I listened to a radio program yesterday, a web stream from WAMU with Tim Smith, music critic of the Baltimore Sun & Joseph Horowitz, author of Classical Music in America: A History of Its Rise and Fall. Here’s the link, if you’re interested:

http://www.wamu.org/programs/kn/05/08/01.php

As it frequently happens on talk radio, there was a lot of sounding of clichéd themes and knee-**** ideas; not too much original thought going on - but the thing that made my blood boil is this new ‘too much product’ mantra. Come on, there’s more attendance at Arts events than Sports events, even in this sports-mad country - and it’s a proven fact that Arts events helps the economy. There’s not too much product- it’s just not marketed correctly, and frequently it’s the wrong product. (By the way, Mr. Horowitz- some of us actually ENJOY our Pops concerts, and don’t consider it ‘selling out’.) Selling concert tickets is like getting airplanes full- there’s a specific time and a place that intersect, and you need to get ‘butts in the seats’.

What’s happening now in some facets of the Orchestra biz these days is that the marketing end is gaining power over the musical end. Trust me, if the buzz is out that there’s an excellent musical product, there will be folks willing to come out and hear the concert. It’s when the marketing (and financing) folks dictate programming, and stop listening to musician input, that we get into problems- and that’s what happened in the whole BSO debacle. The marketers were sure they were on to something with Marin Alsop, and well they might be. But the problem for the musicians goes back to the learned helplessness syndrome. If one is in a job where there’s no feedback possible- you can’t talk ‘back’ to the conductor, you can’t even get up to go to the bathroom while you’re at work; you want to have a voice whenever possible. The musicians of the BSO were promised a chance to have input into the conductor selection process, and accepted pay cuts partially in exchange for promises of musician input- which was prematurely taken away by overeager marketers.

The ‘teach the musicians a lesson’ episode that Drew McManus referred to in his blog ‘Adaptistration’ the other day shows how that mentality allows one facet of the organization to disrespect and demean another group from that same organization. Isn’t that kind of cutting off your nose to spite your face? What good can come out of that?

Another example of this disrespect was voiced in the radio interview, when it was opined that musicians were just going to have to get used to finding other jobs- but that shouldn’t be a problem ‘cause most of them have other jobs already. EXCUSE ME! I’m so sorry I asked to make a living at making music. Terribly impractical, I know. That’s it- make us the villains for dedicating ourselves to mastering our art, being there, mute and available for service - but we shouldn’t expect any money back in return. We should get another job so we can show up for our concerts tired and mentally unprepared. That should make for some sublime concerts! Talk about demeaning!?!

Today’s news is the Pittsburgh Ballet has decided that the musicians are dispensable and is switching to recorded tape format. Time to trot down to Sears, brothers and sisters- apply for a REAL job! We like what you do, but not THAT much.

The ultimate question is this: who owns the orchestra? I submit that the system gets into trouble when any one faction- musicians, managements, marketers, boards, donors, auxiliary groups, community leaders and politicians- there’s a whole fabric of people and functions all intertwined- gets it into their heads that they are the most important part of the organization. The musicians are entitled to a living wage, and should have a voice in running the orchestra, but they need to remember that there is much activity backstage supporting them, and ideally it would be best to be able to trust that support. The management needs to remember that they are responsible for the well being of the musicians. The board needs to remember that they have a public trust to manage and to preserve for the future. Donors need to remember that their money should be given without strings attached, for that makes things even more complicated than they are already. Politicians need to remember that an important part of a vital community is a vital arts culture.

No one person, no one faction can own a healthy orchestra. That’s one of the many things that makes having an orchestra such an important part of the life of a community- it reminds us that we all truly are in this thing together. There is enough division in our lives, isn’t it a good thing to have something that we can all call our (collective) own?