It’s hard to believe, but it’s been nearly a year since David MacDonald and I started the Scoring Notes podcast. In that time, we’ve covered lots of topics in the world of music notation software and related technology, and have welcomed dozens of guests to the program to talk all about how they use the software, and in many cases, how they develop it.
To celebrate, we’re very pleased to announce our very first live show, and we can’t think of anyone better to partner with to help present this than our good friends at MOLA, the Association of Music Performance Librarians.
The MOLA 2021 Annual Conference will be all-virtual and held over a month-long period beginning May 15.
They’ve asked us to help kick off the conference with a session called “Scoring Notes Live – Comparing the Major Music Notation Software Applications”, and it will be on Monday, May 17, 2021, at 2:00 EDT (US – New York).
In this 75-minute session, David and I will talk all about the developments in the music notation programs that have taken place over the past year and compare them for the benefit of conference participants, with a particular angle on how orchestra librarians would best make use of the features. We’ll also share our thoughts on where things are headed, and there will be time for Q&A.
The Scoring Notes Live presentation is just one item on a smorgasboard of conference sessions led by some of the industry’s top professionals. There are sessions planned in the technology space on nkoda, Newzik, Zinfonia, Adobe Illustrator, and, yes, GIMP.
There will be separate sessions devoted to each of the four major desktop scoring programs: Finale, Sibelius, Dorico, and MuseScore. I’ll be leading the Finale and Sibelius ones myself; librarians Joshua Luty of the Houston Grand Opera and Mark Fabulich of the Boston Symphony will be leading the Dorico session; and MuseScore experts Marc Sabatella and Peter Jonas will talk up their product.
That’s not all, of course — multiple sessions are planned in the areas of copyright, streaming, and licensing; practical “hands-on” composer sessions; and career/work environment.
Incredibly, the good folks at MOLA are opening up the conference to anyone in the world, for one low $25 registration fee. Registration gives you access to all of these sessions and the ability to participate directly in them, if that is part of the session. I can’t think of another comparable value for the opportunity to access and interact with some of the most respected experts in the field. There are also links to one-on-one tutorials if you want to get more personalized advice.
So in order to participate in “Scoring Notes Live” on May 17 at 2:00 pm, you’ll need to register for the MOLA conference. However, by special arrangement with MOLA, we’ll also be live-streaming the presentation on YouTube. Special thanks to Amy Tackitt and everyone and MOLA for helping make this happen.
We’re really excited about this opportunity to talk all about our favorite topic in this special format. We hope to see you on May 17 and throughout the entire 2021 MOLA Conference!
Where in the world is…
Before the MOLA conference gets underway, get familiar with the back-and-forth of the Scoring Notes podcast in this episode, where David MacDonald and Philip Rothman go on a scavenger hunt to find useful features in Finale, Sibelius, and Dorico. We uncover some hidden and not-so-hidden treasures on our journey, and review how to reset it all when everything goes awry, so you can feel confident making the software work for you, and not the other way around. Listen now:
JImmy
Sweet. Listener from the Caribbean.