By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Body scanners that look under airline passengers’ clothing for hidden weapons could be in nearly half the nation’s airport checkpoints by late 2011, according to an Obama administration plan announced Monday.

The $215 million proposal to acquire 500 scanners next year, combined with the 450 to be bought this year, marks the largest addition of airport-security equipment since immediately after the 9/11 attacks. There are only 40 body scanners in a total of 19 airports now.

Click here for the rest of the article.

AskEd & AnswerEd
by Ed Perkins, SmarterTravel.com Staff - January 29, 2010

“With all the changes in credit card fees and charges these days, is there anything new since your last report for travelers who want to use plastic outside the U.S.?”

The short answer is, “Fees and charges haven’t changed much, but you may run into some unexpected new problems.” Here are the details.

Full Article Here

The fourth-annual Somerset International Children’s Choral Festival will take place in the quaint English town of Sherborne, with the opportunity for individual choirs to be featured in the stunning Sherborne Abbey in performances for the local residents, as well as in England’s Historic Wells Cathedral - which has maintained a choral tradition virtually unbroken for over 800 years. Children’s choirs will join together to make up an outstanding festival chorus of 225 singers.

An outstanding tour! Our tour manager was outstanding in all aspects. He was efficient and communicated well with our contacts. Very personable – a highlight for all involved in the tour. The guided tours were done very, very well—excellent local guides (really outstanding). The major highlights would have to be our performances. Participation in Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica was a real honor! Very humbling. We experienced a minor miracle during our second performance in Rome. Our students had walked many miles that day, participating in guided tours. The performance time was 9PM which seemed very late (we were very tired). We anticipated that there would be little to no audience members and were pleasantly surprised, upon taking the stage, to see standing room only—a packed house! Our students prayed for strength and performed a very memorable concert, with a very receptive and enthusiastic audience. We had another packed house at our concert in Florence! The priest generously provided me with a book about the history of this particular church. Participation in Mass at San Marco (Venice) – what a privilege! I was particularly excited to have our choir contribute literature written for that church in the 16th century (Gabrieli and Monteverdi).

The tour was wonderful and I would absolutely be a reference for Music Celebrations.

David DeHoogh-Kliewer
Director of Choral Activities
University of Sioux Falls

By Hanna Schutte

Having a chance to take a trip abroad doesn’t come around very often. Receiving the opportunity to travel with 73 other serious musicians and friends is even rarer. Every four years the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Douglas Nimmo, travels internationally during January Interim Experience. This year, the ensemble will travel to Europe, touring through the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Germany. Touring from Jan. 20-Feb. 4, we will visit cities such as Prague, Krakow, Kety, Pomaz, Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich.

Preparations have been underway for months, but the real rehearsal takes place during the first few weeks of January. Musicians undergo a rigorous rehearsal schedule, playing for several hours each day to prepare themselves for quality performances. We also attend a class each day, taught by Gustavus history professor Tom Emmert, to learn about the history and culture of the regions where we will travel.

The Gustavus Wind Orchestra will perform a variety of pieces, including the fast-paced, intense, Machine by William Bolcom; the poignant A Hymn for the Lost and the Living by Eric Ewazen; and the well-known Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves by Michael Kamen, among others.

As Dr. Nimmo says, this trip has the potential to be an “ILCHE,” or an incredible life-changing experience. In order to share a bit of that ILCHE, I will write a blog from Europe. Hopefully, I will be able to relay some of the amazing experiences to come.

BLOG HERE

As airlines begin charging for seat selection, T+L [Travel + Leisure] explains how to get the one you want without paying the price

From February 2010
By Mark Orwoll

The days of reserving an airline ticket and then selecting a seat for free are numbered. Increasingly, carriers are charging passengers a fee to reserve in certain rows in coach. It’s the latest move in what the airlines call “à la carte pricing.”

