by ICSOM Chairman Bruce Ridge: October 1 was a difficult day for the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra, a day that marked the one-year point of the managerial imposed lockout that has silenced an orchestra once called “the best in the world.” That morning, their beloved Music Director, Osmo Vanska, delivered his resignation, precisely as he said he would if the lockout did not end. The relationship between Vanska and these musicians had begun to reach the status of legend; a unique pairing of leader and orchestra that had the potential to approach Szell and Cleveland, Ormandy and Philadelphia. So, on this dark morning the Locked Out Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra did the only thing they knew how, and the only thing their years of dedicated study and training would allow them to do—they went out and served their community.
5 comments:
This is just frustrating. Of course news will always focus on the negative rather than the positive -- it draws people in, makes them angry and ready to read more! I was surprised to read about the NPR article mentioned as NPR is usually quite good with their reporting. I think this is a lesson in always looking deeper into things. When things look bad, there's always a bright side. When there's one depressing news story, there are many many others that are wonderful, you just have to dig a bit deeper. I'm not very familiar with orchestral salaries and such, but I always think that any support of the arts is good for the arts as a whole. The positive statistics given were good to hear. I try to go see the Pittsburgh Orchestra when I can I appreciate their student prices as well as attempts to have shows that are appealing to a wide variety of audiences. Take the upcoming performance of The Planets accompanied by projections of NASA photos -- I can't wait! I think this was a very interesting article and I really appreciate the author's message to not just musicians, but all artists -- even if negative facts are not quite true, they can become self-fulfilling and we need to work to make sure it doesn't happen.
Like Sophie I was frustrated by this article too, or more specifically the lack of reporting on the case of other news sources which this article did. In the last article I read it explained that with out a doubt the arts were out of the arts recession however it did not give any examples of why. This article did and was much more of a powerful article for because it gave so many examples of how these symphonies were beginning to flourish. I am extremely disappointed that I had not heard of the increase in attendance in symphonies and instead had only heard of the closing of the New York City Opera. Although it is a sad a event the statistics cited in this article make up for it. I would rather read an article that addresses the negative points and shows the positive points rather that one focusing on just the positive and negative points. I think this article did that really well and was a pleasure to read.
This article sheds light on the side of the arts that we often don't get to read about: the positive one. As this article says, the vast majority of articles in the press about the arts are about the failure of companies or how the arts are in decline. Sure, some companies have financial problems or aren't doing great because of their subscriber base or some other reason, but it's important to note that there are also companies that are doing well. Symphonies, ballets, and operas are usually the sectors of the arts that get slammed for being "too elitist/expensive/out-of-touch" for the general public and the realities of a not-too-distant recession, and the press harps on this constantly. However, something this article doesn't really talk about, but is another part of this, is how some orchestras have adapted to the changing times. The Pittsburgh Orchestra recently did a compilation of Pixar hits and another of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, and, as Sophie mentioned, they are performing The Planets with projections of space. Classical music companies are still able to attract a large audience and donors, as his examples of the symphonies in St. Louis, Houston, and Detroit show, and it would be great if the press was able to balance their reporting with this positive stories as well.
Hmm, this article is quite thought-provoking. I agree with the writer's sentiments regarding fact-checking. The over-dramatization of the "current collapse of classical music" is unfortunately hogging the spotlight and robbing attention of more optimistic encouraging facts. And the observation he makes regarding NPR is dead on--I'm crushed to hear they missed the mark, because yes, they do tend to aim for a higher mark and therefore earn more respect. However, I think at large, the writer brushes over two critical realities:
(1) News is news. Headlines sell papers, attract website hits and encourage more media attention, which all comes back down to the big fat red line at the bottom--profit. These more negative headlines might tend to sell more for the Telegraph and make more money for the journalistic corporation.
I like to think that we live in a world that is honest and we can trust the information we get from news. But, the fact is, we can't. Supposedly consumers dictate the content, but we all know it doesn't actually work that way. [Insert vicious-cycle soap-box speech regarding where news comes from and who dictates the priorites] It all come down to money. What sells? Cat brings up a good point. This could have been a wonderful opportunity to talk about how such organizations are changing and adapting. The example that comes to my mind is the PSO event we worked on at Static last year. It was a fantastic event! But will that headline make more money than a reputable company of 70 years going under? I couldn't say for sure, but my guess is No. Depends on who you ask.
(2) Anyone can be a journalist, these days. If I update my status, tweet, post a picture, write a blog entry, etc...I'm not just an individual with an opinion. I'm a published author/photographer/critic. Should we hold these folks to the same standard that we hold "professional" journalists? Most of the time, I think we put a blind faith in the foundation that the opinions we like or content we enjoy digesting (whether we agree with it or not) are based on facts. But let's be honest, I'm not going to do a more-than-thorough google search about something every time I have a thought to share. "Ain't nobody got time for that."
Yellow Journalism is a good term for it, And it's unfortunate that such a trend has never been truly extinct. But in this day and age where information is so accessible, I don't necessarily put all the blame the journalists--although the professionals should know better. I blame the public for not being curators of their own information.
The problem that this article points out regarding arts journalism is one that plagues all types of news-reporting. News organizations are businesses, and they probably make more sales with negative, inflammatory and sensational disaster stories that reports of what is going well in the world. It's sad, but it's true. A while ago we were discussing recent news in Directing class and it took Akiva and I five minutes to go through all the news on my CNN app and find something positive to tell the class about. Be it the arts or global politics, all we hear about is the bad stuff. This article does a great job of highlighting what's going well in the classical music world right now, and just how important that information is.
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