Some good news for a change

The Delaware Symhony

The Delaware Symphony, which had earlier cancelled its entire 2012-13 season, is apparently climbing back from the abyss.  Through a massive re-shuffling of the Board of Directors and the efforts of its conductor and a new executive director, there may be music in America's first state after all.  Read more here.

Meanwhile, I was talking with Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony conductor and CEO, Jason Weinberger--who is also the former resident conductor of the Louisville Orchestra--during the past few weeks.  The LO and the musicians' union finally reached an agreement in early July, ending a lock-out that commenced in May 2011.  The orchestra, which has been on the brink off and on for decades, has also been among the most progressive in the nation in terms of programing.  The orchestra's website notes that, "In 1953, the Orchestra received a Rockefeller grant of $500,000 to commission, record and premiere 20th century music by living composers, effectively placing the Louisville Orchestra on the international circuit and securing an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall."  The community must be grateful to have its orchestra return for its 75th Anniversary Season (and Maestro Weinberger will return to lead several performances).

Symphonic music returned to America's newest state in the form of the Hawaii Symphony, which picked up after the 2010 demise of the Honolulu Symphony.  With JoAnn Falletta heading up as artistic advisor, great things will be happening on the island of Oahu.  For more information on the orchestra's Spring 2012 highlights, see here.

And yet, these bright spots still fail to make up for the endemic problem facing symphonic music as well as the entire world of "classical" music.  I can only point to Greg Sandow's blog, which has been examining this situation for quite some time and recently has been focusing on classical music's need to find a new audience.  (See Greg's blog here.)  The old models are definitely not working anymore, due to a variety of factors, not the least of which has been the elimination of school music programs.  That being said, we need to create a new dynamic--a new brand if you will--to bring this new audience into our concert halls (or maybe throw convention to the wind and bring the concert halls to the new audience!)