MUSICandCHARACTER

Well, it seems to be a large problem.

Some orchestras have gone away from worrying too much about filling the seats, but instead getting big benefactors. Then these benefactors have a certain amount of control -- you don't want them taking there money elsewhere.

You do this at a university, and they name a building after you.

You do this for an orchestras and you love Beethoven's 5th, that is what will be played.

Rap and Heavy Metal is an inferior musical product IMO. But much better marketed. Go into a non "kids" music store and you will find rap, hip-hop, and rock sections. You will also find large sections for jazz, classical, and soundtracks.

I don't have any answers. There was a huge article on 50 cent (the rapper who has been shot 9 times) and how his record company "fudged" the sales figures to get him in the top of the rap charts. Overnight sensation. Overnight exploitation of middle class white kids.

My Jr High kid knows Tchaikovsky better than any other type of music .. by his choice. He gets a bit of razzing at school because he dislikes rap and doesn't play Halo 2. You would think someone could come up with a marketing scheme that would work. My goodness, if they can sell rap to everyone -- they could sell anything. Scary. Today's white middle class society is making gansta rappers fabulously rich while Julliard and Eastman trained musicians can barely make a living.

In our community band, we have a trombone performance major, a trumpet performance major, a french horn performance major, and a string bass performance major (who plays trumpet) all playing. None of them making a living at music.

One of them (me) is the director (a volunteer position). As a music major, one of the absolute most talented people I had EVER met was a piano player. This guy was unbelievable. When Barbra Streisand came out with the song "Evergreen" he ran down to my dorm room and told me he just heard Streisand sing an incredible song and I had to hear it. So I ran down to his room thinking he had the record or it was on the radio. Nope. It HAD been on the radio. He took me too the music building and played and sang the song beginning to end after hearing it ONCE! I knew right then that I was outgunned.

He failed music theory because he just wanted to play what he heard, and could care less about theory. The last I checked, he was a computer field engineer. All my meager talent combined wouldn't compare to what was in his pinky finger. Thousands of talented players who will never make a living and people who shoot people making millions.

Perhaps, it is time to quit bowing to the benefactors and get Madison Ave involved. I don't know if it would work, but it might. But I feel for the musicians who have given their lives to music, only to go hungry.

Jim

__________________
Dr. Jim Fox
Licensed Mental Health Therapist
Mouthpiece chart: www.ibowtie.com/tmptmpccharts.html

Tootsall

Jim said "Some orchestras have gone away from worrying too much about filling the seats, but instead getting big benefactors. Then these benefactors have a certain amount of control -- you don't want them taking there money elsewhere. "

There is also the "all your eggs in one basket" syndrome that goes with this. When that one big benefactor decides they cannot afford it and have to pull out.... where are you then? If you have a company and sell all of your product to.... say "DM Motors" and suddenly DM finds a different vendor or perhaps cancels the model that used your product, where are you? Dead In The Water. (This is hereby called the DITW effect).

The healthiest organizations have a wide "customer base" so that they can absorb the inevitable ups and downs in certain segments. Blue-haired old ladies; yuppies; middle class families; kids; music students; corporate sponsors small AND large; government (if they can manage it)... all need to be considered as consumers of the product. To satisfy a wide customer base they have to provide a widely varying product. To stick to a single "theme" ("The Classics") is, in my opinion, a slippery slope to oblivion for all but a very few of the most specialized orchestras here in North America.

WAKeele

Very good thoughts! The below link is for an article about Pittsburgh Orchestra from years ago. I thought it was very interesting to see the orchestra, from the early 20th century, had some of the same problems facing orchestras of today. Long but good info!

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...12/ai_15543154

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WAK

MUSICandCHARACTER

A great article! I found this very interesting:

The Pittsburgh Orchestra was afflicted with the same naive assumption that had proven fatal for several similar organizations. From the onset, members of the Art Society, who held prime responsibility for overseeing the orchestra, based key decisions upon the premise that the ensemble would be self-supporting. When the assumption was proven wrong, they resolved to issue periodic pleas for financial assistance from the public. Citizens were urged to commit short-term pledges (or guarantees) that would be called upon only in the event of a "temporary" shortfall. When it became obvious that temporary guarantees would mean permanent subsidies for the orchestra, the organization's prospects became increasingly tenuous.

Historically, this method of financing has been susceptible to external influences. When Paur's difficulties with the musicians' union surfaced in local newspapers, the success of the orchestra's fund-raising declined. Similarly, when the local economy suffered from the general recession of 1906-9, the finances of the orchestra were affected. Crises of these sorts might have been avoided had the orchestra's management opted to secure a more permanent base of support.

A more permanent base of support. This means paying ticket holders and concert goers, not benefactors. A great lesson from history. While the orchestra was becoming more and more classically conservative, hiring outside musicians, and becoming more "European", it suffered. Benefactors could not keep what was an elite orchestra afloat. A high priced, demanding director didn't help. Acclaim didn't help. Ignoring the union didn't help. Playing good music that people wanted to hear -- that would have helped. Hmmm ....

Great article. It is long, but a great read.

Jim

__________________
Dr. Jim Fox
Licensed Mental Health Therapist
Mouthpiece chart: www.ibowtie.com/tmptmpccharts.html

WAKeele

Awesome article uh! I'm going to get down to the bottom of this. I just have to go through all the records of every major orchestra now. :?

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WAK