Musical America Blogs

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. An orchestra wants to commission a composer we represent to create an arrangement of a piece they want to perform. We were hoping that our composer would retain ownership of the arrangement so that in the future if the orchestra, or anyone else, ever wanted to play his arrangement, he […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder:   I am working on an orchestra tour for the 13-14 Season. We would like to include Canadian dates in the route, but they are neither possible at the beginning or end of the tour. Is it possible on a work visa, for a group to […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: May we borrow music for an orchestral performance from another organization that purchased this music, but is currently not using it? When you write that the other organization “purchased this music”, do you mean that they actually purchased all performance rights to the music or merely […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein, Esq. Dear Law and Disorder: May we loan music that we own for orchestral performances by other non-profit organizations (schools, community orchestras, etc? Would the other group still need to obtain performing/recording permissions? Could we be liable if they don’t? It depends how define “own.” If by “own”, you mean that […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein Dear Brian: We are touring an orchestra in the United States next season and have been grappling with the idea of whether the staff from the concerts team need to have visas for this tour, regardless of whether they are employees or freelance (we’ve had different opinions expressed). In the past, […]

By Brian Taylor Goldstein Dear FTM Arts Law: I am the executive director of a well-established regional symphony orchestra. As with most orchestras, I frequently receive emails from managers and agents asking me to consider their artists. After a number of emails from the same manager all within the same week, I wrote and told […]

by James Conlon On February 15, one of the great men of opera passed away. Charles Anthony will be long remembered for the stunning statistics of his career at the Metropolitan Opera: 2,928 performances of 111 roles in 69 operas in 57 years. He appeared there more than any other artist in the Met’s history. […]

By: Edna Landau To ask a question, please write Ask Edna. Dear Edna: I am a pianist, seeking to obtain performance opportunities without a manager. Can you please give me some guidance with regard to negotiating a fee? How can I tell what is reasonable and within the budget of the organization in question? How much […]

by Sedgwick Clark I first met Omus Hirshbein in Carnegie Hall’s executive offices, where he worked for a brief time in 1973 between tenures at the Hunter College Concert Bureau and the 92nd Street Y. He was walking out of a planning meeting, saying in frustration to anyone nearby, “They won’t listen to me—they should […]

by Sedgwick Clark   Many years ago I was sitting next to the p.r. director of the Berlin Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall when a cellphone went off as Simon Rattle conducted. When the piece ended I asked him if that happened in Berlin. “Everywhere,” he said sadly.    I left for vacation two days after the cellphone brouhaha at the New […]