Last October, British Airways began charging as much as $30 per preselected coach seat ($75 for one in an exit row). And they’re not alone. US Airways tacks on an extra $5 to $30 each way for a spot on an aisle or window at the front of the plane. United, AirTran, JetBlue, and others add on $9 to $109 for reserving exit-row or other premium seats, such as those by the bulkhead. The majority of coach seats on most airlines are still preselected at no additional fee, but on two domestic carriers, AirTran and Spirit, a preassigned seat—even the much-dreaded one in the middle—costs more.

If you’re paying for a preassigned seat, you should know what you’re getting for your money. Obviously, aisle and window seats near the front, where the ride is smoother and you can disembark faster, or exit-row and bulkhead seats with extra legroom, are preferable to ones near lavatories and galleys. But it’s a mistake to choose a seat based on its location alone. Although exit-row and bulkhead seats almost always provide greater legroom, they can have drawbacks. Bulkhead seats don’t have floor storage, are sometimes narrower to accommodate tray-table storage in the armrests, and are given to passengers with infants, so your extra legroom may come with a braying baby nearby. And some exit-row seats don’t recline fully or at all.

My go-to site to learn the nuances and measurements of individual airplane seats—especially now that I’m paying extra to reserve them—is SeatGuru (seatguru.com), which has the most detailed descriptions, including power port locations and comparison charts of coach cabins across various airlines. Other good sites include SeatExpert (seatexpert.com) and SkyTrax (airlinequality.com). At all of these, you will find advice on the most (and least) desirable seats for all plane models.

Click here to read more.

By JOE SHARKEY of the New York Times
Published: December 28, 2009

WHEN there is trouble, it sometimes makes sense to listen to the experts.

By that I mean hard-core business travelers. I’ve been hearing from a lot of them since that nasty business on a Detroit-bound flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day. Most said the same thing: it’s a mistake to overreact to one incident by ratcheting up security to the point where normal travel is further discouraged. Get some perspective, they said.

The one who said it best was Douglas J. Engmann, the president of Engmann Options, a financial services firm in San Francisco, who says he flies about 200,000 miles a year. He contends that stricter security screening ordered by the Transportation Security Administration will do little or nothing to shield the air travel system from terrorism and do a lot to discourage business travelers from going on the road.

“I was frustrated to read about what I saw as a knee-jerk reaction,” he said.

The T.S.A. ordered more thorough screenings of passengers and their belongings, including more physical pat-downs. On international flights to the United States, passengers can expect to be screened at the gate.

The T.S.A. initially reacted by banning passengers on international flights into the United States from getting out of their seats or having any access to personal belongings for an hour before arrival time. But on Monday, the agency eased those restrictions, leaving such measures to the discretion of a flight’s captain.

Frequent fliers say they understand that a fast, hard tightening of security may be justifiable while the authorities determine whether there is a wider plot. “Right away, you lower the boom,” Mr. Engmann said.

But adding more disruption to the security process would be a mistake, he said. “It’s not that we don’t adjust. Business travelers are accustomed to knowing the rules and making do with them,” he said. “Yet right now, you have to wonder about the balance between totally inconveniencing the traveling public versus what is the threat.”

Click here for the rest of the article.

Germany is one of the top travel destinations orchestras consider when planning their international concert tours. Performers typically visit Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg where they experience an environment rich with culture and art. However, there are other cities, not as often visited, which offer a great experience for your touring orchestra. Here are MCI’s Top 3 Cities to Visit with your orchestra, that are off the beaten path:

3. Mannheim

Under the Electors of Palatines, and their strong patronage for the arts, Mannheim thrived as one of the most active musical centers in Europe during the 18th-Century. Nestled between the Rhine and Neckar rivers, Mannheim offers visitors a modern cityscape, with beautiful parks, and a population that is as diverse as any major American city.

