor of music composition at the Schulich
School of Music of McGill University since 2005, I can
attest to the fact that there is no decline in
interest or commitment on the part of young people to
study classical music performance or composition, in
spite of the ever-changing cultural landscape and its
shifting priorities.
What is disappointing to me at this point is the
realization that many of these talented young
musicians will not be able to avail themselves of many
of the opportunities I had as an emerging artist, many
of them provided by the CBC.
If there is any single step that could be taken at
this point on the part of the CBC to reclaim the noble
aesthetic of the mandate outlined by Denis Regnaud in
his text from 1990, I would suggest that it should be
the preservation of the CBC Radio Orchestra.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Paul Harman
Assistant Professor of Composition
Schulich School of Music
McGill University
555 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, QC
H3A 1E3
CANADA
2 comments
2 Responses to “Composer Chris Harman’s letter”
1. Emily G. Says:
March 31st, 2008 at 5:09 pm GREAT letter. Thanks for sharing it.
2. Kevin H Says:
April 29th, 2008 at 4:14 pm A clear and significant letter that should be considered by CBC.
Letters to MPs in British Columbia
Filed under: Who to contact
Posted by: site admin [at] 2:31 pm
Here’s a list of BC MPs. We’ve asked the Speaker for
e-mail and similar details.
Here too the url for same:
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimeP
eriod=Current&Language=E
IMPORTANT: Here the simplest mailing address for all
MPs:
Mail may be sent postage-free to any Member at the
following address:
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
K1A 0A6
BC Members of Parliament:
Abbott, Jim (Hon.) Kootenay-Columbia, Conservative
Atamanenko, Alex British Columbia Southern Interior,
NDP
Bell, Catherine Vancouver Island North, NDP
Bell, Don H. North Vancouver, Liberal
Black, Dawn New Westminster-Coquitlam, NDP
Cannan, Ron Kelowna-Lake Country, Conservative
Chan, Raymond (Hon.) Richmond, Liberal
Crowder, Jean Nanaimo-Cowichan, NDP
Cullen, Nathan Skeena-Bulkley Valley, NDP
Cummins, John Delta-Richmond East, Conservative
Davies, Libby Vancouver East, NDP
Day, Stockwell (Hon.) Okanagan-Coquihalla,
Conservative
Dhaliwal, Sukh Newton-North Delta, Liberal
Dosanjh, Ujjal (Hon.) Vancouver South, Liberal
Emerson, David (Hon.) Vancouver Kingsway, Conservative
Fast, Ed Abbotsford, Conservative
Fry, Hedy (Hon.) Vancouver Centre, Liberal
Grewal, Nina Fleetwood-Port Kells, Conservative
Harris, Richard Cariboo-Prince George, Conservative
Hiebert, Russ South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale,
Conservative
Hill, Jay (Hon.) Prince George-Peace River,
Conservative
Hinton, Betty Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo, Conservative
Julian, Peter Burnaby-New Westminster British Columbia
NDP
Kamp, Randy Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission,
Conservative
Lunn, Gary (Hon.) Saanich-Gulf Islands, Conservative
Lunney, James Nanaimo-Alberni, Conservative
Martin, Keith (Hon.) Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca, Liberal
Mayes, Colin Okanagan-Shuswap, Conservative
Moore, James Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam,
Conservative
Priddy, Penny Surrey North, NDP
Savoie, Denise Victoria, NDP
Siksay, Bill Burnaby-Douglas, NDP
Strahl, Chuck (Hon.) Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon,
Conservative
Warawa, Mark Langley, Conservative
Wilson, Blair West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky
Country, Independent
============
Chuck Strahl and Stockwell Day are the senior
political ministers for the Government in BC. We
should send a delegation to each. Ignore claims that
the CBC is ‘independent’. It is NOT independent of
Treasury Board, and that’s where the $ comes from.
Requests should be made of each MP that they take this
matter to their respective caucuses, and report back
to the letter-writer.
It is ALWAYS best if the letter-writer lives in a
given MP’s own riding. They check addresses.
Comments Off
Did the Hockey Strike Kill the CBC Orchestra?
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 2:48 am
Thoughts on hearing the announcement of the demise of the CBC Radio Orchestra
by Laurie Townsend
CBC and Hockey are two of Canada’s National institutions. Watching “Hockey Night in Canada” is a national pastime and the CBC relies heavily on the advertising revenues for the games they broadcast on TV. The CBC budget took a hard hit when the 2004-2005 season of NHL Hockey was cancelled. Is it possible that the CBC Vancouver Orchestra (recently renamed the CBC Radio Orchestra) was affected by the loss of these TV revenues? I could not help wondering about the trickle down effect during the hockey strike three years ago and it came to mind again yesterday [March 27th] when CBC executives came to Vancouver to announce the elimination of the CBC Orchestra to its musicians.
News reports indicate this was an economic decision. Since CBC music broadcasting has taken a radical turn away from so called “classical music”, the economic argument for killing the CBC orchestra is not honest. Stating they will use the CBC Radio Orchestra budget (less than 1 million dollars per year [later word indicated $600,000]) to record other orchestras is not honest either as they have, in recent years, cut that amount and more from what they have spent recording Canadian orchestras. Others have written about the loss of classical music programming from CBC. With a turn away from classical music broadcasting the death of the orchestra could be considered a natural consequence, one more in the series of deaths of CBC music radio shows.
Instead of grieving today, I want to offer you an example of the CBC Radio Orchestra’s impact on Canadian culture through the stories of a few of our students at the UBC School of Music. I suspect every similar school and institution across this country could share (and I hope they do) similar stories. Stories of how CBC Radio and the CBC Radio Orchestra have nurtured the young performing and composition talents of this country, each one an argument for our national public broadcaster to reinstate the orchestra and return classical and contemporary music programming onto radio and internet broadcasting.
The UBC School of Music has had four of students win at the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in New York, auditions so prestigious and famous for helping to launch international careers that the media always reports stories about the winners. Judith Forst (B. Mus 1966, LLD 1991) won in 1968, Ben Heppner (B. Mus 1978) won in 1988, Philippe Castagner won in 2002 while still a student (is now singing with the Met in New York and starred in the VOA’s recent First Nations setting of Mozart’s Magic Flute), and just last month current third-year student Simone Osoborne won. For Forst and Heppner, the CBC has nurtured and chronicled their rise to stardom on the opera stages of the world. Before the Met, Heppner’s talent was recognized by CBC when he won the CBC Competition for Young Performers in 1979. Both Heppner and Forst have been featured soloists with the CBC Orchestra in studio sessions for broadcast, CD recordings or public performances at various times throughout their careers. Philippe Castagner recently was a soloist with the orchestra and received national exposure through CBC. One of the mandates of the orchestra has been to help develop Canadian talent by providing performance opportunities and national exposure through broadcasts. Simone Osborne may be destined for a big career on world stages, but will her public broadcaster be one of those introducing her to Canadians and nurturing her career?
Like feeder teams for the National Hockey League, the CBC has trained and developed Canadian cultural stars (and journeyman musicians who populate chamber ensembles, orchestras and teaching positions in Canada and internationally) and trained every other kind of radio production and orchestra production team member. And here again, I can list UBC Music alumni; George Laverock and Karen Wilson, both former Producer/Managers of the CBC Orchestra in Vancouver, Don Harder, Recording Engineer for the orchestra and many members of the orchestra. Faculty members such as pianists Jane Coop and Sara Davis Buechner have been soloists with the orchestra and several members of the orchestra teach here as well. Sadly, other CBC farm teams have already been cut including the regional performance programs (West Coast Performance being the B.C region show) which was often a first recording experience for young musicians with exposure to a large public and continuing exposure for established musicians.
The current executives say the resources are so limited that they could not afford to continue having a broadcast orchestra. The amount reported is something less than one million dollars. An amount that is less than a starter house in North Vancouver. It is also less than what is spent to produce some 30-second TV commercials, and depending on the show, I understand significantly less than the cost of producing a single episode for TV. This seems such a small cost for the value that this orchestra provides for our Country. For years the orchestra has been threatened, yet past CBC executives with vision have had the courage, creativity and tenacity to keep it alive.
Did the Hockey strike kill the CBC Orchestra? I believe it led to cuts in many areas of CBC programming including the orchestra. Yet the Canada Council has recently received more funding to support Canadian Cultural institutions and even the B.C. provincial government has increased support for the arts. I would like to see the Canadian federal government increase funding to CBC so that it may fulfill its mandate to the Canadian public rather than squeeze budgets throughout the Corporation to the point of killing our national cultural jewel, the CBC Radio Orchestra.
Laurie Townsend
Concerts and Communications Manager UBC School of Music.
Formerly Orchestra Librarian of the CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Production Assistant for CBC Radio Music in Vancouver, Orchestra Librarian of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and holds a B. Mus. from UBC.
March 28, 2008
PS and A few facts and figures . . .
You can hear Simone Osborne sing the role of Rosalinda when UBC Opera Ensemble per performs a concert version of “Die Fledermaus” with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra May 15th at the Orpheum Theatre.
The Cutbacks have been going on for years
The orchestra used to mostly work in the studio recording repertoire for radio broadcast and LP/CD release.
15 – 20 years ago the orchestra recorded approx 30 studio sessions and about 3 public performances each year.
Over the years the number of sessions continued to reduce until a couple of years ago the orchestra was told it could only perform publicly and then were not given the administrative or promotional support to advertise the concerts sufficiently. And in spite of this audiences at recent concerts have been very good.
