I know that many major American orchestras do play new music, but especially with all our recent discussion about the orchestra, I thought this article about the Detroit Symphony Orchestra was particularly interesting. An orchestra with so many problems (striking musicians, huge deficits) might want to play it safe, but instead, they're trying new things, which I definitely applaud. While 20% isn't that high a percentage for programming new music, it's certainly a start- and for major American orchestras, I think it's a pretty good number. And they seem to have taken some of Natalie's advice about reaching out to local audiences!
Posted by Sarah
Another interesting article regarding orchestral success stories:
ReplyDeletehttp://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110524/ENT03/105250344/CSO-sees-best-attendance-five-seasons?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE
(Linked under the New Music in the Media tab, as well under May 24, 2011)
-Natalie
That's great! Do they play a significant amount of new music? I wonder how the audience demographic compares for different kinds of concerts.
ReplyDeleteIt is an interesting point about the fact that ticket sales aren't really what keeps an orchestra afloat- we'd love to get audience numbers up (for new music concerts too), but what everyone really needs is major donors. I guess the hope is that some audience members might turn into donors...
-Sarah
Hmm that's a good question. When I was in Cincinnati they were pretty traditional in their programming. An average concert would usually have two classics and one "new" piece (often from the first half of the 20th century). There would be an occasional smattering of newer pieces throughout the year. However, I did hear through some of my friends that this year they had less new music. Not sure if that helped the ticket sales or if the ticket sales bumped entirely because of it being Paavo Jarvi's last season.
ReplyDeleteAll that said, I think the CSO does a really great job of reaching out to younger audiences and offering more affordable ticket prices, which makes a big difference.