Orchestras: Haute Cuisine at the dining hall

http://mirushto.blogspot.com/2010/10/are-some-orchestras-too-good.html

Michael's post about Hospitals and Olive Garden sparked out some thoughts. Here was my response:


One debate surrounding hospitals, is concerning how they have replaced primary care facilities for the poor. What's cheaper, emergency kidney dialysis or eating healthy food? Fixing hospitals w/o fixing healthcare is impossible.

So I contend, that focusing on orchestras outside of the analogous larger contexts is similarly dangerous and ill-conceived.

Classical music doesn't fall under the umbrella of the Orchestra. It's the other way around. Unfortunately, as fundraising behemoths, they inevitably control the conversation, and take representation of classical music ex officio. This might seem like a small point, but this misalignment is responsible for many of the woes we are facing today.

The institution is simply outdated.

Classical music is not outdated. High quality music is not outdated. People gathering for concerts is not outdated. But the orchestra as an institution is outdated.

The question is whether we can build institutions that serve audiences with great music. That doesn't mean pandering to the lowest common denominator. But I think it means addressing the idea of building a sustainable ECOSYSTEM of music in our large cities, rather that hand-wringing over how to fill a hall for the same product, over and over again.

Orchestras do not encourage the sort of thinking that is required for this transformation, either in on the management side, and CERTAINLY not on the artistic side. And both are required.

Anyway, regarding a diversity of dining options, yes, we need that. Pop music gladly fills the spectrum of price points. But I think it has to do with more than ticket prices. Many many top-notch institutions offer lower priced alternatives that are quite reasonable. When I see an orchestra, it's like eating a high quality meal at a tacky, chintzy restaurant filled with a demographic gulf of at least 40 years.

It's going to take a lot more than transcriptions of Radio Head and Aphen Twin to turn our United Colors of Beneton image into a reality.

Oh no, wait, NY Phil musicians went to a junk yard. I guess we've knocked down that wall and we're in with the blue collar crowd, now.