This year they are giving 6 - 8 concerts.
Recording orchestras across the Country has reduced drastically over the years
When I worked for the VSO the CBC recorded approximately 12 concerts a year.
Last year 5 were recorded. This year only the concerts of their Beethoven Festival will be recorded for radio broadcast.
Any list of artists who have performed as soloists with the CBC orchestra or have had works commissioned or performed by the orchestra in its 70 year history is a list of the who’s who of Canadian musical talent.
Some other CBC music programs cut or being cut: DiscDrive, Global Village, Sound Advice, Music in Company, Here’s to You, Studio Sparks, Choral Concert, Music for a While, Two New Hours, Symphony Hall, The Singer and the Song, Northern Lights.
Good Music is good music is good music. CBC Radio 2 (Ne CBC Stereo, CBC FM) has been broadcasting jazz, world, folk, roots and singer/songwriters in addition to its classical offerings for decades in programs dedicated to each genre. And all genres collected together with a huge audience following in shows like DiscDrive.
In September 2006 CBC recorded and broadcast the entire Wagner Ring Cycle from the new Canadian Opera Company’s theatre in Toronto.
Niche programming for an elite audience or exciting and risky programming packaged and promoted to bring the opera art form to a larger audience?
Cost - priceless
The CBC Radio Orchestra - also priceless
“Any public broadcaster,” wrote Lord Pilkington about the BBC in 1960, “whose aim is to give the public what it wants, first underestimates that audience, then debauches it!”
One outcome of CBC Radio 2’s heavy emphasis on “serious” music
I started listening when I was a teenager. CBC Radio 2 is one of the reasons I have dedicated my life to working in the arts.
What can you do?
1. Write!
Send letters, e-mails, contribute to blogs (NB: Letters sent by post are counted more!)
Talk to others and encourage them to write.
I heard that one person is sending a cheque with their letter stating the money is to be used to reinstate the orchestra.
I’m still drafting my letter [Mar 30] to the CBC Executives, CBC Board, Prime Minister and Heritage Minister etc. I’m going to include a cheque with each letter expressly for the reinstatement and ongoing support of the CBC orchestra. For the cheques to the govt people it will be made payable to the Receiver General (same as when you pay your taxes) with a strong statement that I want my tax dollars to support our Public Broadcaster; for the CBC folk the cheques will be made out to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
I did a quick calculation – at the current level of activity the orchestra costs each Canadian less than 2 cents a year.
$5 represents share for 250 Canadians, $50 represents 2,500 and $100 represents 5,000.
(some addresses are included at the bottom)
2. Forward this message
3.Attend the last concerts of the Orchestra
April 20th at 3:00pm at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Programme – Great Canadian Songbook II
A programme of Canadian popular singers interpreting the music of four classic Canadian songwriters in original arrangements for orchestra by Canadian composers.
A wonderful example of the kind of creative, interesting, innovative, risky and entertaining programming that only the CBC can do and has been doing for 70 years!
And a brilliant programming idea when faced with pressure from above dictating the shift in direction CBC music content was taking. The traditional audience of the orchestra and Radio 2 must all cringe at the idea of pop music on Radio 2, what way to turn an unpalatable dictate on its head.
Look out for listings of the the Fall series of concerts which will include their last concert in November
4. Buy recordings of the orchestra and other CBC recordings by Canadian Artists (while you still can)
ie – Mozart Horn concertos with James Sommerville and CBC Vancouver Orchestra which won Juno award or the latest recording of violin concertos with James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony which just won a Grammy Award. Note – CBC Records will no longer record music to be released on CD
Many fabulous CDs to choose from https://www.cbcshop.ca
Links to news stories of the announcement of the demise of the orchestra
http://www.straight.com/article-139062/a-battle-save-cbc-radio-orchestra
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/080327/canada/vancouver_bc_cbc_radio_orchestra
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080328.CBCSUB28/TPStory/TPNational/Music/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080327.worchestra0327/BNStory/Entertainment/home?cid=al_gam_mostview
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastnews/story.html?id=a7f2ce94-9b9c-41ad-973b-9fdf54094e23
Names and Addresses you can write to. . .
President CBC
Hubert T. Lacroix President and CEO,
CBC
P.O. Box 3220, Station C,
Ottawa, Ont.,
K1Y 1E4,
Phone: (613) 288-6000,
Tim Casgrain, Chair, CBC Board of Directors and other members of the CBC Board
http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/about/directors/
The Two CBC Executives that came to Vancouver to tell the orchestra it was cut (they would have been the decision makers as well and requested board approval)
Mark Steinmetz, Director of Radio Music
P.O. Box 500, Station ” A”
Toronto, Ont.
M5W 1E6
mark_steinmetz[at]cbc.ca
Phone: (416) 205-3100, Ont.
Jennifer McGuire, Executive Director of CBC English Radio
P.O. Box 500, Station ” A”
Toronto, Ont.
M5W 1E6
jennifer_mcguire[at]cbc.ca
CBC/Radio-Canada - English Services
Audience Relations
250 Front Street West
P.O. Box 500, Station A
Toronto, Ontario M5W 1E6
1-866-306-INFO (4636) Toll-free
416-205-6688 (TDD)
website: www.cbc.ca/contact/
CBC/Radio-Canada
Corporate Communications, Head Office
P.O. Box 3220, Station C
Ottawa, ON K1Y 1E4
613-288-6033 (General)
e-mail: liaison[at]radio-canada.ca
The Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
e-mail pm[at]pm.gc.ca
The Honourable Josée Verner
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
To send an e-mail from the Canadian Heritage web page go to this page. . .
http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/min/verner/contact/index_e.cfm
The Member of Parlaiment for your riding
Friends of Canadian Broadcasting
attn.: Ian Morrison
Box 200/238
131 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 1R8
Fax: (416) 968-7406
E-mail: friends[at]friends.ca
Laurie Townsend
Concerts and Communications Manager
University of British Columbia
School of Music
comments (0)
A new “Digg” has been added to the story
Filed under: SPIN
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:52 am
I just checked the original press release announcing the end of the Orchestra,
http://www.insidethecbc.com/cbc-radio-orchestra-to-disband-to-fund-works-from-other-canadian-groups
and…there’s something new there right at the top: a little paragraph that says:
“Next year, the CBC will begin commissioning works from orchestras
across Canada. The money will come from savings it will find when it
disbands the Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra at the end of November.”
Isn’t that great? I wonder how they managed to negotiate that so quickly with all of those orchestras across Canada? Come on reporters: start asking questions! We know they are terminating one huge contract that employs a lot of people and has repercussions throughout the community; and a promise by a management team that has decimated classical and other art music and arts reporting that we are supposed to take at face value?
-JO
comments (0)
List of Contacts - National
Filed under: Who to contact
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:34 am
[Editor’s note: if you know of other, or more complete information, please write to the admin. If all you want is a list of email addresses, please see the April 2 post.]
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR
ALL MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT ACROSS CANADA
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament/MainMPsCompleteList.aspx?TimePeriod=Current&Language=E
Dear friends and colleagues,
Yesterday CBC management announced they are dismantling the CBC Radio Orchestra in the fall.
The CBC Radio Orchestra has commissioned and performed more Canadian music, and engaged more Canadian performers, than any other orchestra in Canada. It could easily continue to do so under the inspired direction of the dynamic conductor and music director Alain Trudel.
Please write a letter or email the CBC management and Members of Parliament.
This is an issue of cultural sovereignty. It is essential that this message be sent to Members of Parliament of all parties. The CBC belongs to the people of Canada.
Please be respectful and factual. When writing to politicians, ask for their position on the issue, and if they support you, to raise it in their caucus or in the house.
Please also consider joining the Facebook group “ Save the CBC Radio Orchestra:”
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10103441879
Facebook is very easy to join and no computer skills are required. By providing only a very small amount of information you can create an account and join this group and network very easily. I highly recommend it.
Please write letters to:
Mark Steinmetz, Director, CBC Radio Music
mark_steinmetz[at]cbc.ca
P.O. Box 500 Station A, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5W 1E6
Jennifer McGuire, Executive Director of CBC English Radio
jennifer_mcguire[at]cbc.ca
P.O. Box 500 Station A, Toronto, ON, Canada, M5W 1E6
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT
All can be reached by regular mail, free of charge, at this address:
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Josée Verner, Member of Parliament,
Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages
Telephone: (613) 996-4151
Fax: (613) 954-2269
E-Mail: Verner.J[at]parl.gc.ca
E-Mail2: Min_Verner[at]pch.gc.ca
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
E-Mail: Harper.S[at]parl.gc.ca
OPPOSITION PARTIES
LIBERAL
Mauril Bélanger, Critic for Canadian Heritage, La Francophonie and Official Languages
Riding: Ottawa–Vanier
Belanger.M[at]parl.gc.ca
Constituency Office:
168 Charlotte St, Suite 504
Ottawa, ON K1N 8K6
(613) 947-7961
Web: www.mauril.ca
NDP
Bill Siskay
Tel: 613-996-5597
siksab[at]parl.gc.ca
Constituency:
4506 Dawson Street
Burnaby, BC V5C 4C1
Tel: 604-291-8863
Fax: 604-666-0727
Your Member of Parliament’s contact information can be found at:
http://canada.gc.ca/directories-repertoires/direct-eng.html
If anyone reading this knows CBC staff, please talk to them and encourage them to discuss and make public their views.
