“This story has value as something that bonds orchestra and public in a way that even goes beyond music.”

In “Shared History,” Bradley Bambarger explores the wealth of information available in the archives of cultural institutions and highlights the New York Philharmonic’s Digital Archives as being “the model for how a 21st-century-organization can preserve and disseminate its back pages in a forward-looking manner.” Read the entire article in the Winter 2012 issue of Symphony magazine.

WTF-estra

Comedian Marc Maron — who is also known for his popular podcast WTF, frequent appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, and his 44 visits on Conan O’Brien’s show — took in a performance by the New York Philharmonic and Bernard Haitink during his last visit to NYC. He gave a rave review on episode 228 of WTF, and tweeted some highlights on his @marcmaron feed. Here’s one of his tweets: “4 curtain calls for Ludwig Van 6! Earned. Awesome. @nyphil”

And the Nominees Are …

From greasy, grimy, galvanized garbage to the golden, glistening glamour of the Grammys, New York Philharmonic Principal Percussion Christopher S. Lamb has seen it all. Today, Cincinnati.com reports that Mr. Lamb is also up for a Grammy Award for his performance of Schwantner’s Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra with the Nashville Symphony. We’re still gaping at his impromptu junkyard concerto from last year’s trip to Staten Island. Congratulations on your nomination, Chris!

Character Building

Don Quixote, Till Eulenspiegel, Mother Goose, Candide — who are your favorite fictional characters from the classical music world?

bbook:

10 of the Most Memorable Fictional Characters in Music

kdkathryn:

A schematic of Mahler symphonies.

Why should the trumpets get all of the glory? On December 1–3 the violas will shine when Daniel Harding and the Philharmonic perform Mahler’s never-completed Symphony No. 10 — after all, Mahler chose the violas to start off the Adagio of his final composition. Once you’ve mastered this handy schematic, go to nyphil.org/mahler to further test your knowledge.

Sharing the Gift of Music with the Next Generation

Yesterday, Philharmonic bass David Grossman took time during a busy day filled with an Open Rehearsal and concert conducted by Bernard Haitink to share his more than 11 years of experience at the Philharmonic with 37 students from Mamaroneck High School — a mixed group of orchestra, band, jazz and vocal students — and their teachers Timothy Hooker and Michele Kucic as part of the Musical Encounters program.

Musicians from the New York Philharmonic head across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on November 14 to the College of Staten Island Center for the Arts for a concert featuring some of chamber music’s most delectable delicacies. Opening with a Mozart trio and Dohnányi’s Serenade for String Trio, the concert will conclude with Brahms’s Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115 — considered by many to be the final great chamber work of the 19th century and a work that Arthur Cohn described in The Literature of Chamber Music as “Brahms’s warmest music.”

Head and Shoulders Above the Rest

Haydn’s fame was such that soon after his death, in 1809, the composer’s head was stolen from its grave. Listen to the entire story about how Haydn “lost his head,” as told by Simon Townley on BBC Radio 4.

You won’t lose your head next week when Bernard Haitink leads the New York Philharmonic in Haydn’s Symphony No. 96, November 17–19.