Mannheim was known as a cornerstone of orchestral music during Germany’s Baroque Period. Home to Bohemian composer Johann Stamitz, Stamitz led the Mannheim Orchestra to international recognition, while reinventing what is now considered the standard four movement symphony. Stamitz published over 65 orchestral works, and is distinguished as the founder of The Mannheim School of Music. His works and teachings had a strong influence on dozens of symphonists including Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

2. Weimar

Just an hour southwest of Leipzig, Weimar is a small town with a rich cultural heritage. Weimar was home to many Germany intellectuals during the Late 18th-Century, including Weimar Classicism leaders: Johann van Wolfgang Goethe, and Friedrich Schiller. The city is also home to an ugly period in German history: The Buchenwald concentration camps, Germany’s first and largest death camps. A museum and memorial now stands where over 50,000 prisoners died, and 250,000 were imprisoned. Famous survivors include French Prime Minister Leo Blum, Hogan’s Heros’ Robert Clary, and Nobel Prize-Winning Writer Ellie Wiesel.

Weimar’s orchestral history can be linked with several prominent composers. J.S. Bach began working on his Brandenburg Concertos while Concertmaster in Weimar, and Franz Liszt served for 12 years as Kapellmeister for the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia. Liszt’s dream to build an orchestra school in Weimar would later be realized by Karl Müller-Hartung in 1872. The Liszt School of Music Weimar is now considered one of the best music schools in Europe.

1. Leipzig

With an orchestral history dating back to the Early 18th-Century, Leipzig tops MCI’s list as the best city to visit with your orchestra. Over a half-million people live in Leipzig, which boasts a health economy, classic German architecture, and a population with a rich appreciation for the arts.

The Baroque Period brought two of Germany’s earliest and most popular composers to Leipzig. Georg Philipp Telemann founded the first Collegium Musicum in 1704, and is widely considered the most prolific composer with over 3,000 compositions. J.S. Bach would follow in Telemann’s footsteps, acting as Music Director for several churches (including St. Thomas Church) before taking over as Director of The Collegium Musicum in 1729.

Leipzig became home to Felix Mendelssohn in 1835 where he Conducted The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Leipzig Opera, and wrote one of his most popular symphonies, the Scottish, in 1842. A year later he found the Leipzig Conservatory, now the oldest university school of music in Germany.

Interested in taking your orchestra to Germany on its next concert tour? For a free consultation on a trip to Germany or any of the cities mentioned on our list, please contact MCI at 1-800-395-2036 or visit us at www.musiccelebrations.com.

By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Frequent-flier Bob Schneider doesn’t want to be in the same shoes as passengers who filed 1.8 million reports of mishandled bags with airlines during the first 10 months of this year.

To avoid checked-baggage problems, Schneider of Medford, Mass., leaves a suit, shirts and pants at a dry cleaner in Indianapolis, where he flies to each week on business.

Schneider’s actions may seem extreme to many fliers, because most checked bags aren’t lost, delayed, damaged or stolen.

BAG-CHECKING TIPS: Road warriors share lessons learned

More bags, though, are mishandled in December than in any other month, so travelers may wish to take steps to minimize the chance of a bag going astray or being damaged during the peak holiday travel season.

Last December, 19 U.S. airlines carried 45.9 million passengers and received nearly 320,000 reports of mishandled bags. That’s about double the amount of bags that were mishandled during the previous month.

The following tips, provided by airport-technology expert Lukas Loeffler, may help fliers avoid the hassle of a delayed or lost bag. Loeffler is a vice president at Siemens, an electrical engineering conglomerate that provides baggage-handling equipment at 435 U.S. airports.

•Connecting flights. Not allowing enough time between connecting flights and flying on more than one airline increases the probability of losing a bag. Make sure to schedule at least 30 minutes between connecting flights.

•Packing gifts. Don’t wrap them, because the metalized foil in wrapping paper appears solid during security screening. A manual bag search is required and may delay the bag.

•Bag’s size and weight. Oversize and heavy bags increase the chance of falling off a conveyer belt or being rerouted for manual sorting or extra security screening. Small bags should be carried on.