Dr. John Oliver, composer
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John Oliver’s CBC Radio Orchestra story
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:20 am
My Experience with the CBC Radio Orchestra
by John Oliver
I’ve been lucky to work with the CBC as a composer on several occasions, the first of which was winning the Grand Prize at the 8th CBC National Young Composers’ Competition, a competition that was, along with the Young Performer’s Competition, discontinued a few years ago.
The CBC Radio Orchestra commissioned two pieces from me. The first work was “Unseen Rain” for mezzo-soprano and orchestra jointly commissioned by the CBC Radio Orchestra and the Music in the Morning Concert Society; performed by Judith Forst and the CBC Radio Orchestra under the direction of Mario Bernardi and recorded on CBC compact disk SM5191.
The second was a ‘tone poem’ on the creation story common to most West Coast First Nations’ Peoples called “Raven Steals the Light.” This work was broadcast to all 20 member stations of the European Broadcasting Union in a fantastic cultural exchange that brought Canadian music to Europe and new European music to Canada.
Working with the legendary mezzo-soprano Judith Forst and conductor Mario Bernardi on the first project and with conductor Jacques Lacombe on the second was an enormous pleasure. The musicians of the orchestra, many of them champions of new music in their own right, new very well how to rehearse the music, how to make it sound well, and, best of all, they had the spirit of collaboration.
Has this all come to an end? No more cultural exchange? No more such opportunities for real cultural development? Because “we can’t afford it?” Just like the federal government cut off international cultural funding unceremoniously last year when our authors were winning prizes in Europe; and they had to go to the USA embassy for the reception.
So I’ve been lucky. But a next generation will not have a National Competition in which they compete; they will not have an orchestra to play in or write for that doesn’t have to answer the the almighty dollar.
comments (0)
Sara Davis Buechner’s Statement
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:18 am
From: “Sara Buechner”
Date: March 27, 2008 11:57:46 PM PDT (CA)
To: “Kurth, Richard” , “Ball, Denise” , “Miles, Colin”
Subject: Statement on CBC Radio Orchestra by Sara Davis Buechner
Vancouver BC Canada
27 March 2008
Dear Richard, Denise and Colin:
I certainly do not presume that my modest opinion carries any public significance, yet I am moved to make an official statement of response to the outrageous news today of the termination of the CBC Radio Orchestra. And I am OK to be quoted on this matter. I guess in the coming days there will be some opinion put out there so I will put mine into the mix:
“In attempting to disband one of the finest orchestras on this continent, the CBC has shown clearly its disregard for its own country’s cultural legacy. They are abandoning their responsibility to the people whose best interests they are supposed to serve. I call on the CBC to immediately reverse this tragic and reprehensible decision.
“In my own musical career, I have had the distinguished honour of performing as piano soloist with over 100 different orchestras throughout the world. I happily rank the CBC Radio Orchestra among the top five of that group, in the company of the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and the New Japan Philharmonic of Tokyo. Quite apart from the province of British Columbia, the entire nation of Canada can be rightly proud of this incredible orchestra which is led by one of the finest young conductors living today.
“This decision by the CBC amounts to an act of cultural vandalism on a national scale. Imagine the Ontario Art Gallery stripping their walls of Lawren Harris and Emily Carr because big-eye pictures of animals and clowns sell better. Imagine our libraries tossing out Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood because they are sometimes tough reading — line their shelves with Harlequin romance novels that attract more readers. This is precisely what the CBC is doing to one of the irreplaceable musical groups of the nation.
“Beginning this Sunday afternoon with a solo recital in Vancouver, I will henceforth make a public statement of protest at every Canadian musical engagement upon which I appear — solo, chamber and with orchestra. I will collect signatures from my audiences to mail to both the CBC and the Provincial Government. And I call upon my fellow musicians in Canada to do the same. Let us make our voices heard, like an angry flood, against this cultural genocide.
“It is a sad day in the history of this country when artists have to stand up to defend their contributions against the very institutions which were founded to foster cultural understanding, emotional connection and pride in the Canadian national character.”
Sara Davis Buechner
Pianist
University of British Columbia, School of Music
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Welcome!
Filed under: About the Blog
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:18 am
Welcome to the Stand On Guard For CBC Radio.
This blog was set up by concerned listeners to CBC Radio. The medium may indeed be changing, but the quality of programming does not need to be sacrificed at the alter of technological development.
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PLEASE VOTE!
Filed under: •••General•••, Other internet resources, PLEASE VOTE!
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:16 am
Opinion Polls & Market Research
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Google Alerts uncensored #1
Filed under: Other internet resources
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:10 am
John Oliver is subscribing to Google Alerts http://www.google.com/alerts
with the search term “CBC Radio Orchestra” and posting them here, uncensored.
I’m afraid I don’t have time to create all the hyperlinks so you’ll have to cut and paste the URLs (web addresses) into your web browser.
CBC Orchestra Disbands?
By Andrew W.(Andrew W.)
Most comments fall into two categories, which are probably reflective of public opinion - cutting the CBC Radio Orchestra is outrageous, or cutting the CBC Radio Orchestra is a good thing becase taxpayer dollars could be more …
The Transcontinental
CBC kills radio orchestra
The CBC Radio Orchestra was founded by John Avison in 1938 and has had an
illustrious … As former CBC Radio Orchestra cellist Ian Hampton described
it, …
CBC Radio Orchestra to disband after 70 years | The News is …
“We know for example that for a concert that we fund through our CBC Radio
Orchestra, we can extend our reach to three by doing it through other
musical …
CBC Disbands Radio Orchestra « Ripple Effects
Another shocking news: The CBC Radio executives have just decreed that The
CBC Radio Orchestra is to be dismantled as of November, 2008, on the heels
of …
CBC Axes Radio Orchestra - rec.music.classical.recordings | Google …
VANCOUVER — The Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra — the last … The
CBC Radio Orchestra was founded by John Avison in 1938 and has had …
CBC Radio Two and the CBC Radio Orchestra
By Stephen Rees(Stephen Rees)
This is a letter I wrote to my MP If you do not know who your MP is click the title for the parliamentary search engine You may copy this letter of you wish, but a personal one may be more effective ============ …
Yet another blog for me
Why Is (Almost) Nobody Supporting the CBC’s Classical Music Cuts?
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
Why is it that the Save the CBC Radio Orchestra Facebook group already has over 550 members in its first day? The reality is that CBC have in one fell swoop alienated their core listening audience of Radio 2, made enemies of much of the …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
Canadian musicians, composers mourn demise of country’s last radio …
The Canadian Press - TORONTO
The CBC Radio Orchestra was formed in 1938 to showcase Canadian composers
and musicians, putting out dozens of studio and live recordings to acclaim.
…
CBC Radio Orchestra to disband to fund works from other Canadian …
By tod[at]insidethecbc.com (Tod Maffin)
The money will come from savings it will find when it disbands the Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra at the end of November. The orchestra is the last radio orchestra in North America. The CBC says the decision simply came down to …
Inside The CBC .com
CBC Radio Orchestra to disband
By Sam
“We know for example that for a concert that we fund through our CBC Radio Orchestra, we can extend our reach to three by doing it through other musical organizations,” said Jennifer McGuire, executive director of CBC English Radio. …
Xyre
RIP CBC Radio Orchestra
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
The Globe and Mail has confirmed that at the end of November 2008, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation will disband Vancouver’s CBC Radio Orchestra, North America’s last radio orchestra. CBC spokesperson Jeff Keay on the CBC’s …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
Death of the Radio Orchestra
By Steve Mynett
North America’s last remaining Radio Orchestra, Vancouver based CBC Radio Orchestra, has been shut down. The culprit? You guessed it, budget cuts. While symphony orchestras make the majority of their revenue recycling a limited canon of …
We’re Not Wired Right
CBC Radio Orchestra Axed
By Stephen Rees(Stephen Rees)
I have just heard on the CBC Radio News that the last radio orchestra in North America will play its last concert this season. What on earth is the point if the CBC? Why are we supporting this organisation with our taxes? …
Yet another blog for me
Michel Vincent Blog
http://michaelvincent.ca/Newsblog/?p=59
The Canadian Music Centre’s Press Release on the CBC Radio …
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
Elisabeth Bihl, CMC Executive Director, believes that “the decision to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra must have been a decision made with little to no input from the Canadian public or our music community. The orchestra may have been …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
A CBC without an orchestra can be sound step for
Toronto Star - Ontario, Canada
Yesterday, our cash-strapped national public broadcaster announced that it
is disbanding the 70-year-old CBC Radio Orchestra this fall. …
See all stories on this topic:
Posted -32 sec ago
Owen Sound Sun Times - Owen Sound,Ontario,Canada
The CBC Radio Orchestra, which has 32 CDs to its credit, was formed in 1938
to showcase Canadian composers, musicians and Canadian content. …
See all stories on this topic:
Saving $600000 by Killing an Invaluable Cultural Reality is Detestable
By David Berner(David Berner)
I happily rank the CBC Radio Orchestra among the top five, in the company of the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and the New Japan Philharmonic. The entire nation can be rightly proud of this incredible orchestra which is …
David Talks/The Berner Monologues
CBC Responds…
By Michael Vincent
I just found a response posted by Chris Boyce, the Interim Director of Programming at CBC Radio on the Save Classical Music at the CBC facebook group, regarding the reasons behind the decision to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra. …
Michael Vincent - Composer Blog
Earle Peach on Saving the CBC Radio Orchestra
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
Vancouver musician and activist Earle Peach has a simple solution to save the CBC Radio Orchestra: get 20000 people to each donate $50 to the CBC, thereby maintaining stable funding of $1 million for the orchestra and ensuring its …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
Seventh day of Easter
By Fuzzy Coatimundi(Fuzzy Coatimundi)
Along with the cuts to classical music programming on CBC Radio Two, the CBC Radio Orchestra will officially be disbanded later this year. A sad time indeed. …
Rabid Raccoon Rantings
CBC Radio Orchestra to disband after 70 years
CBC.ca - Alberta, Canada
The last notes of the Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra will be heard at
the end of the fall concert season in November. The CBC Radio Orchestra was
…
See all stories on this topic:
CBC to dismantle radio orchestra
Globe and Mail - Canada
VANCOUVER — The CBC Radio Orchestra, the last radio orchestra in North
America, is being dismantled at the end of November. CBC executives flew
out to …
See all stories on this topic:
CBC axes North America’s last radio orchestra, insiders say
National Post - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
The CBC Radio Orchestra was founded by John Avison in 1938 and has had an
illustrious history. It originally comprised 25 musicians and was increased
to 35 …
See all stories on this topic:
CBC strikes sour note
Edmonton Journal - Edmonton,Alberta,Canada
Thursday, 35 members of Vancouver’s CBC Radio Orchestra were told in a
closed-door meeting that the final baton would come down on the storied,
70-year-old …
See all stories on this topic:
Musicians protest axing of ‘cultural icon’ orchestra
Vancouver Sun - Don Mills,ON,Canada
“The CBC Radio Orchestra is North America’s only broadcast ensemble, a
legacy of the days when radio orchestras were to be found all over our
continent. …
See all stories on this topic:
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CBC Mandate
Filed under: •••General•••
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:05 am
Mandate of the CBC taken from the CBC web site:
The 1991 Broadcasting Act states that…
“…the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as the national public broadcaster, should provide radio and television services incorporating a wide range of programming that informs, enlightens and entertains;
…the programming provided by the Corporation should:
1. be predominantly and distinctively Canadian,
2. reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions,
3. actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression,
4. be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities,
5. strive to be of equivalent quality in English and French,
6. contribute to shared national consciousness and identity,
7. be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose, and
8. reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada.”
