Archive for the ‘Classical Music’ Category
In advance of their June conference in Atlanta, the League of American Orchestras has launched a new website that seeks to help answer that time-honored question: How do orchestras need to change? They’re probably gonna have a lot to talk / fight about. There will be several bloggers contributing to the pre-conference discussion on the new site, including my fair lady. Should be interesting to follow along to see what, if anything, comes from the discussion.
Personally, I’d like to see some organization take a huge risk; one that pisses off a bunch of their board and crusty old subscribers, but really pushes an innovative agenda and new ways of presenting / imagining / programming / experiencing the orchestra. I don’t know what this is. I’ll think about it some more. And if I come up with an answer I will charge for it. It’s possible that something ‘r/evolutionary’ could be a complete flop and destroy an organization, but it could also ‘r/evolutionize’ the field. Feel like it’s hard to make changes like that in a big organization though, right?
Speaking of changes, I wanted to call your attention to a change that Tim Smith, our Baltimore Sun critic, proposed in a recent review of a Baltimore Symphony program that included Strauss’s Don Juan, Schumann’s Piano Concerto, and Brahms’s Third Symphony. Tim suggested that in some instances it might be wise to dispense with the ‘curtain-raiser’-concerto-symphony convention in favor of putting the meaty piece—the Brahms Symphony, in this case—on the first half and saving the other, ‘lighter’ fare for the second half. Sounds like a small change that could be implemented / experimented with that wouldn’t cause much uproar. From a ticket sales point of view, I guess it really doesn’t matter whether people leave at intermission or not—that money’s already in the bank. But it’s not about money, right? It’s about people experiencing music, right? Isn’t it?
Remember the radio spot the Cleveland Orchestra made to promote their Carmina Burana concert ‘in support of’ the Cavs in the playoffs? Well, now they have used the popular online video sharing website YouTube to create a companion ‘VIRAL VIDEO’ showing their support:
I think maybe the Cleveland Orchestra has misunderstood what a ‘VIRAL VIDEO’ is. As I understand it, a ‘VIRAL VIDEO’ is the name given to a video after it is posted on the internet and is subsequently shared and viewed by lots of people [via email / YouTube / Twitter / Facebook / et al.] It’s something that happens to a video, not something you call a video. Though maybe if you call your video a ‘VIRAL VIDEO’ you can say, “Hey, we made a ‘VIRAL VIDEO’!” and your board will all nod and be srsly impressed.
If u name ur YouTube video ‘VIRAL VIDEO’ does that increase its chances of ‘going viral’?
What is the minimum number of ‘views’ when you can consider ur video a ‘VIRAL VIDEO’?
Is the Cleveland Orchestra ‘out of touch’ with the internet?
Is the Cleveland Orchestra trying to be ironic?
Sorta feel like maybe because of this oboe bro in a sweet headband.
Though prbly not.
Why is the Cleveland Orchestra trying so hard to kiss the Cavs’s ass?
Do orchestra musicians really know what ‘triple-doubles’ are?
Were the Cleveland Orchestra musicians ‘pissed the eff off’ that they had to come in and shoot this ‘VIRAL VIDEO’?
Or did they not care because they were making mad bank with some sweet union wages?
Did the oboe player lose a game of rock, paper, scissors and have to wear that headband?
Is the Cleveland Orchestra ‘unexpecting’ themselves?
[Ed. note: Please read the following in the voice of Don LaFontaine.]
In a world where classical music struggles for ‘relevancy’ and ‘identity.’ Where no genre is safe from the clutches of classicism. Where crossing the streams isn’t always bad. In life, there are moments that define us. Moments that forge friendships that will last for decades. And moments that will be replayed in slow motion 25 years from now with the triumphant-sounding, montage-worthy pop music of today as the soundtrack. From the conservatory that brought you the Metallica cello trio cover band cover band, comes something so potentially viral it can only be called The Lady Gaga Saga (for bassoon quartet?).
Is the Eastman School of Music a ‘hotbed’ of alt-classicism?
Is having ‘break’ in the name of your bandsemble a requirement at Eastman?
Does ‘break’ imply that u r breaking from ‘tradition’ / ‘convention’?
Is bassoon quartet a viable artistic medium?
Will The Breaking Winds win Concert Artists Guild?
Do girls just wanna have fun?
Is Michael Daugherty really pissed off he didn’t come up with this idea first?
