Distinguished Concerts International New York

So you want to debut in New York City? No problem. Just hand over $8-10,000 and Distinguished Concerts International http://www.dciny.org/Turkeywill arrange a concert at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall. They will provide publicity - to a degree - and find an audience for you - to a degree.

That's the way it is in NYC. For a price, you can do anything, even arrange a "vanity" concert.

Don't count on that audience to be buying tickets though (yes, DCINY lets you keep ticket revenue).

There are various organizations here that will paper your house. Try Audience Extras, for example

http://www.audienceextras.com/pub/index.cfm?r=-530757921 And don't count on a revue either - the critics at the NY Times have a multitude of other performances to choose from.

Some years ago, I put in my time on a symphony orchestra negotiating team. Symphony musicians mostly see themselves as charity cases - to a degree. Board members never tire of telling them this. So orchestra musicians are inclined to give in to cries of penury. Problem is - it's a race to the bottom. 

And where is the bottom? It has been reached here in New York by DCINY. They don't pay you to play - you pay them. It happens all over this city. Witness the numerous small opera companies supposedly coaching up and coming singers. In reality, the singers are paying to sing and are themselves supporting the opera company.

For a composer like myself, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Not having a lot of $$$, I nevertheless can hope to hire performers. But for the performer, it is hell itself. Dante's Inferno for musicians. 

Is that what the DI in DCINY stands for?

Comments?