Perspectives on Conducting

A recent article in the Financial Times (London based paper) about conducting was spot on. Why it is that they decided to turn their eyes on this seemingly unrelated topic I don't know but they did mention the role of the modern conductor in many aspects of an orchestras life and the fact that the mega maestros of the mid-late 20th century were built up by lucrative recording contracts which no longer exist.

I highly encourage my readers to check out the full article here.
The modern maestro - Andrew Clark

One observation by the author that I would like to expand upon is the fact that modern conductors are much less authoritative than the previous couple of generations. I had never thought about it before but the large recording contracts certainly propelled those maestros to another strata above the orchestra musicians. The introduction of money into the equation generally shifts the balance of power and when there is less money there is less power. I'm not saying this is a good thing it is just a reality.

What we often see these days, particularly in the choral community, are scrappy conductors who find the financing and make the personal sacrifices, often financial, to realize their own artistic aspirations. It is quite stunning and admirable but an incredibly hard existence and one that I can't imagine is ultimately sustainable.

On the other end of the spectrum are the larger mainstream arts organizations in which a significant portion of the staffing goes towards administrative and marketing positions that are deemed necessary to make the organizations viable. For example, the San Diego Opera, often referred to as an "A" list opera company and has operated a budget in the black for more years than I can remember; their tax statements are open to the public so feel free to fact check me on this one, but I believe that the San Diego Opera with more than 100 employees has only one full time music position!

I don't mean this as a criticism but rather an observation that a company that "makes music worth seeing" feels it is best to only have one full time musician. It simply reflects the changing nature of arts organizations and what it takes to be successful.

Back to conducting. Modern conductors have a sense of this balance shift and are more willing to play the part of the face of an organization which in turn changes their role with the orchestra. Ultimately everyone needs to be a team player and a maestro leading by example creates a more collaborative environment. I wouldn't suggest that any ensemble with someone flapping about up front is an egalitarian society but I do think that there is more of a give and take of ideas and in my mind that is a good thing.

When I am speaking to school administrators, parents, audiences and board members I try to explain that music is always a collaborative art form. It could be a collaboration between the composer and the performer, the student ant the teacher, the performers amongst themselves or between the performers and the audience. If a person sings an aria in the forest and there is no one there to hear it is it still art? Absolutely. But like life, art is more enjoyable when shared with others.

Reaching Younger Audiences

The New World Symphony is getting attention with a bold but not innovative attempt at reaching younger audiences. These days "younger" seems to be the sub 40 crowd which given the demographics of current audiences for concerts and the potential age range for these events seems like a fairly reasonable target.

The New World Symphony (the orchestra not the piece by Dvořák) is something rather remarkable in it's own right as it was started as a training orchestra for aspiring professional orchestral musicians in the 1980's. Led by artistic directory Michael Tilson Thomas and funded in part by money from the cruise ship industry the orchestra is not viewed as some extended music camp for young musicians but rather a prestigious professional level opportunity available only to those on their way up. So it comes as no surprise that this organization would go after this audience or try something bold.

The concept as reported in the Miami Herald is to create late night events with the orchestra that include cocktails and a DJ playing club music between classical sets by the young musicians. I am not opposed to later start times, cocktails, the idea of "sets" or even a DJ but I'm not a huge fan of club music. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of "popular" or at least non-classical contemporary music of several different genres but club music is not really my thing.

I am willing to admit that this is likely a regional thing. I have heard of the thriving club scene on the East Coast and in Miami in particular and in college towns and urban centers in the midwest. In San Diego and in other places like New York (Brooklyn), Portland and Seattle which have a thriving alternative or indie music scenes I would imagine that alternating live sets of music might have more appeal.

At any rate, the important element is the concept. In the 20th century classical music became a very serious and reverent art form with concert halls treated like temples and concerts became worship. It is now a sin to talk or even applaud at the wrong moment and this is certainly not a social occasion. I personally appreciate that the audience is respectful and takes the art seriously, I don't appreciate it that everyone seems to take themselves seriously.

In the not so distant past and likely when the majority of the music that is performed now was written, the "classical" music experience would have been much different. The "orchestra" seats, that is the lowest level closest to the performers were the cheap seats in which the audience would come and go as they pleased and often talked. The boxes that were farther removed from the platform were the domain of the rich and often included curtains so that they might have privacy and block themselves off from the view of everyone else! Multi-movement pieces such as concertos and early symphonies were often performed separately and sometimes mismatched.

I don't advocate that we should return to quite such a climate of chaos in performances however I do think that by relaxing a bit we could include and appeal to more people. The idea of alternating sets of music with more social opportunities seems appealing. Imagine hearing a Haydn Symphony and then having the opportunity to chat with the bassoonist about the piece and then in the next set hearing a contemporary composition and then buying the composer a drink.

We need to remove the barriers and make music accessible, many are already going down this road, perhaps it will catch on before it is too late.

The full article is available here.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/15/2587959/classical-music-younger-listener.html