Nashville Symphony to Perform Free Public Concert

You have to admire their resilience. Mere days since their concert hall was flooded and in the face of months of repairs, the Nashville Symphony Orchestra has scheduled a FREE outdoor public concert this Friday, 5/7/2010. Nashville Symphony Orchestra president and CEO, Alan Valentine, said “…the orchestra has shown over the years that it’s a resilient organization that’s highly responsive to its community. We were able to arrange this event in very short order, and this will help all of us, the orchestra as well as the community, to get back on track as quickly as possible.” Official details are as follows…


Nashville Symphony Successfully Relocates May Concerts

Gears up for Friday Night’s FREE OUTDOOR Concert at Metro Courthouse

Nashville, Tenn. (May 6, 2010) With Schermerhorn Symphony Center damaged by the extensive downtown flooding, the Nashville Symphony has moved swiftly to find alternative venues for multiple May concerts. The first of these is tomorrow (Friday) night’s 8 p.m. free outdoor public concert in front of the Metro Courthouse, One Public Square. Consider this a “thank-you” to the entire city for helping friends, neighbors and fellow citizens through the unprecedented events of the last few days. Maestro Giancarlo Guerrero and Resident Conductor Albert-George Schram will lead a program of symphonic favorites, and recording legend Christopher Cross will join the orchestra to perform a selection of his beloved hits. Bring chairs or blankets, and come enjoy an evening of wonderful music with the Nashville Symphony.

Thanks to the generosity of the Nashville Downtown Partnership and Metro Nashville Government, the Symphony will be offering FREE parking for this event at the Metro Courthouse/Public Square Garage. Located directly under the Public Square, these parking spaces will be available on a first come, first served basis from 6-11 p.m. tomorrow night. Originally scheduled for three nights this weekend as part of the Bank of America Pops Series, tomorrow’s one-night free concert was made possible through fast action on the part of the Symphony and the city of Nashville, as well as the generosity of Christopher Cross, who is waiving his fee for the show.

“We decided to do this as a way of helping the community find some measure of solace and healing,” said Alan D. Valentine, President and CEO of the Nashville Symphony. “This night of great music will help remind everyone that there’s hope for our community, and that all of us, together, are going to overcome this.”

Meanwhile, the Nashville Symphony is also pleased to announce that most of the remaining concerts for its 2009/10 season have already been rescheduled to take place at alternative venues while the Schermerhorn undergoes repairs. The Symphony’s much-anticipated presentation of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (May 15 at 8 p.m.) will take place in TPAC’s Andrew Jackson Hall, as will the Nashville Symphony’s own performances of Bartók’s stunning Bluebeard’s Castle (May 20 at 7 p.m., May 21-22 at 8 p.m.), complete with 14-foot Dale Chihuly sculptures onstage. Current ticket holders will be reseated at TPAC by the Symphony’s box office staff. Remaining tickets for these events will be on sale in the coming days. Everyone is encouraged to check NashvilleSymphony.org regularly for up-to-the-minute information.

 

Additional details will be posted at the Nashville Symphony Orchestra website as they develop.


Unfiltered Author Commentary

I have a strict unwritten rule here at Adaptistration not to heap too much praise on any organization or individual. Frankly, this business suffers from an overabundance of shameless aggrandizing. But I’m going to break this rule by stating that what Nashville is doing is a sincerely enormous accomplishment given how much the organization has lost in the past several days. In other instances, institutions might be looking for assistance but I think this demonstrates one of the fundamental reasons why this institution successfully implemented one of the most ambitious back-to-back recapitalization campaigns AND major capital campaigns that spanned the pre and post economic downturn. In fact, this may be the single best example for how an orchestra can be relevant to its community.

Bravo to everyone at the Nashville Symphony!

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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1 thought on “Nashville Symphony to Perform Free Public Concert”

  1. The way an organization views itself may be one of the most important factors contributing to its success or failure. While many orchestras simply exist in their community, the Nashville Symphony seems to have gone far beyond that, actually becoming a part of the soul of Nashville, already the Music City. They understand that they are there to serve the community. The people in Nashville feel a sense of ownership of the orchestra and its magnificent hall, partly because of gestures like this, the result of a truly enlightened mindset. I’m sure this concert will bring something positive to a city that has had really bad week.

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