===
04/01/08
Something happened this weekend that has infuriated me.
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 10:46 pm
by Karen Wilson, former producer of the CBC Radio Orchestra
In the Saturday Globe and Mail (page 2 of the Review section) CBC has taken out a full-page ad that says….in big bold print…..”we applaud the new CBC Radio 2”. It has the names of 43 pop artists and several industry people, including Sony, EMI, Warner and Universal Music. Yes, I bet the commercial record labels are eagerly awaiting the new pop music as it will translate into increased sales (as it has done with their classical arms). I feel it’s totally inappropriate for these labels to publicly support changes to public broadcasting….and terribly wrong of them to come out cheerleading for the program changes. I will be writing each of these labels to tell them I will no longer buy any cd’s or dvd’s from any of the above labels….and will likely boycott all Sony products from now on. This is certainly one way anyone who is unhappy with the new programming can protest….by writing them. And frankly, CBC should never have placed the ad…..all it will do is make people more furious over the changes. The ad also says “classical music on CBCRadio 2 will remain the most played genre on the network”….interesting turn of phrase….the only way this will be true is if they break down “pop” music into jazz, country and western, hip-hop, bluegrass, aboriginal….proving that the information that CBC is disseminating is all smoke and mirrors, not facts. Information can and is being manipulated.
1 comment
One Response to “Something happened this weekend that has infuriated me.”
1. Barbara Scales Says:
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:40 am Hello Karen and all, I think this assessment of the value of the CBC and the CBC Orchestra is very important. I am in Europe adn did not see the ad in the Globe. I am horrified that CBC is spending tax-payer’s money on an ad to promote pop music industry institutions whether they are performer business ventures or recording business ventures. I think there may be something unethical and perhaps illegal in the CBC using tax-payer’s money for this purpose. One thing that I am very concerned by is that we risk falling into musical “-isms” and becoming split amongst ourselves. Nothing woudl pelase the pwers of the pop industry more. We risk failing to see that this is not about violinists against banjo pickers; it is not about the merits of Claude Vivier against those of Leonard Cohen or Barbara Pentland aganst Stan Rogers. it is about Music for which money is a means to better health and well-being as opposed to Money for which music is supposed to be a means. It is not about any style of MUSIC - it is about a way of making decisions about what music to present based on the ideas of profit and power. It is not pop music per se that is the problem (some of it is delightful and musically rich - remember the BEATLES!) but it is about turning all reason for doing music into a means of making money. Too often in the past 10 years or so, we have seen our public institutions turn to making and saving money as the reason for making artistic decisions. INDEED money is a factor in any sane business of presenting the arts, but it can not be THE standard of success. We must all be careful because it is not just classical musicians who have been hurt by this way of thinking. In their time, jazz musicians, didjeridu players and banjo pickers have all been the ones to suffer by notions of power and money ruling the arts. We must band together as people in the service of music, one and all. And we must preserve the value of MUSIC, as Alain Trudel says in his wonderful letter, music of all genres. Let’S not forget that all music comes from the same sources and remember Duke Ellington’s thoughts on kinds of music! We must not begrudge others some share of the pie but make better music through embracing all music. Yours, Barbara
Headlines March 30 to April 4
Filed under: Other internet resources, In the Press
Posted by: site admin [at] 2:47 pm
Listed in Chronological order from March 30, 2008
Changing CBC: The List
By Michael Vincent
The axing of the CBC Radio Orchestra: North America’s 70 year old last remaining radio orchestra and platform for countless premieres of new Canadian compositions 11. Gone are Music & Company - Tom Allen’s morning show, Here’s to You …
Michael Vincent - Composer Blog
Some Opinions, Either Way
By Michael Vincent
Yesterday, our cash-strapped national public broadcaster announced that it is disbanding the 70-year-old CBC Radio Orchestra this fall. This comes on the heels of significant changes to Radio 2 programming that include moving much …
Michael Vincent - Composer Blog
On the Alleged Blocking of Comments at CBC In-House Blogs
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
Thank you, everyone, for your support of the CBC Radio Orchestra and its role in Canadian culture. Be aware that censorship is going on at the www.insidethecbc.com site. CBC Executive Mark Steinmetz has been known to block “too …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
Did the Hockey Strike Kill the CBC Orchestra?
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
Laurie is the Concerts and Communications Manager at the University of British Columbia School of Music and writes about the importance of the CBC Radio Orchestra and its importance over the last few decades as a vehicle for emerging …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
Man, Im pretty bad at this. Kingston, and CBC
By Edsqu(Edsqu)
so, How about the axing of the CBC radio orchestra in Vancouver. When 40 musicians find themselves out of their main source of income in the blink of an eye you really realize you cannot take anything for granted in this career. …
Percussionist for Sale
The CBC Orchestra Plays Taps for Itself
New York Times - United States
The CBC Radio Orchestra, described as the last radio orchestra in North
America, is to be disbanded at the end of November, The Globe and Mail of
Toronto …
See all stories on this topic:
Catastrophe
By mrsokana
Much blather about redirecting the money, CBC Radio Orchestra was only about ever about music, and Canadian composers and it should be left well enough alone and effort instead made to entice people out of their living rooms to hear its …
Literature and general creative lunacy
CBC needs to be saved from its supporters
National Post - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
… one the decision to shuffle the programming on Radio 2 to reduce the
emphasis on classical music, the other to kill off the CBC radio orchestra,
…
See all stories on this topic:
Demonstration Against the Elimination of the CBC Radio Orchestra …
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
“Composers depend on the skill and dedication of such performers as the CBC Radio Orchestra for the production of their compositions, music which presents unique techniques and concept approaches, beyond the requirements of the …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
CBC Memo
By Michael Vincent
A memo sent to CBC employees regarding the CBC Radio Orchestra:. ‘Regrettably CBC Radio has decided it can no longer carry the cost of funding its own orchestra. This is no reflection on the quality of the Orchestra, which has done …
Michael Vincent - Composer Blog
The last radio orchestra in North America set to shut down
By juanesmusic(juanesmusic)
The money will come from savings it will find when it disbands the Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra at the end of November. The orchestra is the last radio orchestra in North America. The CBC says the decision simply came down to …
Juanes’s Music Blog
Complaining about the CBC
By Muzition(Muzition)
The main issues that people are having with the CBC are that they are canceling several long-running and popular shows, that they’ll play less classical music, and that they’re disbanding their 70-year-old CBC Radio Orchestra. …
Muzition’s Diary
Is There (still) No Such Thing as Bad Publicity ?
By info[at]bigsnit.com (BigSnit Media, Vancouver,…
So, I have to admire the media storm that’s developed over the changes to Radio 2 and over the indelicate evisceration of the venerable CBC Radio Orchestra. It’sa publicity bonanza. Radio ratings should go through the roof. …
BigSnit.com
Flanagan, Shreveport, And The CBC Radio Orchestra
By drew mcmanus
Save the CBC Radio Orchestra! group at facebook.com is more than 3300 members strong and public demonstrations are being organized as well. TAFTO 2008 contributor and author of The Collaborative Piano Blog, Chris Foley, …
Adaptistration
Vancouver orchestra protest brings 100 demonstrators
By tod[at]insidethecbc.com (Tod Maffin)
About an hour ago (at 10:00 am Pacific time), a protest opposing the looming shut-down of the CBC Radio Orchestra began in Vancouver. About 100 people were there. Some photos are below. A similar event is being planned for Montreal on …
Inside The CBC .com
2 comments
1. Robyn Thornton Says:
April 15th, 2008 at 4:41 pm I seem to be part of the majority who decry the abolition of CBC Radio Orchestra and the decrease in classical music programming. Disgraceful!
