Well 2020 turned out somewhat differently than expected in the heady days of 2019 when I wrote about the anticipated Beethovapalooza in Australian orchestras. The impact of 2020 had an obvious effect on the operations, livelihoods, and planning of these organisations for 2021. Seasons have been shortened, postponed and thrown around all over the place.… Read More Australian Content in 2021
This will be fifth time I’ve published a report into the proportion of Australian music in the advertised seasons of the best funded music organisations. And, guys, I’m sick of it. It’s boring! It’s a dying genre! The subscribers are popping their clogs and the next generations are going to be too busy finding, I… Read More Australian Content in 2020
The mince pies are in Coles, the jacarandas are in bloom and the cricket is on (pay) TV. It’s time to cast a weary eye over the Australian content on the MPA organisations in 2019. Earlier this year I articulated my reasons for this annual exercise in self-torture and I’m not going to repeat myself.… Read More Australian Content in 2019
Hunting the balance between the Southern Cross tattoo and The Merry Widow. WARNING: This is long. For the past few years, I’ve made a tradition of sitting down with all the season launches of the principal Major Performing Arts music companies (and a few broader comparisons) and working out what percentage of their programming for… Read More Australian Content in 2018
It’s the most glorious time of the year! I’ve been a-counting and a-gnashing! And with it, I begin the task of considering Australian content in the seasons of our major music organisations. The count is from season publicity- ie the publicly available brochure- so typically doesn’t include education and other outreach programs which often aren’t… Read More Australian works in 2017: The rankings
As noted, there is a lot of Beethoven in orchestra programs next year. Fair enough too, as how often do we get to commemorate his 246th birthday? Of the 7 major orchestras, and excluding the period based Brandenburgers, four of them are doing Beethoven cycles (ACO, MSO, QSO, SSO). It’s also worth noting that TSO… Read More 2016- a bang up year for Beethoven
Every year, I amuse myself in counting the representation of Australian work in advertised 2016 programs by the major music organisations (I may not be very cool). Sydney Symphony Orchestra kicked off the 2016 announcements early this year, so I will update the below as season brochures become available. Some important qualifications: This is not… Read More Australian works in 2016: the rankings
Ian Whitney 