Arts Journal linked to one of Norman’s articles in La Scena Musicale today. Now the mere mention of Norman Lebrecht can cause a variety of responses from those involved with the orchestra business. You’ll see passionate support from some while others start to gather kindling and light torches. And in all fairness I’ve been in both of those crowds depending on the topic. But this time Norman is right on target with the problems in the reporting of American arts and culture.
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
A day late and (many) dollars short in Baltimore
I have to rant a little. Ok, a lot. I read an article from the 1/4/04 Baltimore Sun by music critic Tim Smith entitled Fine Tuning Its Future. In the article, Tim outlines what the BSO has planned for its future and how it expects to bring in a new audience through developing an overhauled concert experience. To be fair, I’ll mention the good things first: I’m very happy to see …
Squeezing Blood From A Turnip
Back in November I wrote a blog entitled A Bridge Campaign Too Far that talked about how orchestras are beginning to squeeze their corporate and private patrons for donations too often. And now we have a new large scale example: The Washington Post published a story today stating Maryland’s “Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan threatened to “mothball” the partially completed Strathmore Hall concert pavilion if the County Council refuses to help …
Tomorrow’s Audience Today
Audience development. In the language of orchestral management that means getting people to show up for concerts. Those in the field are likely familiar with the Classical Music Consumer Segmentation Study conducted by the Knight Foundation, and if you aren’t I highly recommend taking a look. Although it isn’t a perfect study, it does help us begin to address this critical problem in an analytical fashion. Unfortunately, one point the study does …