Re: "How to Kill Orchestras" - NY Times


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Posted by Steve Dedman on July 02, 2003 at 17:39:39:

In Reply to: "How to Kill Orchestras" - NY Times posted by dp on July 01, 2003 at 11:29:40:

I think that the orchestra management people are going to have to realize that what is ailing them isn't just a weak economy or just weak programming or just inability to compete with pop music. It's a mixtue of a lot of things:

--While the individuals that have the money to donate endowment-sized funds to orchestras is getting wealthier, the number of them with that ability is shrinking. These people answer letter after letter and e-mail after e-mail evry day from deserving organizations asking for a piece of their pie. And if they donate to, say, AIDS research, then that's that much less money that person has in the kitty to donate to the arts.

--The corporate funding of the last 10 years or so is tied directly to the economy. If a CEO has a choice between funding an orchestra, or not laying off workers that have kids and mortgages, guess who loses every time. And rightfully so.

--The upper middle-class/ lower upper-class folks (the upper-middle management & small company VP's that make $150k and up) are usually of the age where their families are their #1 priority. Sure, they have the money for season tickets and then some, and would love to go as often as possible to see the orchestra, but they are time-starved. They rush from work to the soccer field to see Johnny score his first goal, and then the next night they rush to the gym to see little Janey try for a 7.5 on the floor exercise. As soon as they get done at the gym, they have to run and pick up another kid at the ice rink after skating lessons or hockey practice. Now we're up to Wednesday, when two of the three kids have music lessons. Thursday; gotta work late to prepare for the big client meeting on Friday. Friday gotta go see Johnny play varsity high-school ball. ou get the picture. That's why there is an inordinate number of drooling morons driving on the roads on Saturday: their brain leaked out their ear trying to manage their zany lives the rest of the week. (Seriously; pay attention next Saturday & you'll see what I mean. This Sat. doesn't count cuz it's a US holiday). This all represents stronger competition than pop music by several orders of magnitude.

--The walk-in crowd and non-season ticket crowd is minimal, because advertising for the programs that will really attract them is cost-prohibitive. So they don't even know that the local orchestra is doing The Cowboys (J. Williams), a cello concerto featuring Janos Starker, and Pictures all on the same concert.

--Believe it or not, but this is true: people from the suburbs loathe paying for parking, in a downtown area particularly. Since most orchestra halls are in downtown areas, that is a black mark. Most of the time it doesn't even come across as a conscious thought process. It's just lumped in with the rest of Why It's Such a Bother To Travel Downtown. It's inconvenient. I'll guarantee that there's a movie theatre within a 10 minute drive that has free parking (unless you live in Manhattan where nobody drives or LA where nobody can get anywhere anyway).

Sadly, one of the first things cut by orchestras during lean times is the outreach programs. That is the last thing they should cut. I would say to get out to where the audience is. Who cares if the greater Gnatsass Philharmonia sounds like the Concertgebeow in their turn-of-the century concert hall? If there aren't any butts in the seats, they might as well go play in a decent high school auditorium and get some ticket sales, some exposure, and some good community relations. Who knows? One of those rich guys that finds it inconvenient to go downtown might feel better about writing a check to an orchestra that is willing to come to his immediate community. The rent on a high school auditorium is also a fraction of the rent on a concert hall.

Hmmmmm. Save money AND get a larger audience just by leaving their comfort zone. Whoda thunk it?

Orchestra management needs to take account of all of the factors in modern day life into account. NOT just "it's the economy, stupid." They need to find out from their community what the community wants, and then balance that with some artistic choices. Then address each and every difficulty in attracting new audience members. The search for The Answer is futile. There isn't just one answer. It's a grouping of specific reactions to specific circumstances that will ultimately lead to the survival of many orchestras.

SD



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