•Access to a bag’s contents. Make sure a bag is easy for security screeners to open, or use locks that the Transportation Security Administration can open with a master key. Bags that are difficult to open increase the likelihood of a delay or damage.

•Luggage straps. Loose straps or bulky belts around a bag may get caught in conveyer equipment. A bag could be damaged or delayed.

•Flight check-in. Checking in for a flight as early as possible eliminates the need to rush a bag through, when mistakes can be made. Find out an airline’s deadline for checking a bag and meet it.

•Bag tag. Make sure the owner is identified inside and outside a bag, and check the destination and flight number on the tag before leaving the bag.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Capitol Visitor Center has hosted 2.3 million people since opening a year ago on Dec. 2, 2008.

That’s twice the number of people who visited the Capitol in the year before the visitor center existed. In the past, before the center’s Exhibition Hall and Restaurant existed, people who visited the Capitol typically waited on line outside — sometimes for hours — for a tour. Now, visitors can make a reservation ahead of time for a tour, or they can even walk in and get on the next available tour.

The visitor center includes a 13-minute film about Congress and the building of the Capitol, and the 16,500-square-foot Exhibition Hall offers unusual artifacts and documents related to Congress and the Capitol.

The center premises include a 500-seat restaurant, gift shops and restrooms.

In December, the center introduced a new attraction: On Wednesdays at noon, curators, historians and educators from the Capitol, National Archives, and the Library of Congress are giving 15-minute talks about Congress and the Capitol. Lectures are free; no reservations required. The center plans to continue the 15-minute talks in 2010.

Also new is an audio tour of the visitor center’s exhibition hall, available by using a cellphone, beginning at the plaster model of the Statue of Freedom, located directly in front of the entrance to the hall.

Details at visitthecapitol.gov.

After 7 years, the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries Make Their Debut at the Victoria and Albert

By KELLY BELKNAP
LONDON, Dec. 4, 2009

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London wows visitors with its new wing displaying more than 1,000 years of artistic and cultural history. Visitors young and old are flocking to the museum to see the much-anticipated Medieval and Renaissance galleries, which open Wednesday.

“I’m impressed with everything from the large architectural fragments to the small pieces in the collection,” said Johanna Roethe, an architectural historian in London.

Occupying the entire southwest wing of the museum, the 10 new galleries display more than 1,800 works of art. The collection is laid out with precision and illustrates chronologically the history of art and architecture from the fall of the Roman Empire to the foundation of modern Europe during the Renaissance.

Full Article Here

PEARL HARBOR — Harold O’Connor, 88, was a Navy Fireman First Class on the USS Thornton, a destroyer seaplane tender, in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked.

“All the torpedo planes were coming right off our fantail,” O’Connor recalls. “I watched the West Virginia go up from two torpedoes that were dropped. All hell was breaking loose. I saw the bombs that hit the Arizona.”

That’s just one of O’Connor’s World War II stories from the Pacific. The Hawaii man was again on the Thornton in 1942 taking Marines to Palmyra Atoll, when the ship ran aground on New Year’s Eve. There he saw two torpedoes streaming toward where he stood.

“I said, ‘Goodbye world,’ and I hit the deck,” O’Connor said. “Nothing happened. I got up, and here come two more torpedoes. They came right under where I was standing.”

O’Connor’s recollections go beyond Japan’s 1941 attack on Oahu and so will the new $58 million Pearl Harbor center under construction for the USS Arizona Memorial here, says Daniel Martinez, chief historian for the emerging World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

Go here to read more.