2. EmilyGray Says:
April 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am Cool, you listed my blog here (Muzition’s Diary.) Thanks!
Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:03 am
From: Carolyn Cole ( Member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra Committee.)
This open letter is written to Hubert Lacroix, Jennifer McGuire and Mark
Steinmetz on behalf of the 1100 members of the Organization of Canadian
Symphony Musicians/l’Organisation des Musiciens d’Orchestres Symphoniques du
Canada (OCSM/OMOSC)
Dear Mr. Lacroix, Ms. McGuire and Mr. Steinmetz:
The disbanding of the last of CBC’s treasures – the Vancouver-based CBC
Radio Orchestra – has the orchestral community and its supporters reeling in
dismay. The short-sighted political agenda that you represent is only too
thinly veiled by the stated need for the CBC to cut costs. Colin Miles said
it succinctly in his recent interview with the CBC when he said, “this is
not an economic decision … it is an ideological decision … to destroy
classical music.”
We assure you that you do not represent the interests of the listening
public with your decision to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra. George
Zukerman and Colin Miles both reflected so brilliantly on the great history
of this orchestra in leading the creative energy of the orchestral community
in Canada. Those who played, and those who heard the orchestra, under the
direction of John Avison, John Eliot Gardiner and Mario Bernardi can attest
to the amazing ability of the orchestra to cross through the many centuries
of “classical” orchestral music with ease and versatility. This orchestra
has always represented the highest of artistic standards and performance and
has stayed on the cutting edge – performing and commissioning new creations
by the best and brightest of Canada’s talented composers. Isn’t that
exactly what the CBC is supposed to be showcasing?
With its latest conductor, the orchestra was set to enter its most creative
era yet. Alain Trudel represents a unifying voice of a French-Canadian
performer, composer, and now talented conductor who so recently has taken
over the artistic leadership of the CBC Radio Orchestra – and now you have
destroyed that. Just as the Olympics head to the west coast and the world
will be focusing attention on Vancouver and Canada, you have the “vision”
that this is the right time to kill this icon of orchestral creativity. You
say that it is an economic decision, but you have not talked about the
amount of money that will be saved or what other steps might have been taken
to achieve the same cost reductions.
To say that we, the 1100 members of OCSM/OMOSC, are outraged would be to use
language that cannot begin to express the depth of our anger and anxiety at
the destruction of the CBC. The programming changes have rendered what was
once the most exciting and culturally creative radio broadcaster in North
America dull and lifeless. You have lost more audience than you will ever
gain by your changes. We urge you most strongly to reverse these decisions
and to create positive, sustainable artistic and cultural growth to benefit
all of Canada and all of mankind.
Sincerely, on behalf of our colleagues in OCSM/OMOSC,
Francine Schutzman, President
Daniel Blackman, 1st Vice-President
Michael Thomson, 2nd Vice-President
Robert Fraser, Secretary
Jeffrey Garrett, Treasurer
2 comments
2 Responses to “Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians”
1. Martha Hazevoet Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:10 am Folks, you are going about it the wrong way. It is no good whining to Mark Steinmetz, he has ice in his veins. Instead of howling against the storm, why don’t you organize yourselves, go to the CRTC and apply for a “classical music station” license, or whatever name sounds appropriate. You could start out with mainly playing recordings; then you already have a resident orchestra (rename the CBC Radio Orchestra); I am sure that Pinchas Zukerman would be happy to cooperate with his orchestra; Howard Dyck, I am sure, would lend a hand as would many other ex-CBC greats. You would need a government grant of course, and this would take some doing because I don’t think any of our political leaders know anything about classical music, but you could tell them that SOMEONE has to replace the CBC since it has self-destructed. You would have to make sure you get the OK to use the old CBC towers (for want of a better word) for broadcasting. They will be rendered useless anyway as I don’t see a rosy future for the CBC. If nobody takes up this challenge which the CBC is throwing us, we will just have to wait a couple of generations until somebody rediscovers classical music. Remember that the book burning in the middle ages, and indeed as recently as 1933 in Germany, hasn’t done any permanent damage. Stalin’s depression of sacred music and religion in the end came to naught. Steinmetz is small fry in comparison. My advice: Organize yourselves and DO something. Asking Steinmetz to reverse his decision isn’t going to work. Believe me, I have fought him for years.
2. site admin Says:
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am I like your passion. However most people realize now that this is a political issue and everyone is encouraged to contact their Member of Parliament. You may be right that if we don’t act now, we might have to “wait a couple of generations.” Our culture is under attack. My profession is under attack. Ultimately the issues revolve around why we have public broadcasting, and cultural sovereignty. Those in our society who do not believe in public institutions and believe that the private sector should run everything would be rubbing their hands in glee at the notion you suggest, especially the merger specialists who love it when a bunch of people do a bunch of work and then they can just come in and buy it when it is undercapitalized.
===
04/02/08
Lon Rosen
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 11:36 pm
Dear Mr. Lacroix,
Like many others, I am shocked by the recent news that the CBC Radio Orchestra is to be terminated. In addition, I have been disturbed for some time about the changes in programming which have been occurring on CBC Radio 2.
Let me first address the decision to replace classical music by “popular” music programs, a move which I call “lowest common denominator” (LCD) programming. This is a doomed strategy. There are dozens of pop radio stations out there, but only one CBC. Do you really believe that the CBC can compete with these stations on their terms? What is the purpose of the Radio 2 anyway? Is it to add yet another voice to the Babel of voices? I believe its purpose is to provide the beautiful arts, especially classical music, a national vision, cultural analysis, drama… Rather than being another competitor in the LCD race, the role of the CBC should be to provide cultural leadership.
For me, this LCD programming represents a great personal loss. For many years I have confidently turned to the CBC for companionship, news, ideas, and, above all, classical music. Lately, I have been changing to other stations. I mourn the (imminent) loss of Music for a While, Music and Company, Here’s to You, Studio Sparks, Sound Advice… It feels to me like the loss of a good friend, not quite a death yet, but more like an advanced stage of dementia.
As for the fate of the CBC Radio Orchestra, to kill this national treasure is a national disgrace. This wonderful orchestra offers superb performances which may be enjoyed live and across the country; it encourages and promotes the careers of rising young artists; it commissions many new works by Canadian composers; it provides an important income to outstanding musicians. All this for a mere $600,000 a year! In my view, it is a serious blunder to terminate this fine orchestra for reasons of false economy.
You have no doubt heard these arguments before. What you may not appreciate is how deeply we feel about the decline of our beloved CBC and how many of us there are.
We beseech you to reconsider these recent decisions. If, on the other hand, the real mission of the CBC is to self-destruct as a public broadcaster, then of course you should just ignore us.
Sincerely yours,
Lon Rosen,
Concerned Canadian
comments (0)
Kelsey Zachary
Filed under: Students Speak Up
Posted by: site admin [at] 6:50 pm
Kelsey Zachary
OCCUPATION: student - University of British Columbia Violin Performance Major
RELATIONSHIP TO CBC RADIO ORCHESTRA: Music lover, attendee, mentors within the ensemble
RELATIONSHIP TO CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION: Listened to CBC growing up in a small community where classical music was not easily accessible
WHY YOU WANT TO JOIN in protest: The CBC radio orchestra is one of the best large ensembles I’ve heard in Canada and employs musicians whose expertise I value as a music student. It’s a hugely important part of my education to be able to hear an ensemble that is that skilled. There are endless positives to the CBC orchestra (take for example their trips to otherwise musically isolated communities in the North) and if we lose it now, we’ll never regain it. I hope to stay and work in Canada once I complete my degree but with the continual axing of funding to ensembles like the CBC orchestra, the government has made it difficult for me to even contemplate staying in Canada.
comments (0)
Letter from Giorgio Magnanensi Re: April 20th CRO concert and dismantling of orchestra
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: morlock [at] 5:28 pm
I think this event is and can be a very important one, simply for the
fact that the decision arrived last week is exactly against and in
total opposition to what you, me, the orchestra and all the singers and
composers are trying to do here. It’s not just about defending an
ensemble, is even more than that and is deadly serious. I’m talking of
people that say no to the CBC Radio Orchestra in their blind and
insensible expression of a monocentric culture. The one which allows
itself to pour and spend million of dollars/energy, in the celebration
of it’s own power: see Olympic Celebrations, Afghanistan…
I absolutely and strongly oppose this decision because I think and
believe we have been working for the development of a culture that has
a democratic and progressive content as opposed to the demands of the
establishment that culture be self-serving or part of an industry.
Finally, I believe that we need to work to oppose the ontology that
comprises the metaphor of power and considers multiplicity as “mere”
form while relying on hierarchical systems of values, whose only
function is to control, analyse, validate and explain: high art, low
art, popular, intellectual, uptown, downtown.
As I already said I oppose it foremost because sadly I have the conviction that a society that is not able to acknowledge the importance of difference as the flower of any community, and further, that is not
able to value creativity, beauty, personal expression and the power of
imagination as the very relevant answers to the question arising every
single day in this dreadful world, is already doomed.
