An 11-day (May 28-June 7) festival of contemporary music in--of course--New York. The Philharmonic and several "partners," including Bang on a Can and the Gotham Chamber Opera, among others, are offering the NY Phil Biennial. Will this fill the void created at the demise of the Spring for Music Festival? One can only hope....
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One has to seriously question the actions of the organization nearly two decades ago. The article goes on to report that the symphony has been in existence for more than 100 years but became an entirely professional operation 18 years ago. “For the past 18 years, the Green Bay symphony has struggled financially," Linssen said. Sounds like an inadequate business model. But the fallout of the symphony's failure may affect youth music education in the Green Bay area as well, for the GB Symphony is the parent of three youth orchestras. No one knows what's going to happen to them either.
In April, Woods Bowman wrote in the Non-Profit Quarterly on how Chicago has embraced a growing proliferation of opera companies. This is addition to a 15% increase in ticket sales at the Lyric, and a 20% subscription uptake in subscriptions at Chicago Opera Theater. The secrets? According to Bowman:
Success requires solid management. When Green Bay decided to hire an Executive Director with no experience in the non-profit sector, it was immediately in trouble.
Success requires first-class artistic talent.
Success begets success, and failure, or even the perception of failure, begets actual failure. Too many empty seats at Green Bay Symphony performances offered the perception of failure.
Good managers and talented performers live everywhere.
To me, the bottom line is, if communities like Dubuque, Waterloo/Cedar Falls, and even Clinton can support an orchestra, so can Green Bay. Maybe someone needs to borrow a page from the management playbook of the hometown Packers, a publicly owned team playing in the NFL's smallest market.
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The city of San Diego, CA continues to support its municipal organ (and a municipal organist playing regular concerts at Balboa Park). Here's a photo:
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| Like to see this survive a Polar Vortex...
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Too many arts organizations are in serious trouble. The Philadelphia Orchestra is the largest, having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. Orchestras have failed in Syracuse (NY), Honolulu, New Mexico, while Milwaukee averted a potential crisis with a sudden influx of donations. 24/7 Wall Street reports dire straights for the Louisville Orchestra, Houston Symphony and the Columbus (OH) Symphony, which plays in the opulent Ohio Theater right across the street from the State Capitol.
And, unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg....
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Sat here and wrote an emotional appeal, with much forethought and attention to detail. When I hit Preview, Father Google insisted that I enter the entire genetic code of my great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side, and when I managed to get that accomplished, FG had lost my diatribe.
ReplyDeleteSo, I'll bash my head against the wall once more.
The problem with symphonies is not the music - it is the presentation. My grandson knows and likes many of the classics, because he grew up with them on TV, in movies, and video games. But you'll never see him at a QCSO concert because of the image the symphony projects, which is entirely foreign to todays' younger people.
Why the hell our symphonic musicians must wear tuxedos is way beyond me. To the young, this screams ancient, stuffy behavior that they are simply not interested in. Think about it - what are tuxes for? Formal occasions. Id the music formal? HELL no!
But our symphonies will survive only in the largest population centers, where they will find enough formal-loving folks to stay in business.
Wealth and the elite are what this formality means to the young. And in a culture where many of those who run today's most prestigious, successful companies go to work in jeans, formal occasions suck.
At least our conductors have managed to actually talk to and recognize that there is an audience out there, and that helps. But it is far from enough to keep our beloved musical groups alive.
If they are to survive, they need to change - and fast!