Category: Uncategorized

Detroit Symphony Musicians Force Violinist Chang to Cancel Recital

The sad orchestral situation in Detroit just got worse this past weekend, when Sarah Chang announced that, because of an outcry from striking Detroit Symphony musicians, she would not perform her recital  scheduled for tonight. According to Mark Stryker in the Detroit Free Press, she also received offensive and threatening e-mails from the musicians’ supporters.

The musicians are publicly claiming that the cancelation shows that Chang is demonstrating her solidarity with them, but it sure looks like intimidation. And a missed chance to creatively make their case to the public (who, after all, are the donors and concertgoers that help pay their salaries).

Chang scheduled the recital when her appearances with the orchestra were canceled as a result of the strike. She wanted the money made off the concert to go to the musicians’ pensions fund, showing that she was at least a little sympathetic. Trying to enlist her as an ally–to pressure orchestra management, to make public comments; anything–would have been the way to go. Especially when, as Terry Teachout pointed out a while back, the DSO players need to convince people that it’s even worth having them around.

When Music Made Louisville

I went to a reception here in New York last night to publicize the release of the new documentary on the Louisville Symphony, Music Makes a City. I didn’t get much out of the event–it was a cheap night out for me and the mizz–except a couple of free beer. And some excellent hors d’oeuvres. They had these little hamburgers, which were really a little big to eat as finger food but were delicious, and some cheesy crackers that Vanessa really liked.

The documentary, which is showing here in New York City until the end of the week, looks promising, and should be a good way to get to know how this regional orchestra came to be a commissioning powerhouse in the second half of the 20th century, totally committed to performing and recording brand-new music.

Next week, the movie will play in Los Angeles. The LA Times has something on their Culture Monster blog.

Detroit Symphony Set to Strike

Detroit Symphony players rejected management’s final offers over the weekend, but because of labor regulations requiring the filing of paperwork, can’t strike until September 24. But it looks like they will.

The musicians are arguing that the dramatic pay cuts–over 20% in base pay–will render the orchestra second class. “That top sliver of talent, the ones who can truly thrill the audience, will not come here,” says cellist Haden McKay.

It’s a pretty crazy pay cut, and I wouldn’t want to take it, but the argument that great musicians won’t come doesn’t really hold water. There’s more than a “sliver” of great musicians out there right now. The problem for musicians is there a glut–too much supply, and not enough demand.

Four Liszts Beats Full House?

Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun found a fun piece of musical memorabilia while he was cleaning out his closet recently:  a replica of a late 19th-century (I say probably more like early 20th-century) card game designed to get to know famous composers and their most popular works.

Clearly, as these cards show, tastes have changed over time. There’s no Brahms card, but Anton Rubinstein is represented. Haydn is there, but his card doesn’t list any of his symphonies as exemplary pieces.

Check out the post, and follow Tim’s blog. He was tenacious in following the Cleveland’s Rosenberg trial, offering his own commentary. But there’s other stuff too.

"I Don’t Want to Talk About It"

Doug Adams won’t be taking anyone out to fancy dinners to ask for $1 million anymore. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra CEO quit yesterday.

He cited personal reasons–he can’t sell his house in Denver–but didn’t seem to interested in sharing with Scott Cantrell of the Dallas Morning News. Asked about how the board reacted, Adams responded, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

His resignation comes on the heels of a D Magazine profile on Adams and the problems he’s facing raising money in a competitive philanthropic Dallas market. Maybe he just got tired of the rat race down there.

Detroit Symph Musicians To Present Own Shows

Contract talks have been going slowly between the Detroit Symphony and its musicians (or the union). And it looks as if the latter isn’t seeing things speeding up any time soon: they announced that they’re presenting two of their own concerts in September. 

They’ve set up their own website to make their case (dsomusicians.com), which I found out on Twitter (@dsomusicians).

In tough times, musicians have a skill for coming up with creative solutions to keep their art alive. Why, once a contract is signed, don’t they demonstrate that same energy and creativity? Why aren’t orchestras–which are, at base, the musicians–harnessing all that creative power–to organize, program, present, and communicate–when times are good to build their audience and make themselves relevant?

Naxos Will Distribute Warner Classics CDs in US

Naxos will start distributing Warner Classics CDs here in the US, starting September 1. There is no digital component to this deal, and it looks as if Warner’s plan is to offload this expensive, shrinking revenue stream to the independent company so that it can focus on other things. As John Kelleher, head of Warner Classics and Jazz puts it: “(this deal) enables Warner Classics to re-focus our efforts on growing our digital business in the region, as well as bolstering our A&R activities.”

To anyone paying close attention, this isn’t a surprise. In a conversation with Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun, Naxos founder Klaus Heymann let it slip that this deal was done. Naxos has been growing stronger as a distributor over the last five years or so, particularly here in the US. And classical divisions have been the ugly stepsisters in major label families for a couple of decades.

Major labels have always looked down on the upstart Naxos, and it’s hard to say whether this is indicative of how far the latter has come, or how far Warner has fallen. 

Dallas Symphony: Hustling for Dollars

When I ask around, looking to bum $1 million, I get a very different response than Dallas Symphony CEO Douglas Adams gets. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever asked anyone for $1 million.

In this D Magazine article, you’ll get a discussion of giving fatigue in a city where business leaders feel they need to maintain (or develop) Dallas as a world-class city with arts institutions; and an interesting quotation from music director Jaap van Zweden on his role as a fundraiser.

Want Money? Build Trust

In his article on the Philadelphia Orchestra’s plans to re-invent itself in the face of a “structural deficit,” Peter Dobrin quotes Executive Director Allison Vulgamore: “We’re going to have to earn more money, going to need to attract donors back … who have been waiting and wondering, and, frankly, we’re going to have to measure the cost structure a little bit.”

So, I’m not quite sure what a “cost structure” is, but I do know that if the Philadelphia Orchestra is going to want people to give money, they’ll need to be honest about not just how much they’re spending, but what they’re spending it on.

That’s what’s so galling–and counterproductive–about the orchestra’s unwillingness to discuss the value of Yannick Nezet-Seguin’s contract. It could have been a great opportunity to educate the public on the value of a music directors to the overall quality of the institution that donors are giving money to. Instead, they politely “decline” to discuss it, even as their board chair mentions bankruptcy.

If you want people to give you money–more importantly, if you want them to really believe in you–you’ve got to be straight with them.