Source: USA Today

Heh, all youse Washington, DC insiders, here’s some info for upcoming DC concert tour or festival or parade performance:

The National Archives has a new “Archivist,” and, oddly, he is the first Archivist of the U.S. to be a bona fide Librarian! He is David S. Ferriero (sounds like stereo), 63, and says, “I have 10 billion things I have to worry about,” was confirmed by the Senate on Dec. 6. “He loves Mozart and Southern writers,” sez the Post article. He hails from NY Public Library system, since 2004, and Duke Univ. as Librarian and Vice Provost since 1996. He oversaw Duke’s $55 mill. library expansion. Before this he worked at MIT library for 31 years. Good pedigree, eh. The article sez he takes a pay-cut, poor man, to just $162,900, aw, half of his NY salary. What a guy!

Archives - established by Congress in 1934. 700 Penn. Ave., NW at 8th St. & Constitution Aves. Exhibition Hall open summer 10 am - 9 pm. Holds US records dating to 1774, relating to US civil, military and diplomatic activities; on display: Declaration of Independence (1776), the Constitution (1789), Bill of Rights (1798) and one of two known copies of the Magna Carta (1297). It’s genealogical records are a great attraction to many people wishing to trace their family tree.

The bldg, designed by John Russell Pope, opened in 1935. It has 72 Corinthian pillars, each 52 ft. high, grouped in colonnades around the bldg’s four facades. Sculpting was done on-site by James Fraser, wife Laura and ass’ts. Next time you’re here doing a parade or ?, please note the pediment above the Const. Ave. entrance: The Recorder of the Archives (1935) features an elderly man seated on an architectural throne resting on two reclining rams, symbols of parchment. Above the rams is a decorative frieze based on the flower of the papyrus plant, the symbol of paper; paper and parchment together made possible the housing of the documents in the Archives. There’s more. Check it out online.

Standing sentinels at the bottom on the Const. Ave steps are two 8-ft. tall limestone figures, Heritage (fem.) and Guardianship (m.). The inscription, said by Jefferson, reads “Eternal Vigilance Is The Price Of Liberty.” Inside is the 75-ft. half-domed ceiling, showing the Declaration and the other biggies. They are in a bullet-proof, helium-filled case that is covered w/ a green ultra-violet filter to protect from aging due to light and air exposure. Each night the docs are lowered into a 50-ton bombproof vault 22 ft. below the floor of the Exhib. Hall. No worries, eh. So check it out on you next visit here. Great stuff!

Vincenzo

Vince Patterson, DMA, is a professional musician performing and teaching in the Washington, DC area. Since joining the Marine Band in 1974, he has played, sung and conducted in, the Library of Congress’ Coolidge Auditorium, The Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral and many other concert sites on the east coast. Vince heads up the Music Celebrations Washington, D.C. Office.

By Rick Steves
Tribune Media Services

Shopping in Europe can be fun, but not if you let it overwhelm your trip. I like to shop smart, spending my time — and money — efficiently. Based on three decades of travel, here are my top tips for shopping in Europe.

Shop in countries where your dollar goes farther. Shop in Turkey, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Greece, and Eastern Europe where the dollar is relatively strong. For the price of a doily in Britain, you can get a lace tablecloth in Spain.

Shop at flea markets. The most colorful shopping in Europe is at its open-air secondhand markets. Among the best are Amsterdam’s Waterlooplein, London’s Portobello Market, Madrid’s El Rastro and Paris’ Puces St. Ouen. Flea markets anywhere have soft prices. Bargain like mad. Pickpockets love flea markets — wear your money belt and watch your day bag.

Check out large department stores. These often have a souvenir section with standard local knickknacks and postcards at prices way below the cute little tourist shops. While the stores seem daunting at first, they generally work like ours. Most are accustomed to wide-eyed foreign shoppers and have English-speaking staff.

Full Article Here

Of all the cities in the world, only Paris comes remotely close to matching Venice in terms of sheer beauty and romance. You’ve seen it in photos and films, but there’s no substitute for the reality — the shimmering Grand Canal, the gondolas slipping down watery alleyways, the elegant palazzos emerging straight from the sea.