Giorgio Magnanensi
Artistic Director
Vancouver New Music
comments (0)
Open letter from Giorgio Magnanensi
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: morlock [at] 5:25 pm
Vancouver, March 27, 2008
Jennifer McGuire
Executive Director
CBC English Radio
P.O. Box 500 Station A
Toronto, ON
M5W 1E6
It is with great sadness and consternation that I received tonight the
news about the decision of dismantling the CBC Radio Orchestra. It
seems absurd and even redundant to remind ourselves how this wonderful
Canadian ensemble has been an extremely vital and productive force to
the service of Canadian musicians, performers, to new and experimental
ideas in composition and to the CBC Radio audiences in all the
provinces of our country and internationally.
The CBC Radio Orchestra has been fostering dialogue, exchange of ideas and
has been extremely important in making contemporary music practices a
vital part of Canada’s cultural life. The CBC Radio Orchestra is and
represents something more than just an orchestral ensemble; it embodies
that desire of exploration that is so much lacking in so many national
and international orchestral ensembles. It embodies and fosters the
desire of sharing and assimilating older and newer music traditions
together with the purpose of understanding various contemporary music
styles and ideas, presenting them to the national collective
appreciation while working to the advantage of an enriched awareness of
the value of difference. This is the real value of a living
tradition that Canadian musicians, composers and artists at large still
feed with great passion and imagination, this is a real value, which no
corporate profit will ever be able to buy or even produce.
I am appalled and frustrated by this insensible decision that undermines
the real values of creative work, and in the conviction that the
importance of difference is the flower of any society that is
able to value creativity, beauty, personal expression and the power of
imagination I strongly ask you that this decision be revoked. I ask you
to address the issues related to the CBC Radio Orchestra in a public
debate, in a discourse open to all the productive forces who have been
contributing to the relevant work that the CBC Radio Orchestra have
been producing, supporting and presenting in the last 70 years.
Yours truly,
Giorgio Magnanensi
Artistic Director
Vancouver New Music
comments (0)
More Posters to print
Filed under: Stuff to print
Posted by: site admin [at] 11:57 am
http://www.claireart.ca/links.htm
Thanks to Bill Horne of Wells, BC
comments (0)
John Kimura Parker
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 11:18 am
—–Original Message—–
From: Jon Kimura Parker [mailto:REMOVED]
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2008 9:52 AM
To: Hubert T. Lacroix
Subject: CBC Radio Two / CBC Radio Orchestra
M. Lacroix,
I believe that I speak for many Canadians in expressing my profound
disappointment with the CBC’s recent decisions on Radio Two, and the
proposed termination of the CBC Radio Orchestra.
I owe my career to CBC Radio - in the early 80s I toured Atlanta Canada as
concert pianist on Debut Atlantic, and had my first exposure to a national
audience on CBC Radio. As a Grand Prize Winner of the CBC Young Performer’s
Competition in 1983 I was given nationwide performing opportunities.
In my international travels I have always held such pride in CBC Radio. I
would say: “it is infinitely better than any American radio, public or
private. CBC Radio supports Canadian arts and artists and provides unique
programming not available commercially.”
Suddenly I cannot express these thoughts any longer.
Before the programming changes, Radio Two already addressed a broad
cross-section of style and taste and remained a cultural flag-bearer for
Canada.
Additionally, the CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra is an extraordinary
orchestra. When I performed and recorded with them two years ago, they
played as one, in an incredible feat of musical ensemble, technical
excellence, and artistic integrity.
I cannot imagine Canadian musical life without this orchestra, and without
the programming that has made Radio Two the greatest radio of its kind.
I hope to see the day soon where any reverses of these policies could be
possible. Otherwise I believe that the CBC will have lost its soul.
Jon Kimura Parker
Officer of the Order of Canada
Concert Pianist
comments (0)
Email addresses - National
Filed under: Who to contact
Posted by: site admin [at] 3:02 am
Due to internet bot software that surfs for email addresses, I want to show respect for those we write to and so I have replace the “at” ([at]) sign with [at], and the “.” with [dot]. If you want to use the list, copy it into a text program, and replace all occurences of [at] and [dot] - with a space either side by the way - with “[at]” and “.”
Thanks to Alexandra Fol of Montreal for the list.
Best regards,
John
CBC
Richard_Stursberg [at] cbc [dot] ca, mark_steinmetz [at] cbc [dot] ca, jennifer_mcguire [at] cbc [dot] ca, ht [dot] lacroix [at] cbc [dot] ca,
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Verner [dot] J [at] parl [dot] gc [dot] ca, Min_Verner [at] pch [dot] gc [dot] ca, Harper [dot] S [at] parl [dot] gc [dot] ca, Belanger [dot] M [at] parl [dot] gc [dot] ca, angusc [at] parl [dot] gc [dot] ca,
RADIO-CANADA
liaison [at] cbc [dot] ca, auditoire [at] radio-canada [dot] ca, liaison [at] radio-canada [dot] ca, ombudsman [at] cbc [dot] ca, ombudsman [at] radio-canada [dot] ca
JOURNALISTS and NEWSPAPERS
opinions [at] metronouvelles [dot] com, info [at] metronouvelles [dot] com,
letters [at] globeandmail [dot] com, mcoutts [at] nationalpost [dot] com, mlederman [at] globeandmail [dot] com, jadams [at] globeandmail [dot] com, scormier [at] ledevoir [dot] com,
ppapineau [at] ledevoir [dot] com, fdoyon [at] ledevoir [dot] com,
sunletters [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, sunopinion [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, tabtips [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, provletters [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, smeurice [at] nationalpost [dot] com, mhiggins [at] nationalpost [dot] com,
sstinson [at] nationalpost [dot] com, wmoriarty [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, rguggi [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com,
submit [at] theherald [dot] canwest [dot] com, calgaryherald [at] reachcanada [dot] com, letters [at] thecitizen [dot] canwest [dot] com, psimpson [at] thecitizen [dot] canwest [dot] com, letters [at] thegazette [dot] canwest [dot] com, nwnews [at] cknw [dot] com, editor [at] punjabguardian [dot] com, newsroom [at] fairchildtv [dot] com, Shawtv4 [at] sjrb [dot] ca, editorvoice [at] hotmail [dot] com, newsrm [at] am1320 [dot] com, talk [at] cknw [dot] com, rod [dot] mickleburgh [at] globeandmail [dot] ca, claudine_viallon [at] radio-canada [dot] ca, info [at] straight [dot] com, editor [at] westender [dot] com, Hadley [at] cfun [dot] com, editor [at] thetyee [dot] ca, vancouver [at] broadcastnews [dot] ca, noconnor [at] vancourier [dot] com, canadanow [at] vancouver [dot] cbc [dot] ca, editor [at] vshinpo [dot] com, info [at] vanchosun [dot] com, editor [at] asianpacificpost [dot] com, news1130 [at] rogers [dot] com, cjjr [at] jrfm [dot] com, v-newsdesk [at] mingpaoxpress [dot] com, news [at] cknw [dot] com, connie_monk [at] bcit [dot] ca, news [at] channelm [dot] ca, vancouver [at] koreatimes [dot] com, bcnews [at] ctv [dot] ca, redaction [at] lexpress [dot] org, edit [at] worldjournal [dot] ca, sunnewstips [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, tara [at] qmfm [dot] com, editorial [at] singpao [dot] ca, tabtips [at] png [dot] canwest [dot] com, news [at] 24 [dot] ca, editor [at] firstnationsdrum [dot] com, globalbc [dot] newstips [at] globaltv [dot] ca, oldies [at] 650cisl [dot] com, radionews [at] vancouver [dot] cbc [dot] ca, indo [at] telus [dot] net, linknews [at] smartt [dot] com, icy [at] philippinejournal [dot] com, vannews [at] city [dot] com, gord [dot] kurenoff [at] metronews [dot] ca, vancouver [at] cp [dot] org, news [at] am1470 [dot] com, news [at] terminalcity [dot] ca] have to edit this…
Comments Off
Colin Miles at April 1 rally.
Filed under: Stuff to watch
Posted by: site admin [at] 12:29 am
Click this link to watch Colin Miles speaking at the April 1 rally in Vancouver.
Comments Off
Why is CBC advertizing SONY et al?
Filed under: Stuff to print
Posted by: site admin [at] 12:20 am
Click here to see the poster we used on April 1 in Vancouver
===
04/03/08
Wilmer Fawcett
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 11:38 pm
Hello Joyce, and congratulations on your recent election!
I’m writing to protest the actions of the CBC (and ultimately the PMO) in
disbanding the CBC Radio Orchestra and further the gutting of classical
music from Radio 2.
The CBC is OUR national voice, and its mandate is not governed by commercial
interests or the marketplace. It is the repository of Canadian art and
thought, in a way that an art gallery or museum is. Canadian composers,
musicians, performers depend on the CBC as their voice in a world
increasingly dominated by pop culture and middle-of-the-road “safe”
programming. The stimulation of art and thought by our own artists is very
rarely heard on the airwaves these days.
The restoration of new music sessions and composers workshops which the
Radio Orchestra used to do (in conjunction with the Canadian Music Centre)
are a goal worthy to be aimed at, let alone the restoration of the
orchestra. I think it was a huge mistake to cut these studio sessions, cut
the recording and CD catalogue, in favor of public concerts of standard
repertoire that every other orchestra plays. Those studio sessions and
recordings of new music was what the orchestra did best, and gave it a
reason to exist and flourish, since no one else was doing it. The orchestra
was the instrument by which our artists could be heard.
