Month: March 2010

The Die Is Cast

Not that the Oakland City Council members are like Julius Caesar, but they declared “the die is cast” and proceeded across their Budget Rubicon last night.

We think they closed the 2009-2010 budget gap.  After some hand-wringing, seven council reps voted and one abstained for a final round of cuts.  [And they agreed to vote on the rest in two weeks.]  There’s plenty of unfinished business, like working with union negotiators, but few options right this minute.

The Council will vote voted to shave 15 percent from elected officials’ budgets, which includes the mayor, attorney, auditor, council reps and their aides.  In addition, the city planners were hit hard.

During this current budget year, there had to be a place to save another $4 million because this gap wasn’t going to magically disappear.  And another $35 million needs to be hunted down during the next fiscal year, so the clock was running out.

After months of delay, Council President Jane Brunner admitted, “we’re all going to suffer together.”  Not pretty but necessary.

Updates:  Please see voting clarifications above, thanks to V Smoothe and Max Allstadt.  (March 3rd Update)  The Council finally voted for the 15 percent cuts from elected officials’ budgets.  (April 1st Update)

Cheshire Grins Shared With Our Maestro

We’re still sporting cheshire grins from the Oakland East Bay Symphony concert on Friday evening, after experiencing three performances with sheer attitude.  Maestro Michael Morgan knowingly smiled and made the unusual something that symphony goers could simply embrace.

Let’s start with Charles Ives’ Second Symphony (listen), written over 110 years ago.  Our conductor gave advanced warning about the pastiche of tunes and abrupt ending, yet assured us that Ives behaved himself by sticking to one key.  It was a real trip to hear the musicians making their way around and through this piece.  While the music was beautiful, we were truly teased here.

After intermission, Rebeca Mauleon’s Suite Afro-Cubano was premiered to our audience.  This music took us through Cuban settlement and history.  We needed to toss away our preconceived notions of an orchestra, as instruments were drawn into the stories.  By the time the orchestra members shouted “Mambo,” everyone in the theater seemed ready to celebrate.

That high energy fed right into the last piece, Duke Ellington’s Harlem Suite.  We hadn’t really thought of Duke in this larger venue, complete with familiar crooning brass.  Who needs a big band when you can one-up with a full orchestra instead?  Very nice.

We hope this weekend’s performance reflects the present and future of symphony orchestras.  In that spirit, our East Bay performers are still putting out their hats and asking for donations – and they deserve our support.