Venice once ruled the Mediterranean as a shipping power, amassing vast wealth and producing some of Europe’s greatest artistic and cultural treasures. But over the centuries Venice has declined a bit and now has less than half the population it had at its peak. What remains of its former grandeur — the crumbling palaces, the sumptuous art in its museums and churches, the fantastic rituals of Carnevale — makes Venice a living tribute to the past.

Full Article Here

Air Canada has begun trial offers of Internet service onboard some flights between Los Angeles and the cities of Toronto and Montreal.

The service will cost $9.95 per flight for customers with a laptop computer and $7.95 for a personal electronic device.

The airline said the test will run until Jan. 29, and then it will decide whether to offer the service on other routes. The service from Aircell will be available only in U.S. airspace.

Aircell also provides in-flight Internet on some Delta and American Airlines planes.

“This initial phase is intended to get our customers’ feedback,” said Louise McKenven, senior director of marketing for Air Canada, in a statement. “The ultimate rollout of our inflight internet service will be finalized pending the outcome of the trial period as well as obtaining the necessary regulatory approvals and the development of ground infrastructure in Canada to provide a domestic network.”

Source: Associated Press

By CARYN ROUSSEAU Associated Press Writer
CHICAGO November 9, 2009 (AP)

From Greektown to Chinatown, from the Polish Triangle to Pakistani restaurants on Devon Avenue, Chicago has a wealth of diverse ethnic neighborhoods to explore.

Chicago is known as a city of neighborhoods and Patricia Sullivan, manager of the city’s Chicago Neighborhood Tours program, said visitors need to leave the tourist-heavy Loop and Michigan Avenue areas to really see the different ethnic and cultural corners of the city.

“They’re distinct and they’re beautiful,” Sullivan said. “The architecture is different, as are the restaurants and the stores. It’s really a melting pot.”

By no means an exhaustive list, here are highlights of some of Chicago’s ethnic neighborhoods:

Full Article Here

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Eph Ehly and Professor János Czifra will co-direct the second-annual Mozart International Choral Festival, June 29 - July 3, 2011, in Mozart’s birthplace - Salzburg, Austria.

This choral event will take place in Salzburg’s famed Dom, where Professor Czifra holds the same position as Herr Mozart once held - Domkapellmeister.

Some great Mozart - Salzburg links:

Mozart Choral Festival Webpage
Mozart’s Salzburg Church Music
Salzburg Cathedral - Salzburg Tourism
Mozarteum
Mozart’s Birthplace

Paris is so large and has such a variety of attractions that it’s worth thinking carefully about where to base yourself to get the most from your visit. Although central Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements – discrete regions that spiral clockwise, like a shell, out from the city centre – these are just arbitrary administrative boundaries that overlap the old, village-like quarters from which the city developed.

Base yourself in one of the following historic quarters and you get the best of both worlds: easy access to the rest of the city, plus a heady mix of history and modern-day Parisian life every time you step out the door.

Full Article Here

By Rick Steves
Tribune Media Services

As everyone knows, Pisa has the famous tilted tower you can climb, but an unspoiled Renaissance wall you can bike encircles the lesser-known Lucca.

These two Tuscan towns, near Florence and each other, make for an easy day-trip from Florence. But if you have time for more than a touristy quickie, each offers great Italian city scenes — offering visitors the chance to savor Pisa’s rich architectural heritage, and bask in Lucca’s genuine charm.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most iconic images in the world, but it’s not the only sight in town. It leans near the town’s other biggies — the cathedral and baptistery. This creamy white threesome floats regally over the green-grass Field of Miracles. Imagine arriving in Pisa as a sailor in the 11th century — the sea came to just outside the surrounding walls, the church was the biggest in the world, and spread out before you was an ensemble of gleaming white marble. Even choked with street-market stands probably then and certainly now, the square still lives up to its name: the Field of Miracles.

