Musicians need to practice their instruments, both to learn music and to hone their craft. For those living next door, even professional musicians’ practice may not be “music to the ears.” As a result, it is not unheard of for professional musicians to find themselves in disputes with neighbors or landlords.
Read MorePlaying in a pit orchestra is very different from performing in an orchestra on stage. For the uninitiated, an orchestra pit is located in between the front row of chairs and the stage. Typically, the orchestra pit floor is at least 4-5 feet lower than the floor of the seating area, usually sunk low enough that only the top of the conductor’s head is visible to those on the stage. Frequently, the pit will be even lower so that it is entered from and extends below the stage so the winds and percussion typically will be sitting under the stage
Read MoreIt is difficult to play a violin in tune. For one thing, unlike with a guitar, there are no frets or markings on a violin fingerboard to tell the violinist where to put his/her fingers. Even a millimeter difference in finger placement can be the difference between an in-tune and out-of-tune note.
Read MoreMy violin was made in 1962 by a luthier named Umberto Lanaro, but it bears the label of Eligio Puccini and says it was made in 1947. Although it is a mystery why Lanaro used Puccini’s “identity” when he made labeled my violin, money and theft were clearly the motives when, two years ago, an unknown person used my name and social security number to file an income tax return seeking a hefty tax refund.
Read MoreA few weeks ago, out of the blue, I received an e-mail purporting to be from a real estate paralegal at a law firm with which I had been working on a real estate transaction several months before. The e-mail included a link, which appeared to be a legitimate link from a well-known electronic signature processor, asking me to securely download a document for electronic signature. This particular e-mail made me suspicious because I had no open real estate transactions with the law firm that sent me the link.
Read MoreToday, a rite of passage for many fourth graders it to choose a musical instrument to play. Children learn about three major instrument groups – strings, brass, and woodwinds, each of which has within it several options suitable for elementary school students, including violin, viola, and cello for the string instruments, trumpet, trombone, and baritone for the brass instruments, and flute, clarinet, and perhaps, saxophone, in the woodwinds. New business owners face a similar dilemma in selecting the type of structure to use when forming the business.
Read MoreRecently, while in the midst of a managing a complicated commercial real estate closing, I took a few hours off to attend an orchestra concert. During intermission, while orchestra took a break, a string quartet played in the lobby. It was then that I realized that the typical commercial real estate transaction frequently has at least 15 different roles and is much more like an orchestra than a string quartet.
Read MoreIt is not unusual to hear that a company is being investigated by the government over immigration issues. But, what is unusual about this particular investigation, however, is that it is being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which regulates securities, rather than the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), which regulates immigration and visas, including EB-5 visas.
Read MoreRecently there has been public outrage over learning that a number of powerful individuals and institutions repeatedly had entered into confidential settlements of sexual harassment and sexual abuse claims (I’ll call both sexual harassment for the remainder of this blog), only to have the perpetrators move on to victimize others – sometimes dozens or even hundreds of others. When reports came out that those “hush-money” settlements were tax deductible, there was a demand for action to stop what was seen as an effective public subsidy these settlements via tax savings.
Read MoreImagine you are a professional musician who is building a performance career. You hire an artist manager to promote you, obtain performance gigs, and to negotiate contracts for your gigs for a period of five years. You hire an artist manager to promote you, obtain performance gigs, and to negotiate contracts for your gigs for a period of five years. Your manager’s primary compensation is a percentage of the compensation you receive from your gigs, plus reimbursement of certain of the manager’s costs. This arrangement is designed to incentivize your artist manager to work hard to get you as many bookings as possible as soon as possible.
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