I wish to add my voice in protest to what is happening at the CBC,
supposedly OUR public radio network, supposedly free from the dictates of
commercial pressures and interests. It is the last bastion of ideas, thought
and the arts, which cannot be found on commercial radio. The CBC has been
dismantled over the years, and is now in recent weeks being cataclysmically
gutted, in a quasi-attempt to make it more like the other fare already
offered by commercial radio. The excising of the CBC Radio Orchestra is the
latest and most brutal cut. With a VERY small budget, this gem of an
orchestra has been since 1938 the means of introducing to Canadian (and
international) listeners our own music, our performers, our composers, as
well as musical rarities not given by the other orchestras. With the
silencing of this voice, the Conservatives have stomped on the wonderful
heritage of which thousands of us are justifiably proud.
Thank you for hearing us and supporting Canadian music lovers in this
worthwhile protest.
Yours truly, a Quadra resident,
Wilmer Fawcett
(played under John Avison, and became principal bass with John Eliot Gardner and Mario Bernardi,)
comments (0)
Headlines to 4/3/08
Filed under: Other internet resources, In the Press
Posted by: site admin [at] 11:06 pm
Protesters demand CBC Radio Orchestra be saved
CBC.ca - Alberta, Canada
About 150 people rallied in Vancouver on Tuesday, protesting the decision
to stop funding the CBC Radio Orchestra. The decision to disband the
orchestra was …
See all stories on this topic:
Protesters demand CBC Radio Orchestra be saved
By admin
About 150 people rallied in Vancouver on Tuesday, protesting the decision to stop funding the CBC Radio Orchestra. The decision to disband the orchestra was made last week. The orchestra will cease to exist at the end of the fall …
Music Industry News
UBC school of music takes a stand against CBC Radio 2 butchering
By maayan kreitzman(Gerald)
CBC management, with the wisdom of it’s lobotomized-gerbil brain trust, decided last Thursday to disband the CBC Radio Orchestra, the last remaining radio orchestra in North America. This move follows closely on the heels of a major …
UBC Insiders
Estimates Vary
By info[at]bigsnit.com (BigSnit Media, Vancouver,…
Depending on who you believe, somewhere between 100 and 200 people gathered in Vancouver today to protest the axing of the CBC Radio Orchestra. According to Colin Miles who posted a comment here. On very short notice about 200 people …
BigSnit.com
CBC Axes Radio Orchestra - rec.music.classical.recordings | Google …
Mar 28, 2008 … VANCOUVER — The Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra –
the last … The CBC Radio Orchestra was founded by John Avison in 1938 and
has had …
Classical fans riled at CBC
Globe and Mail - Canada
“We demand that you rescind your decision and restore the CBC Radio
Orchestra to health,” Colin Miles, regional director of the Canadian Music
Centre, …
See all stories on this topic:
Save CBC Orchestra Facebook group
It was an extremely sad week for fans of this group as CBC execs announced, not only to continue gutting Radio Two’s content but now also to destroy the last Radio Orchestra left in North America - the CBC Radio Orchestra, …
Peer Magic
The Macbook lives!!!
By nbaeker(nbaeker)
After a successful debut, I was told by the harpist I was one of the best page turners she’s had… and upon realizing that she’s the Principal Harpist for the CBC Radio Orchestra, I would say she’s got some experience with which to say …
Hope Springs Eternal
Protesters March To Demand CBC Radio Orchestra Be Saved
By music-news
“The orchestra was formed in 1938 when radio orchestras were popular and is the last of its kind in North America. The decision to disband it was a matter of economics, Jennifer McGuire, executive director of CBC English Radio, …
Live On Music
Music Lovers Protest Death of CBC Radio Orchestra
Exclaim! - Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Following Monday’s announcement that the CBC Radio Orchestra would be
disbanding at the end of the fall concert season in November due to a lack
of funding, …
See all stories on this topic:
Next thing you know, they’ll be dropping their radio ventriloquist …
Los Angeles Times - CA,USA
I’m a fan of vestigial cultural survivals, but even I reacted to news of
the shutdown of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Radio Orchestra
with an …
See all stories on this topic:
Au Secours!
By MikeGoldstein
The CBC Radio Orchestra is about to enter into its 70th season, and to commemorate the milestone the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is pulling the band’s funding. Needless to say, the news hasn’t gone over well in Canada. …
Nimble Tread
Two articles
By BrahmsNotes(BrahmsNotes)
Adaptistration: “Flanagan, Shreveport, and The CBC Radio Orchestra” (4/1) It is interesting to note the critique in the above-mentioned Adaptistration article that the author asserts that some people are using bankruptcy as a marketing …
Proud Supporters of the Columbus…
CBC Radio Orchestra Poll Results
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
Do you agree with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s decision to dismantle the CBC Radio Orchestra? Vizu polls are designed so that they can be replicated (click on the Copy Poll link after you’ve voted and you can customize and …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
End of the CBC Radio Orchestra
By Classical Net
This time the argument is taking place on two fronts, one the decision to shuffle the programming on Radio 2 to reduce the emphasis on classical music, the other to kill off the CBC radio orchestra, the last radio orchestra in North …
Classical Net News
Colin Miles at the Save the CBC Radio Orchestra Rally in Vancouver
By Chris Foley(Chris Foley)
From the rally held Tuesday morning in Vancouver, here is footage of a speech by Colin Miles, BC Regional Director of the Canadian Music Centre, on the impact that the loss of the CBC Radio Orchestra will have on the musical life of …
The Collaborative Piano Blog
More Canadian brouhaha
By David Duff(David Duff)
A few days ago, it was announced that the CBC Radio Orchestra would be de-funded, and would be going out of business. This from cbcnews.ca: About 150 people rallied in Vancouver on Tuesday, protesting the decision to stop funding the …
David Duff’s Classical Blog
CBC National Day of Action
By Andrew W.(Andrew W.)
We’re going to have demonstrations at as many CBC installations as we possibly can to protest the changes to Radio Two and the axing of the CBC Radio Orchestra. Come visit the Facebook event site for more details …
The Transcontinental
Classical Music Is Getting A Bad Rep
By jodru(jodru)
Alain Trudel pens an ode to the CBC Radio Orchestra. People are protesting in the streets over its demise. * Pittsburgh Gazette offers a snapshot of the current opera crisis. JP Morgan Chase is in buyout discussions. …
ANABlog
Axing of CBC orchestra ignites protest
Georgia Straight - Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada
By Jessica Werb A national uproar has ensued from the news that the
Vancouver-based CBC Radio Orchestra is to be dismantled, with protesters
lobbing …
See all stories on this topic:
comments (0)
Info from Heidi Krutzen and Ariel Barnes
Filed under: Who to contact, Open Letters
Posted by: morlock [at] 6:17 pm
Dear Colleagues,
Over the last week we have been out of town performing. While it has been difficult to be away while so much was going on with the CBC, we did manage to talk to several people, as well as to have a meeting with
concerned citizens on Salt Spring Island, and a spontaneous
fund-raising event last night at a Music on Main concert where we were
able to earn $850 toward our ad campaign. Several other audience
members said they would donate online. The following are ideas that
were presented in both discussions with the Salt Spring Island
community and with our fellow colleagues. Some of these initiatives
have already begun but I am including them to show that we are well
supported in these areas.
Best wishes,
Heidi Krutzen and Ariel Barnes
* contact Maude Barlow from the Council for Canadians www.canadians.org - this is a cause that they felt she would stand behind and she is apparently extraordinarily effective
* start a website (as has been done) that contains specific facts about what the CBC is doing so that letters that are sent to the government contain accurate facts
* start a petition (I forwarded it to the man acting as conduit for the islands today)
* it was felt that leaders of business, all symphonies, music teachers, and choral groups across the country be contacted and asked to make statements. Does anyone have access to this information?
* that this will be won in the political arena - the importance of writing to both the liberals and the conservatives (it may also be of note to contact people no longer in the political arena but who hold lots of clout - Lloyd Axworthy, Stephen Owen, and Stephen Lewis)
* to have the mayor of Vancouver Sam Sullivan give a statement. He is a supporter of the arts, as is his partner Lynn. All eyes will be on Vancouver in 2010, our culture and heritage being show cased at the same time as the Olympics. The CBC Radio Orchestra would be the natural fit to take center stage for this.
* place a full page ad in the Globe and Mail - where does the union sit on this? Are we able to use money from the strike fund to help fund this?
* Contact some of the artists that are featured on the CBC Globe and Mail ad to ask for their support. Surely Ron Sexsmith who has performed with the Radio Orchestra would have no desire to be featured in that ad. Fill half of our ad with supporters of the Radio Orchestra and CBC - prominent people from all sectors. e.g. Margaret Atwood, Karen Kain, Ben Heppner, Meesha Bruegggergosman, Richard Margison, Atom Egoyan, Evelyn Hart, Sir Andrew Davis, John Alleyne, Stephen Lewis, Lloyd Axworthy, Mario Bernardi, Peter Oundjian, Bramwell Tovey, Pinchas Zucherman, Diana Krall, Richard Margison, Gordon Campbell, Sarah McLachlan, Louis Lortie, Jane Siberry, KD Lang, Rufus Wainwright, Jon Kimura Parker, Emanuel Ax, Alanis Morissette, visual artists, prominent business people etc etc)
* That support needs to come nationally, from arts groups across the border as well as from US states that listen regularly to CBC - Michigan, Washington etc
* the censorship going on needs to be addressed by other media outlets
* have local reporters who write about music in our various papers - Georgia Straight, Vancouver Courier, Westender, Vancouver Sun etc - write articles and interview our local spokes people
Also of note, I believe the opera will release a statement soon about the
CBC Radio Orchestra announcement. I imagine the VSO will do the same thing.