Full Article Here

Last Friday afternoon was very special - we renewed acquaintances at Historic Congressional Cemetery (HCC) with foundation president Cindy Hayes and the many dynamite docents who take such good care of our MCI groups. The occasion was John Philip Sousa’s 155th birthday party. The Marine Band traditionally does a “stand and blow,” graveside, to honor Sousa’s time and leadership of the Band and his illustrious contribution to American Music.

This year was especially rewarding: there were about 150 people there for the ceremony and short concert! You may be interested to know this job was the genesis of the Marine Band Public Affairs Office. How? Thought you’d never ask!

In 1980 yours truly was standing in Marine Band full dress, saxophone hanging around neck, at Sousa’s grave thinking, “why is the Band here?” Looking around the cemetery on the walk in, headstones were knocked over, grass and weeds were waist high, feral cats screeched ominous, eerie sounds from various points and wild dogs were heard and seen, lurking behind dead trees and the rotting little chapel. [You don’t want to hear about the odors wafting thru the acrid southeast DC air. . .]

So, quite alone, we marched to the graveside, were positioned horseshoe-shape around the silent groundstone/ bench and played Sousa’s “Semper Fi” (Marine Corps’ official march, “Semper Fidelis”). A line officer, Marine Corps, approached the music-stand-rostrum and read some hyperbole. This included a biblical reference, Old Testament, where he quoted, paused frequently (he was reading . . .) and stammered “BEE- -zel- -bub.” Now you can imagine this is all it took to send the band over the edge; still, no laffing out loud, so all we could do is revel in shoulders bouncing up and down, heads bobbing deliriously and everybody KNOWING we are all thinking the same “what the expletive” are we DOING here?

It was at this magical, totally preposterous moment I had an epiphany. The Lord channeled to me this message: “the Marine Band needs a PR office!” So, sez I, “better make it happen!” (Had lots of PR/ concert promotion/ management work in prior years.) So I made an app’t to see the Director, presented him the proposal to start an active Public Affairs Office (PAO as the USMC terms it) and he said yes. Soon, the Band had it’s first “Concert Information” phone line (same number today, 202-433-4011 - try it!) and official Marine Band letterhead, among other upgrades. The rest is history.

Today there are four people in the PAO shop, which accounts for regular LARGE ads in the weekend section of the Wash. Post, a PAO presence at every concert handing out brochures and the decent-sized crowd at Friday’s Sousa event. Quite a turnaround from the squalid 1980 scene, eh?

Well, that’s enuf HCC history for one Musing. Now you know . . . the rest of the story. This should be “a good talking point” with band directors who ask, “What do we do in Washington?” Tell them the whole story of the Sousa Graveside job and how today’s Congressional Cemetery is clean, paved, manicured and staffed by caring, conscientious docents who will bring this place ALIVE for the students!

Right. So get those buses and planes pointed to DC! We can handle it!!

Musical regards,

Vincenzo

Vince Patterson, DMA, is a professional musician performing and teaching in the Washington, DC area. Since joining the Marine Band in 1974, he has played, sung and conducted in, the Library of Congress’ Coolidge Auditorium, The Kennedy Center, Washington National Cathedral and many other concert sites on the east coast. Vince heads up the Music Celebrations Washington, D.C. Office.

by Jeff Lunden
NPR Music News

November 5, 2009 - Opening night of New York City Opera’s new season is Thursday. A longtime scrappy alternative to the plush Metropolitan Opera, the company has struggled to make a comeback after financial and artistic turmoil.

The New York City Opera makes its home on the plaza of Lincoln Center, right in the shadow of the Metropolitan Opera. But New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini says there’s always been room for two opera companies in town, because both have been so different…But recently, New York City Opera has fallen on hard times. Last year, there was no season at all. The company closed its theater for a costly renovation. Then, the Belgian impresario hired to lead City Opera, Gerard Mortier, bolted when he couldn’t make his ambitious plans happen. And finally, the stock market — and the opera’s endowment — plummeted. With a $15 million deficit, the company almost closed down.

Go here to read more.