You'd think it was deja vu all over again

Originally published May 4, 2011

American Orchestras: The Sound of Trouble


Sound familiar? I think that this is something that I've been addressing for several weeks now. However, this is a headline from Time Magazine, June 13, 1969. Interestingly enough, there are similarities to current crises: the Detroit Symphony had just come out of a 34-day strike (that's nothing compared to this year's six-month long stoppage. Orchestras such as Buffalo/Rochester and Cincinnati/Indianapolis were talking mergers. "Between 1971 and 1973," predicts Manhattan Fund Raiser Carl Shaver, an expert in orchestral finances, "we stand a very good chance of losing at least one-third, if not half of our major symphony orchestras." Hmmm. Didn't happen....

Other tidbits I found interesting: the Chicago Symphony dipping into its already shrinking endowment to pay operating expenses and the venerable Cleveland Orchestra on the verge of collapse. Hmmm. Heard them both since; they're still pretty good. Detroit was in trouble then; of course one has to remember that a significant part of the city was scorched in the riots of 1967. The LA Phil was running deficits over a million dollars (we're talking big bucks in 1969 dollars--don't ask me for the equivalent over 40 years later; that's not my field).

Sir Colin, going strong in his 80s...

But the reasons for the financial crises of the late 1960s are no different than today: eroding governmental support for the arts and decreased philanthropy that were not keeping in step with increased operating budgets. Mention is made of a "musical" crisis, in which the repertoire of the orchestra is stuck in the past--a museum, a collection of musical relics (I've heard all of this--repeatedly--all too recently). But my favorite quote comes from a then-41-year-old Colin Davis, addressing the state of the repertoire: "You devalue your masterpieces if you play them every week," he says. "If it is something you have too much of, like sex and breakfast, then it doesn't mean anything any more." Gotta love it.

So are we to ignore the current situation as just another in the cycle of dire predictions for the state of the orchestra and classical music? This time I'm not so sure, because of events in Syracuse, Honolulu, Albuquerque (I hadn't heard about that one), Louisville (whose Executive Director, Rob Birman, began his career in Dubuque), and of course the 111-year-old Philadelphia Orchestra.

One really has no idea how Detroit will come out of this year's debacle. The Indianapolis Symphony is running huge deficits while still remaining solvent. The New York City Opera just can't seem to get a break: first they're forced out of their theater in Lincoln Center for a year of renovations; Gerard Mortier resigned as artistic director before he even started and now, they too are struggling to get back to funding levels of 2008. Questions remain: will they move? When will they announce the new season? And I must add: will the company ever return to its stature as a champion of little-known gems or contemporary opera and a proving ground for outstanding yet undiscovered talent?

Philadelphia's Kimmel Center: part of the problem?

But again, it is the bankruptcy filing of the Philadelphia Orchestra--the orchestra of Stokowski, Ormandy (and even Mickey Mouse!)--with nearly half a million google references--that has the world abuzz, and for good reason. If an institution with that rich a history, long-time community support, and a new concert hall (part of the problem?), one has to wonder who is next?

Such is actually the sorry state of not only opera and orchestral music, but the nationwide support--public and private--support for the arts and our artistic institutions. People are remembered for their art. It is the Acropolis that we identify with ancient Greece, Shakespeare with the Elizabethan era, and Mozart with the rise of the Age of the Enlightenment. One must hope that we will never forget the words of John Adams: "I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain."

Orchestra Hall--Minneapolis

Of course, one orchestra was distinctive from all others as a shining example of how to "reinvent" itself and draw upon a much wider base of support. Fund raiser Carl Shaver stated in 1969 that, "You cannot raise endowments by trying to finance the status quo." One orchestra chose to go a different route: completely changing its name, its repertoire, its overall base of support, and--as has been read on these pages--remains among the finest orchestras in the world today: The Minnesota Orchestra.