Many of those in Salt Spring spoke so eloquently about their passion for
both the CBC Radio Orchestra and the CBC - about it’s place in our heritage, the value that it brings to us culturally and that it was the heart of the country. We encouraged them to write letters and hopefully
those will soon be posted on our websites.
We hope some of this may be helpful. Please pass this along to anyone who may not be on this immediate list.
Many thanks.
comments (0)
NATIONAL DAY OF PROTEST APRIL 11
Filed under: •••General•••, PROTEST CALENDAR
Posted by: site admin [at] 4:50 pm
(reposted from the Facebook event)
*”Raise a Ruckus for Radio Two!” *
A National Day of Action to save Radio 2 and the CBC Orchestra
Friday, April 11, 2008, at the same time across the nation, i.e. different local time.
9:00am - 1:30pm
…moving from west to east so that we are protesting at the same time!!!
NB The protest does not last until 1:30. See times below for each city.
St. John’s, Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary,
Vancouver, and more!
After the wonderful success of the recent protest at CBC Vancouver to
protest the demise of the CBC Radio Orchestra, a protest in Montreal is
being organized by musicians and Radio Two fans in solidarity this
Friday. In order to give folks in other cities enough time to organize,
OUR NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION DEMONSTRATION WILL TAKE PLACE NEXT FRIDAY,
APRIL 11th
Can we expand this protest to every CBC
installation across the country. Do you dare to take a portion of your
lunch hour to travel to the CBC centre in YOUR community to call for an
end to the cutting of classical music programming and infrastructure?
Can we make it a simultaneous protest in every city, in every time zone
across Canada from Victoria to St. John’s?
If you are interested
in participating in a short but noisy and cross-Canada demonstration,
sign up to this event. If you would like to be a point-person for your
community and a contact for others, message me and I will add your
contact info to this page. It is necessary to capitalize on our
momentum and notoriety as quickly as possible and a week’s warning
should give us enough time to prepare and recruit.
Here are the addresses and times:
We
still really need people to take charge of Regina, Northern Ontario and
New Brunswick’s three big towns. Who’s it gonna be? We’ve got every
province but we need these cities too to have a truly national
character! Press release needs to come out soon so let’s fill these
slots up!
9am Pacific: Victoria: 1025 Pandora Avenue
Contact: Cecilia Porter - ceciliap[at]uvic.ca
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=14395138707
9am Pacific: Vancouver: 775 Cambie Street
Contacts: David Taylor Gill - dtg1[at]sfu.ca
Jocelyn Morlock – jocelynmorlock[at]yahoo.ca
John Oliver – joliver1[at]earsay.com
Michael Vincent – info[at]michaelvincent.ca
10am Mountain: Calgary: 1724 Westmount Blvd. NW
Contact - Andrew Nowry Andrewnowry[at]gmail.com
Darren Young - silentearth66[at]hotmail.com
10am Mountain: Edmonton: 23 Edmonton City Centre, 10062-102nd Avenue
Contacts - Scott Bursey - scottbursey[at]gmail.com
John Brough – jsbrough[at]shaw.ca
Peter McGillivray radio2[at]petermcgillivray.com
10am Sask: Saskatoon: CBC 144 2nd Ave South
Contacts: Karen Mak hop_rocks[at]hotmail.com
Lorraine McGrath Khachtourians
Brendan McLean - bjm384[at]mail.usask.ca
10am Sask: Regina: 2440 Broad Street
11am Central: Winnipeg: 541 Portage Avenue
Contact: Jonathan Klassen - jklasse[at]gmail.com
12pm Eastern: Toronto: 250 Front Street West
Contacts: James Baldwin jamesmichaelbaldwin[at]rogers.com
Chris Foley chris[at]collaborativepiano.com
Kathleen Rudolph Jkrudolph5[at]aol.com
Julia Mah - fairside61[at]hotmail.com
12pm Eastern: London, ON: 208 Piccadilly Street
Contact: Forrest Pass - fpass[at]uwo.ca
Durval Cesetti - durval.cesetti.cbcprotestlondon[at]gmail.com
12pm Eastern: Ottawa: 181 Queen Street, Ottawa - Meeting at Sparks Street entrance
Contact: James Wooten - cbcradiotwoandme[at]hotmail.com
Gary Hayes - cansona[at]rogers.com
12pm Eastern: Montreal: 1400 Rene Levesque East
Contact-Alexandra Fol - alexandra.fol[at]mail.mcgill.ca
Emily Gray - contra_alto[at]hotmail.com
Michael Shannon - michael.shannon[at]mail.mcgill.ca
1pm Atlantic: Saint John: 560 Main Street
1pm Atlantic: Halifax: 1601 South Park
Contact: Christian Stalley - cspstudio[at]yahoo.ca
Stephanie Moore - st886157[at]dal.ca
Janet Brush - thunderbug22003[at]yahoo.ca
1pm Atlantic: Charlottetown: 430 University Avenue
Contact Kate Huston - drummingdiva[at]hotmail.com
1:30pm Newfoundland: St John’s: 25 Henry Street
Contact: Heather Joyce - livingabundance[at]hotmail.com
Make
sure to also Copy and past the text of this event into an email and
forward it to as many people as you can. Let’s make sure we get this
movement off Facebook and into the general public as well. over 100
people showed up in Vancouver. If we can get even 20 to show up at each
CBC station we will have made a huge statement.
For inspiration check out the following group sites:
Save Classical Music at the CBC
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=9009203294
Save the CBC Radio Orchestra
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10103441879
Vancouver composer, John Oliver’s Ad Campaign Site
http://standonguardforcbcradio.earsay.com/
La Scena Musicale’s list of web articles:
http://www.scena.org/columns/spotlight.asp?lan=2&flag=1&id=79
comments (0)
Alain Trudel’s April 1st letter
Filed under: Open Letters
Posted by: site admin [at] 1:22 pm
April 1st, 2008
Dear members of my orchestra, colleagues, and music lovers across the country,
Over the past few days I have received your many communications concerning the untimely demise of the CBC Radio Orchestra (CRO). I want to thank you so much for your concern and love for the Orchestra. I am very moved to see how many people understand the importance of the CRO (celebrating it’s 70th anniversary this season) for Canadians of all musical backgrounds.
The musicians, and myself are, of course, devastated by the loss of our mandate from the CBC, which first gave us life. In this time of shock and obvious distress, I think it is important to articulate, as clearly as possible, the value that our Orchestra brings to music lovers from everywhere in our country and to the CBC itself. In order to move forward, we need to grasp what it stands for and its place in our cultural life.
At this moment the CRO is one of the top orchestras in the country; an orchestra, which we as Canadians have spent seven decades building. This Orchestra is a musical jewel and a cultural landmark.
Being the only Radio Orchestra in the Americas, the CRO is the ONE music ensemble that sets the Canadian music scene apart. By its existence, its mission and its work, it helps define Canada’s uniqueness.
Throughout it history the CRO has called upon composers and performers of all cultural backgrounds from across our country, proving that music is alive in our country, even when other matters may cause despair or discouragement.
Through live performance and national broadcast exposure the CRO gives exposure to Canadian soloists and composers, sending a message of hope to all young Canadian creators and to musicians of all musical backgrounds. It shows that their voices will be heard and celebrated.
Throughout my tenure, I have insisted that we develop projects from all musical genres, including jazz, world, pop and Canadian native music.
In 2007, we started the Great Canadian Song Book, which commissioned a diverse roster of composers to create “art song” settings of works from Joni Mitchell to Neil Young, from Buffy Ste-Marie to Serge Fiori and Michel Rivard.
The CRO has developed creative projects around music from Asia and the Middle-East; around jazz improvisers as well as traditional orchestral repertoire as well as collaborating with the rapper K-os.
During the last season, we commissioned 18 works over seven concerts. Through the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is not only seen as a programmer but also as an active partner in Canadian art-making.
The CRO, through the elegance of a national broadcasting network, has reached people across our country. In September 2007, we performed a specially developed program, live, in Iqaluit on Frobisher Bay. Months later, we went to White Rock, B.C. We have received invitations from large and small communities across Canada and even from major concert halls in Europe. All of this, alas, we are now unable to entertain.
I have been fortunate in my career to work extensively in both English and French Canada, having thereby, a truly national perspective. To my great joy, in recent months the French services of the Corporation have not only become more aware of the fine work of the CRO, but have expressed a desire to embrace it. This also is a path that we cannot now pursue. However, the role of the Orchestra in building bridges across our country is something we must never forget.
Many things have been made clear in the work of the Orchestra and in your response to its closing: the importance of music in our lives, the importance of nurturing, supporting and broadcasting the diversified and astonishing talent we have in our country, the role of a national broadcaster in bringing us together, and much more. We will each have our personal reflection on the meaning of all of this, but one thing is certain: the CRO reminds us of what it is we cherish most in music and in our country.
Respectfully yours,
Alain Trudel
Principal Conductor, CBC radio Orchestra
2 comments
2 Responses to “Alain Trudel’s April 1st letter”
1. Elizabeth S. Sims Says:
April 9th, 2008 at 1:01 pm I totally support your petition! How can I not? Dominique (can’t remember her new married name - she plays in both the CBC Radio Orchestra and our Okanagan Sym