[h/t Clef Notes]
During Monday’s drive from Independence to Zanesville, OH I was listening to Q104, a pop radio station out of Cleveland, when I heard the following advertisement for the Cleveland Orchestra’s performance this weekend of Orff’s Carmina Burana:
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Hmmm. Is the Cleveland Orchestra really performing Carmina Burana “in support of” the Cavs’ playoff run? I’m thinking probably not exactly, since I’m sure the concert was planned well over a year ago and it seems unlikely that a possible Cavs playoff bid factored into the Cleveland Orchestra’s decision to program the piece. Or does “in support of” mean that the orchestra has worked out some kind of creative ticketing where a portion of the proceeds from these shows will go into the Cavs’ bank account? (Also unlikely since I can hardly think of anything more overpriced than a ticket to a pro basketball game.) I’m also not sure how I could “root the Cavs onto victory” by going to Severance Hall to hear the performance. I mean, if I was a true Cavs fan wouldn’t I be at home in front of my TV or out at the bar on Friday night watching the Cavs game and not listening to the orchestra? Perhaps if they showed the Cavs game on two huge video screens flanking the orchestra during the performance I might consider. The PR materials for the concert don’t illuminate anything about an orchestra-Cavs connection and don’t actually mention anything about the team at all. Different strokes for different folks, or more appropriately in this situation I’m guessing, different messages for different media outlets.
Barring any truth in the far-fetched idea that the artistic staff of the Cleveland Orchestra was banking on a Cavs playoff berth to coincide with this performance, it’s likely that the orchestra’s PR and marketing departments are attempting to harness the energy in Cleveland surrounding the Cavs (and their use of “O Fortuna”) in the playoffs as a way of attracting (luring?) a new / potential audience they normally don’t touch. Isn’t that what we’re all after? What caught my attention, of course, was the fact that this spot aired on a Top 40 station and not in support of some local NPR programming, which is where you’d expect to hear an advert for the symphony. Maybe I should start unexpecting myself™ when it comes to the types of ads I think I’m going to hear [via various media outlets].
What do you think of this ad? Is the Cleveland Orchestra trying to bank on the popularity of LeBron James and the Cavs in the playoffs by advertising this concert with a tenuous musical connection between the orchestra and the the team? Is this an example of the orchestra’s marketing department being aware of their city and what gets people excited and making an honest effort to attract a new / different crowd to Severance Hall? If you went to the concert based on hearing this spot on Q104 would you be pissed off if there was nothing Cavs-related at the show and LeBron and the team didn’t come running out during “O Fortuna”? Or would you not care that LeBron wasn’t there because you were so overcome with the power of the music?
The use of celebrity as a means to market classical music to the masses—hey, it works for everything else—reminded me of the suggestion my saxophone teacher at the University of Michigan made w/r/t making the World Saxophone Congress (yes, I know, I’m laughing too) an event where we weren’t just playing for ourselves and with ourselves (and yes, I meant it that way) but rather something that would appeal to a broader public. To recap, he thought the best way to attract more / different / new / potential audience members was to have three famous saxophonists—Kenny G, Bill Clinton, and Kareem Abdul Jabar—play Hook trios as part of the event. Brilliant, in my opinion. What is so smart about this idea is that the celebrities are actually engaged in the activities and engaged in the art rather than simply being used as window dressing to lure potential audience members to a show.
Using a celebrity to attract a crowd for a single event might succeed in increasing numbers for that particular event, but will it actually foster lasting relationships with anybody who attended simply on the basis of star power? But if a celebrity is engaged, I mean genuinely engaged, would that do more for the promotion and cultivation of a new audience?
Is LeBron into classical music?
Would / could he help sell more tickets to the Cleveland Orchestra?
Is the Carmina Burana radio spot on Q104 slick marketing?
Since President Obama’s election there’s been a fair amount of chatter regarding the role that classical music would play in his administration’s White House. Shortly after the election, our esteemed Baltimore Sun critic Tim Smith pondered that very question. A year later, Obama hosted a classical music concert in the East Room of the White House and brought up the clapping issue. Last weekend, Anne Midgette offered a few suggestions of her own about what the President could do to forward the classical music ’cause’ to more Americans.
One thing both Tim and Anne put a lot of stock in is the idea that if the President embraces classical music and makes it a part of his ‘being’ that more Americans would hop on the classical music train. Do you think this would work?
If the President jumped off a bridge would u jump off a bridge 2?
Should the President make classical music part of his personal brand?
Would that ‘save’ classical music?
If the President got his piano trio on would u b ‘all about’ classical music?
Should there be a classical music lobby?
Should White House classical music concerts be in an ‘alternative venue’?
When the White House has classical music ‘shows’ should it change its name 2 (la) maison blanche and ‘serve art & alcohol’ with the music?
If the President made classical music ‘fun’ would Charles Wuorinen campaign for the Republicans?
