Baltimore Symphony situation

[Watchman]

Bloke, your picture is missing Donald Trump. Tons of people in the unsophisticated cities were suppor.....oh oops, I almost made a sarcastic political comment. My bad.

Let's not pretend that only cities have problems. I've been through some towns "out in the woods" that look like scenes out of the Walking Dead, so I think it's unfair to blame this on urban decay.

As long as there have been cities, there have been poor people and criminals. Poor people and criminals, unless I'm mistaken, never gave a crap about the arts, as they are too busy never having any money, or trying to think of crimes to commit, so it can't be their fault.

Maybe the problem is that there seem to be a lot MORE poor people and criminals than there were. What if I said that's just the risk we take when we adopt policies that concentrate all of the wealth of society into the hands of a very few and leave everyone else living paycheck to paycheck. If one of these masters of the universe decides that they don't care about arts funding, but instead wants to sell trips to the stratosphere to experience zero gravity, who ELSE are you going to ask? The blue haired lady is dead in this scenario, remember?

Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm being political again, but it's really not. People of both parties had a hand in creating this "economy" where people weren't people. Where only stock prices, and dividends, and share holders, and profit margins mattered. That's not what really holds a society together. When most of this country, during this supposed "good" economic time, can't live with any dignity, why should we expect them to care about symphonies?

[Three Valves]

Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm being political again, but it's really not. People of both parties had a hand in creating this "economy" where people weren't people. Where only stock prices, and dividends, and share holders, and profit margins mattered. That's not what really holds a society together. When most of this country, during this supposed "good" economic time, can't live with any dignity, why should we expect them to care about symphonies?

You have been misinformed.

Dignity is “what they can’t take away from me.”

Broken families, dependency and violence (bad choices) strips dignity from humanity. Not the economy.

[groth]

Yeah, I know it sounds like I'm being political again, but it's really not. People of both parties had a hand in creating this "economy" where people weren't people. Where only stock prices, and dividends, and share holders, and profit margins mattered. That's not what really holds a society together. When most of this country, during this supposed "good" economic time, can't live with any dignity, why should we expect them to care about symphonies?

You have been misinformed.

Dignity is “what they can’t take away from me.”

Broken families, dependency and violence (bad choices) strips dignity from humanity. Not the economy.

[Big Toot]

Mods? Anybody?

[tbonesullivan]

The basic problem is simple: many things have become comparatively more expensive in the past few decades, so supplying things like various insurance comes at a higher cost. This adds to overhead. Then combine this with the fact that I don't believe there is ANY orchestra that survives on ticket revenue and recording contracts alone. They require lots of donations from people, usually with a lot of money. Sadly there has been a move away from the arts, so the money simply isn't there.

So, what is any organization supposed to do? You can't very well downsize the orchestra, which is what most corporations would do. Should they lay off more experienced, and therefore more expensive players in favor of younger ones? Can they convince the players to take a pay cut?

Do I think that the performers should be paid at a rate comparable to their peers in other orchestras? Of course I do, but that's the ideal.

If there isn't the money to pay them that much, there isn't the money. So, something has to give, and ultimately it may just result in the orchestra folding, as that is what ends up "giving".

[Three Valves]

The point being, one can live in a shack with no running water and electricity, but with a Mommy and a Daddy who don’t drink or drug, go to work every day and have a Victrolla with one Caruso record that came with it, and still live with dignity and class.

[Three Valves]

At least the National Phil only needs 150K...

https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-b ... tay-alive/" target="_blank

[saktoons]

What a shame that city of Baltimore's caliber could lose its symphony orchestra and put all of those players out.

Does anyone know the involvement (if any) of the music director in the management's decisions? I just heard Marin Alsop on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me this weekend and thought she was fantastic. But maybe that was just a facade. (And, strangely, there was no mention of the BSO's situation.)

[bort]

I just heard Marin Alsop on Wait Wait Don't Tell Me...

And she didn't tell them? Shocked!

[Three Valves]

Stuart Little has a large family in Charm City, or so I’ve heard...

[Heavy_Metal]

Stuart Little has a large family in Charm City, or so I’ve heard...

Right, they live in one of Westminster Management's properties

[doublebuzzing]

With orchestras that are even better than Baltimore posting their performances on youtube, I figure many people must ask themselves, "Is it worth the hassle going through all the trouble of parking, sitting next to loud audience members, paying all the expenses of tickets, etc to hear another run-through of Dvorak 9 or Beethoven 5?" With the greatest performances ever recorded at their fingertips online for free, more and more people seem to be answering "No." YouTube and the free access to high art in very good sound is the elephant in the room it seems to me.

[tofu]

...

[mikebmiller]

And the Orioles are once again in last place, with a .333 winning percentage.

[joebob]

With orchestras that are even better than Baltimore posting their performances on youtube, I figure many people must ask themselves, "Is it worth the hassle going through all the trouble of parking, sitting next to loud audience members, paying all the expenses of tickets, etc to hear another run-through of Dvorak 9 or Beethoven 5?" With the greatest performances ever recorded at their fingertips online for free, more and more people seem to be answering "No." YouTube and the free access to high art in very good sound is the elephant in the room it seems to me.

People have had access to recordings and videos of orchestras for many years now. Listening to or watching a recorded performance is not the same experience as attending a live performance. In this age where people spend increasing amounts of time looking at screens and listening to speakers/headphones, it's possible that live performance may become more valuable to people as an experience that is completely different from all of the content they have at their fingertips. Fortunately for orchestras, classical music listeners are much wealthier on average than most of the population, and they are often willing to spend money on attending concerts and funding orchestras - as is evidenced by the existence of full time orchestras in major cities all over the US. If Baltimore is somehow unable to find the money to fund a full time orchestra, it will be the exception (I would define "full time" as paying yearly salary and benefits such that it is the main source of income for the orchestra members). Rich people in any given city are often proud of their city and even if some of them don't care about classical music they are embarrassed to have their beloved home town look like a cultural backwater.

[Heavy_Metal]

And the Orioles are once again in last place, with a .333 winning percentage.

Which is why I have never been to Camden Yards. If I want to watch them lose again, I can do that at home. If I go to a BSO concert, I know it'll be an excellent experience.

[Three Valves]

Recorded performances do not detract from ticket sales, they whet the appetite for the real thing!!

[windshieldbug]

Recorded performances do not detract from ticket sales, they whet the appetite for the real thing!!

[tofu]

.

[Bowerybum]

https://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainm ... story.html" target="_blank" target="_blank

"The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its musicians announced Saturday that they have reached a tentative agreement on a one-year contract that could return the performers to the stage at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall as early as next week."