Lake Alice

Isn't how I'd describe elite music -- it's pretty much the same as elite athletics. It's highly competitive, and only a fraction of the people with talent ever make decent money .. I reckon that the Orchestra Wellington players are probably paid about the same as the Firebirds, and that's mostly under $70,000. - It's not a hugging, caring, sharing sort of environment; I think that's a legacy of the museum culture, as there's a lot of women in classical music, so it's not as male-dominated as sports often appears to be. It's not a coincidence that my main female mentors are somewhat tomboyish, though... I haven't seen Tar, but I'm guessing that's what that film is all about. I wouldn't say the culture rewards one for being an arsehole, but anyone who can get 80-90 people to listen to them and agree on where the pulse 'is' tends to get a wide berth to behave however they want. Tbh I like The Piano Teacher by Haneke -- it's somewhat exaggerated, but it feels more lived-in than Whiplash. Autumn Sonata by Bergman is my favourite film about classical music. - Guitar is an exception to the rule -- classical music mostly hinges on orchestral instruments, so most musicians spend loads of time in orchestras. While I spent high school mostly playing jazz (+ 2 years in the orchestra), and uni as a composer who minored in guitar. - I guess I spent the last few years as a singer-songwriter, but now I'm pivoting back to composing. I'd ultimately rather have other people sing my songs, though it's nice to know people like my voice. That's not what musicals or opera are all about, though, and the modern cult of the performing auteur for TV also pisses me off. I like Dave and Atlanta well enough, but gave up on both after the first season -- I notice that Taika has stepped behind the camera for most of his recent projects.