In the Washington Post online today, music writer Anne Midgette opines on what she sees as a clear divide between red and blue states when it comes to symphonic music. She writes:
"The red states are those who love the classical tradition with a deep passion.... But their real love lies with the mainstream canon: Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, and all the byways and tributaries of that stream. ...What higher goal can one have than to devote the bulk of one’s listening time to the study of those great works?"
She continues: "The blue states love classical music no less. But they worry that it’s dying out because it is so entrenched in the past... The blue states want to encourage...new growth, and ideally to see it better incorporated into the mainstream classical tradition....They react with knee-jerk horror to programs that don’t include a contemporary work.... They also feel, quite honestly, that what’s being done in new music is more vital and alive than a constant diet of works one and two and three centuries old, wonderful as those pieces are."
I encourage you to read her complete story here.
Is this too simplistic? Does the overwhelming majority of symphonic music attendees want the classical classics with only a small percentage receptive to new work? If so, is that a problem with the audience or with the music itself?
Further, where do you see the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and its programming? More importantly, perhaps, where do you want to see the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and its programs?
With a full-season to schedule (including Symphony on the Prairie), is there room to be both a red and blue orchestra?
And do you feel the same way about smaller, regional groups such as the Carmel Symphony Orchestra?
I know that's a lot of questions. Pick one and let me know your thoughts.
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The ISO has the tough job of staying financially solvent while striving to be musically relevant. I don't presume to tell them what to do, but it seems to me that turning up their noses at the popular old masters while simultaneously refusing to take chances is a recipe for disaster.
But ultimately...red vs. blue? Meh.
I have had the ISO's Tchaikovsky-for-newbies concert on my calendar for this weekend ever since I first heard about their "Hits" series early last fall. In fact, I put every "Hits" concert on my calendar right away because it sounded like a series that was just made for me: there was a fun and useful post from Sean Newhouse on the ISO's blog to help get me ready for the concert, and a talk with him and the rest of the audience an hour before the concert itself.
(I love the ISO's blog in general, by the way. It is all about making live, professionally and artistically created music a part of one's life. A symphony habit, if you will.)
Unfortunately, I couldn't make the first "Hits" concert last fall because of my theatre blogging commitments and I am not going to be able to make the "Hits" concert this weekend for the same reason. Three theatre shows that interest me open this weekend (at the Fringe building, at TOTS, and at Beef-and-Boards) and Grammy Award-winning storyteller Bill Harley is doing two different programs at the Indiana History Center. It is physically impossible for me to get to all of them, either. Drat!
(I'm not really complaining: this is a good problem to have!)
So now I am hoping to get to the March 5 or 6 "Hits" Tchaikovsky concert. That will be piano instead of violin. Man, I wish I could get to the ISO to hear both! Yes, yes, I can listen to recordings, but there is something so special - even to this untrained ear - about hearing a good, LIVE symphony.
Playing whatever they want to play.
Whether or not I can get to any of the "Hits" series, I am determined to get to at least one ISO concert this year other than the Christmas one. A friend whose husband plays in another local symphony put as her Facebook status the other day that you can buy ISO tickets to certain events for only $20.10 if you buy them by this Saturday, as a New Year celebration. I think the "Hits" series is part of this bargain. I'm trying to figure out which of the other bargain events match up with the holes in my calendar so I can just go to SOMETHING at the ISO. As much as I like the newbie support of the "Hits" series, I also like the idea of just walking in to a concert and listening to it and just feeling what I feel about it, and learning about its canonical significance later if I don't immediately get what all the fuss is about.
Hope Baugh
Indy Theatre Habit
Hope Baugh
Indy Theatre Habit
Rather than dry notes in the program, allow us to experience the music more deeply and in more direct contact with the orchestra. It would personalize the entire evening and create a personal bond with the audience that might encourage them to return more often.