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mazzrick · 04-18-2006, 01:41 AM

First off:

Zeb, great topic! (you probably don't remember me cause I was 12 at the time you were 17 or something, but I studied with Tom Freas way back when). I've been getting very involved in contemporary music lately so I'll stick mainly in that domain. There's a contemporary music ensemble called the Ensemble Modern in Germany that is one of the few german "orchestras" not funded by the government. They have to fundraise and create business themselves. From what I've gathered, each member of the ensemble is personally financially invested in the ensemble. Anyone who knows a member of this EM will tell you that they are the most aggressive advocates of new music you'll find. They are constatly seeking out new compostions and methods of presenting different musics to different publics. I think a lot is there to be learned from this organization. One of Ed's former students plays in the EM now. I'll be interested as well in what Ed has to say once he gets back from Italy.

But regardless, I think the symphony orchestras need to find a more accessable method of presenting "new music" to audiences. Sadly there are so many composers whose works are far to academic for even an educated lister (musicians) to appreciate. Nonetheless, the interesting thing I find is that there is an audience out there (at least in Montreal) for new music and they show up consistently at concerts. However, even orchestras like the MSO (montreal) which program new music and comission new works seem to have a habit of premiering a piece and then letting it dissapear. So much music that is written for the MSO, BSO, NYPhil seems to get its single grand premier and that's it. I'll be in Lucerne (working with the ensemble intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez) and Schwaz (with the EM) this summer and I'm looking forward to seeing a little more dedication towards contemporary music. It will be interesting to see how those two groups handle the presentation of contemporary music differently than the MSO.

In conclusion (if you're still reading), I feel that new music is the medium in which "classical" music will advance. I think it's very important to work with composers and get good, accesable music written for trumpet, quintets, and orchestras. I've had teachers in the MET and the MSO who have asked why on earth I would want to play in an orchestra. They were chidding, but serious at the same time. One said, everything to perform has been done 1000 times and everything to record has been recorded 15 times, there's nothing left to do. While I understand what he meant, I disagree. Everything left to do hasn't been written yet.

I know this post was about US orchestras and more asking about the economic and contractual side, but I don't think the situation is much different from Montreal (which just pulled off a pretty succssful strike). Even if contract problems are resovled and money becomes less of an issue, I don't think that anyone wants orchestras to survive off of video game concerts and pops shows. We all love Mahler and Strauss and Beethoven, but the concert-going crowd has seen it before, many times probably. It's time for something different, I think... (dismount from soapbox)

Matt

PS: Along the lines of youth programs... has anyone seen the classical music program in Venezuela??!! I read that every kid in every school has to play an instrument now and everything seems to be improving with the country's education, and crime and literacy rates. Also, supposedly there are some killer trumpet players coming out of there.

04-18-2006, 01:41 AM	#8 (permalink)
mazzrick Pianissimo User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Berlin, Germany Posts: 121	First off: Zeb, great topic! (you probably don't remember me cause I was 12 at the time you were 17 or something, but I studied with Tom Freas way back when). I've been getting very involved in contemporary music lately so I'll stick mainly in that domain. There's a contemporary music ensemble called the Ensemble Modern in Germany that is one of the few german "orchestras" not funded by the government. They have to fundraise and create business themselves. From what I've gathered, each member of the ensemble is personally financially invested in the ensemble. Anyone who knows a member of this EM will tell you that they are the most aggressive advocates of new music you'll find. They are constatly seeking out new compostions and methods of presenting different musics to different publics. I think a lot is there to be learned from this organization. One of Ed's former students plays in the EM now. I'll be interested as well in what Ed has to say once he gets back from Italy. But regardless, I think the symphony orchestras need to find a more accessable method of presenting "new music" to audiences. Sadly there are so many composers whose works are far to academic for even an educated lister (musicians) to appreciate. Nonetheless, the interesting thing I find is that there is an audience out there (at least in Montreal) for new music and they show up consistently at concerts. However, even orchestras like the MSO (montreal) which program new music and comission new works seem to have a habit of premiering a piece and then letting it dissapear. So much music that is written for the MSO, BSO, NYPhil seems to get its single grand premier and that's it. I'll be in Lucerne (working with the ensemble intercontemporain and Pierre Boulez) and Schwaz (with the EM) this summer and I'm looking forward to seeing a little more dedication towards contemporary music. It will be interesting to see how those two groups handle the presentation of contemporary music differently than the MSO. In conclusion (if you're still reading), I feel that new music is the medium in which "classical" music will advance. I think it's very important to work with composers and get good, accesable music written for trumpet, quintets, and orchestras. I've had teachers in the MET and the MSO who have asked why on earth I would want to play in an orchestra. They were chidding, but serious at the same time. One said, everything to perform has been done 1000 times and everything to record has been recorded 15 times, there's nothing left to do. While I understand what he meant, I disagree. Everything left to do hasn't been written yet. I know this post was about US orchestras and more asking about the economic and contractual side, but I don't think the situation is much different from Montreal (which just pulled off a pretty succssful strike). Even if contract problems are resovled and money becomes less of an issue, I don't think that anyone wants orchestras to survive off of video game concerts and pops shows. We all love Mahler and Strauss and Beethoven, but the concert-going crowd has seen it before, many times probably. It's time for something different, I think... (dismount from soapbox) Matt PS: Along the lines of youth programs... has anyone seen the classical music program in Venezuela??!! I read that every kid in every school has to play an instrument now and everything seems to be improving with the country's education, and crime and literacy rates. Also, supposedly there are some killer trumpet players coming out of there.