Part 2, really?
Yes, I had way more to say than I thought about the National Jukebox and I even edited myself down to the point where I'm not sure I said what I meant to. Oh well, I'm not really a writer I just like to share stuff.
Here are the other arts articles I wanted to share this week.
A Pitch for New Music - David Lang
The title of this article is a pun and I won't really say much about the article except that it compares Baseball to Classical music and you should totally read it. It is a bit lengthy but absolutely worth while and if you do read it please come back and comment about it because I would love to get the discussion going on that one.
New beginning? Or beginning of the end?
This is an article from Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer... no, not the National Iquirer, the Philadelphia Inquirer and it's a pretty legit paper.
A little back story.
The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra is one of the "Big 5" orchestras which is a rather prestigious designation even though it is outdated. (Some might say that all prestigious designations are inherently old if not outdated). New York is the cultural heart of the United States and arguably the world and during the mid-20th century all five of these orchestras had annual concert series in New York City which put them at the forefront of the musical landscape in the US.
Although Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in America and has long ties to cultural institutions the fact that it is mentioned in the same league as New York, Boston and Chicago (3 of the other 5) let alone that is some peoples minds above Los Angeles or San Francisco is due in no small part to the prestige of the orchestra and the Curtis institute of music which would not exist if it were not for that orchestra.
So when Peter Dobrin asks whether or not Philadelphia even needs an orchestra virtually anyone who bothered to read the story would have gasped. The orchestra in Philadelphia is as much a part of the town as the Packers are to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The other more recent portion of the story is that the Philadelphia Orchestra recently filed for bankruptcy for a number of reasons which are not all clear to me. Negotiations between the orchestra and the musicians have not been going well and in part it seems as though filing for chapter 11 will allow the orchestra management to be a little more aggressive in talks with the union.
This ties in to the book I just finished reading Mozart in the Jungle by Blair Tindall which is, as the subtitle suggests, about "Sex, Drugs and Classical Music". More than that it is also a good history lesson on the how American classical music, namely major symphony orchestras, got to this point which many would argue is an unsustainable system.
I have to say that every where I look I see unsustainable music organizations which I can't imagine will be here in 20-40 years whether that is POP music, opera companies, church music or local semi-pro choirs/orchestras. I just don't know how they'll keep their heads above water unless they change.
I am fully confident that this music will last whether people pay for it or not. As Ms. Tindall argues in some ways what we are seeing is a market correction and we may find ourselves at a more realistic view of how our art fits in the overall culture and will in all likely hood be more accountable to public taste. (Ironically Ms. Tindall jumped from classical music to print media which I believe is also undergoing a similar process)
Yes, I had way more to say than I thought about the National Jukebox and I even edited myself down to the point where I'm not sure I said what I meant to. Oh well, I'm not really a writer I just like to share stuff.
Here are the other arts articles I wanted to share this week.
A Pitch for New Music - David Lang
The title of this article is a pun and I won't really say much about the article except that it compares Baseball to Classical music and you should totally read it. It is a bit lengthy but absolutely worth while and if you do read it please come back and comment about it because I would love to get the discussion going on that one.
New beginning? Or beginning of the end?
This is an article from Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer... no, not the National Iquirer, the Philadelphia Inquirer and it's a pretty legit paper.
A little back story.
The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra is one of the "Big 5" orchestras which is a rather prestigious designation even though it is outdated. (Some might say that all prestigious designations are inherently old if not outdated). New York is the cultural heart of the United States and arguably the world and during the mid-20th century all five of these orchestras had annual concert series in New York City which put them at the forefront of the musical landscape in the US.
Although Philadelphia is one of the oldest cities in America and has long ties to cultural institutions the fact that it is mentioned in the same league as New York, Boston and Chicago (3 of the other 5) let alone that is some peoples minds above Los Angeles or San Francisco is due in no small part to the prestige of the orchestra and the Curtis institute of music which would not exist if it were not for that orchestra.
So when Peter Dobrin asks whether or not Philadelphia even needs an orchestra virtually anyone who bothered to read the story would have gasped. The orchestra in Philadelphia is as much a part of the town as the Packers are to Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The other more recent portion of the story is that the Philadelphia Orchestra recently filed for bankruptcy for a number of reasons which are not all clear to me. Negotiations between the orchestra and the musicians have not been going well and in part it seems as though filing for chapter 11 will allow the orchestra management to be a little more aggressive in talks with the union.
This ties in to the book I just finished reading Mozart in the Jungle by Blair Tindall which is, as the subtitle suggests, about "Sex, Drugs and Classical Music". More than that it is also a good history lesson on the how American classical music, namely major symphony orchestras, got to this point which many would argue is an unsustainable system.
I have to say that every where I look I see unsustainable music organizations which I can't imagine will be here in 20-40 years whether that is POP music, opera companies, church music or local semi-pro choirs/orchestras. I just don't know how they'll keep their heads above water unless they change.
I am fully confident that this music will last whether people pay for it or not. As Ms. Tindall argues in some ways what we are seeing is a market correction and we may find ourselves at a more realistic view of how our art fits in the overall culture and will in all likely hood be more accountable to public taste. (Ironically Ms. Tindall jumped from classical music to print media which I believe is also undergoing a similar process)
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