More orchestral problems

[Chadtuba]

Just saw this so thought I'd share http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/ ... eason.html

[gwwilk]

WARNING: Tangentially relevant post

He has a short memory. The 2002-2003 season saw 17 orchestras close their doors, most of the permanently. Some have come back. Some have come back as *new* groups (post-bankruptcy, mostly the same players, new name). Does no one remember the post-9/11 disaster in the arts world as pretty much all giving went to Red Cross and the 9/11 fund? We (the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra) nearly folded, too. Tough times. This guy should have remembered that...

Ah, yes. The downside to 'living in the moment'. There is no crisis like the one at hand, is there? As some 'journalists' seek wider audiences they tend to develop just this mindset, their focus lurching from one crisis to the next with no regard for the past. The study of the history was never more important than it is today in order to gain a perspective that allows us to ignore the information 'noise' we're all bombarded with, especially by the political class. What the web and blogging have done to 'journalism' is abhorrent because standards are ephemeral and nearly anything goes. The truth, if it is anywhere to be found, be damned.

I need to turn off the TV and practice more, just for my own peace of mind! Right?

[MartyNeilan]

believe I would follow the path of a former (deceased) oboist in the Boston Symphony,

Ain't just you, Joe. Some day, sooner or later, we all will.

[tbn.al]

I have a friend who is professional singer, quite good actually, a real estate agent, a probation officer and an ordained minister. I asked him why such diverse interests and he replied, "they can't all go down at once." Back on the original topic, the Atlanta paper today had a front page article on the Atlanta Symphony financial problems that hinted a solution might be in the works in time to have a season after all. Not much hope but better than the gloom and doom from before. I will not buy my tickets until the contract is signed.

[ralphbsz]

In 1986, I moved from Germany to the US. I had lived in a small provincial town in Germany, but it had a professional orchestra (admittedly, a pretty bad orchestra, but it provided about 100 full-time jobs). For better music, within an hour's drive I could go to the symphonies in Duesseldorf, Bonn, Aachen, and Cologne (they had two, the city symphony and the classical radio station's orchestra). Then I did my master's thesis work in Hamburg, which had four full-time symphony orchestras, of which two were world-class. I used to go to concerts every few weeks (including the special occasion when Horovitz decided to come to town, one of the three or four stops on his first international tour in a generation, and I spend a month's salary on a ticket on the black market). By the way, this tells you something about the way the arts are funded in Europe versus the US: In Germany, cities, counties, and states all maintain arts programs, and there are government-funded orchestras and conservatories in all major cities. This makes for a lot of music (not all excellent).

So I arrived in the US, in a largish city (Honolulu), where I was going to graduate school. I quickly made friends with a few people from the music department (I was not a music student, but I enrolled in chamber music and piano duo classes for fun). I learned that the Honolulu Symphony was on strike, and not expected to survive economically. The reason for the strike was that the salary for full-time musicians had been reduced to $14,000 per year. Even in 1986, that was not a living wage in one of the highest cost-of-living cities in the US. There was still a little bit of musical life left; there were chamber concerts at the art academy, there was a brass quintet, and there was a music department on campus. But: In Honolulu, you can't just drive a little bit to find a good concert; the nearest functioning orchestra was 2500 miles away. For someone raised on a steady diet of music, this was pretty hopeless.

Then late in the fall, a small miracle happened: The Honolulu Symphony was saved! Senator Inouye had found a half million bucks somewhere in the federal budget, and the season was on. The opening night was Dvorak cello concerto with Yo-Yo Ma. What made the evening even more memorable: As I was leaving the building on campus (on my bicycle, dressed "formally", meaning long pants and a collared shirt, this is Hawaii after all), I met the department chair, who told me confidentially that both my GF and me had passed the qualifying exam and were on our way to a PhD.

The concert itself then started in a fashion that was quite foreign to me: The concert master came in, polite applause, the orchestra tuned. Then a roll on the snare drum (?), the audience rose (???), the conductor came to the podium but no applause (?????), and then the orchestra started the Star-Spangled Banner, with the audience singing along. For someone raised in a country where public displays of patriotism were considered distasteful (an effect of WW2), this was weird, but very touching. But at the end of the national anthem, it got even weirder: The audience remained standing, another drum roll, and the orchestra played the state's anthem, Hawai'i Pono'i, with the audience again singing along at a full fortissimo (obviously, not in English). At that point, I had tears in my eyes.

Anycase, why do I tell this anecdote? Because there is a long tradition of orchestras in the US going under, and it seems in many cases managing to get revived. I heard from friends who still live on the islands that the Honolulu Symphony completely failed (chapter 7 bankruptcy) a few years ago, but was reborn a few years later, with a much shorter season and more pops concerts. The number of orchestras dying this season might be somewhat higher than usual, but given the funding system for orchestras, it's neither new nor surprising.

[UDELBR]

By the way, this tells you something about the way the arts are funded in Europe versus the US: In Germany, cities, counties, and states all maintain arts programs, and there are government-funded orchestras and conservatories in all major cities. This makes for a lot of music

In my corner of Europe, all orchestras have been subsidized for decades to the tune of 85% of their operating costs. I'm all for a certain amount of gubmint subsidization of the arts, but 85% has always seemed ludicrous to me. It's allowed artistic directors to program music no-one wants to buy tickets for, and then they're surprised when no-one shows up! Now that taxpayers have demanded a rollback in these subsidies (surely their right...), the arts community screams that it's the "end of civilization".

[bort]

The problem is that people can be lazy now and not leave their houses to get their entertainment. If more people would unplug, get outside, and go to events, orchestras would make more money (or at least have more willing advertisers/sponsors based on butts-in-seats), and things could start to improve.

[Kevin Hendrick]

Damned Grammophones! Sousa was right!

... and vice versa ...

[tbn.al]

Here is the future. Maybe not too distant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwgq_jrJnnw" target="_blank

No music, no instruments, no performers, no audience, no audio, no ears. The composer creats the music on a computer which transmits it directly to the brain, bypassing all aural elements. Also to be included are direct inputs of sight, taste, smell and touch. Not sure me or my instrument would have a place in that scenerio. Kind of leaves me out in the cold.