On Relevance, and Means vs. Ends
In the first session of the orchestra summit, Ryan Fleur of the Memphis Symphony talked about how in the 19th century, orchestras were more relevant to their communities, and about how music and art were ways of connecting people with each other. He emphasized that music has gone from being a means to being an end and encouraged us to revisit that assumption.
It’s a powerful idea for reframing how we consider our roles. The means — the artistic experience — is what keeps us all in this business, whether we’re artists or administrators. But we must connect to our audiences in a meaningful way, and provide them with a chance to connect with each other, in order to be successful and relevant. And in that regard, the artistic experience is just one component.
U-M Professor Michael Jensen gave a provocative talk that included a rather dire projection that the pyramid of world – national – local – amateur organizations will shrink to merely world and amateur. I’m not sure I buy it. While it’s true that you can tune in to the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall and have more control over the immediate listening environment and be listening to arguably the world’s greatest orchestra (is there really such a thing?), part of what attracts us to the LIVE performance is the sense of community. In times of crisis, people’s immediate instinct is to come together. That’s why so many people attend candlelight vigils and similar gatherings when disaster strikes. The live performance is more compelling than broadcast concerts because of two factors: the immediacy of the artistic experience, and the opportunity to connect with others. Sometimes the connections are brief, or even unspoken, but they are connections all the same.
Despite all of the dire statistics cited about declining attendance, we need to bear in mind that if we fall into the trap of embracing national trends, we will only reinforce them. If we each act within our own institutions to try to reverse those trends, we can all be successful in changing that direction. Of course it’s helpful to know the general direction that things are going. But if we use the national statistics as a benchmark against which we measure our own performance, we’re probably in trouble.
The major political parties realized years ago that the way to be effective in achieving their overarching goals was to start at the local level, with school boards and city councils, and gradually build enough momentum to have an impact nationally. As performing arts groups, we too need to take that local focus to ultimately have an impact on the national landscape. Being relevant in our own communities is a great first step.
Filed Under: Open Forum
Apologies for submitting this comment again, but I feel like it’s more relevant here than where I originally put it . . .
During the Organizational Structures and Strategies panel, the comments and questions kept dancing around the edge of something that was never explicitly stated. The concert experience isn’t all it should be. If we want people to keep going to orchestra concerts, we need to make the concert experience more pleasant and meaningful.
One of the panelists mentioned Met broadcasts in movie theaters and how much more relaxing it was to watch opera while sitting in a comfortable chair eating popcorn. Could this type of performance take over the world and replace local and regional live performances? I certainly hope not, because I think there should be something magic and special about the “live” aspect of it. However, the mere fact that we are expressing concern about this issue indicates that we’re not sure if that magic is really strong enough.
What happens when you go to a concert? As an amateur musician and music lover without any professional connections, I think I can testify to this better than many of you who attended this concert. When you go to a concert, you put on your uncomfortable dress clothes, and you show up to a crowded auditorium. You can’t really stand around without feeling somewhat awkward, especially if you happen to have come alone. Glowering ushers whisk you away to your seat, and you try to settle in comfortably, but there is nowhere to put your stuff and not enough legroom. Then you get crawled over by other people trying to get to their seats as well. The concert starts, and you patiently try to ignore the other thousand people in the auditorium with you while attempting to see over their heads. Heaven forbid that you should cough or sneeze or clap in the wrong place. When it’s over, the musicians disappear off stage, and you get whisked out of the auditorium and back to your regular life.
Certainly comfort levels in auditoriums could use some improvement, but I think there is something much bigger that is wrong with the concert experience. Watching something on a screen should not be the same as watching living, breathing people perform on stage. However, when you go to a professional concert, the audience is so disconnected from the musicians that it really IS almost like watching something on a screen. As an audience member, I don’t feel like the musicians are really aware of me. The musicians produce, and I consume. But I don’t want to merely consume. I want to participate. If I only wanted to consume, I could do it very well from the movie theater.
One panelist mentioned that Broadway shows don’t have trouble attracting audiences . . . at Broadway shows, you’re invited to respond. You can laugh and clap throughout, and it’s not impolite. Similarly, last year when I saw Yoyo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble play here in Ann Arbor at Hill Auditorium, he talked to the audience throughout, and the audience was really engaged with clapping and laughing throughout. The feedback between performers and audience was refreshing and fun, and it was much less intimidating.
There is something immensely unsatisfying about the standard concert experience. If we orchestra lovers want to keep our audiences strong and maintain our local/regional/national orchestras, we need to do something to make the “live” aspect of performances more special and meaningful to the audience. One panelist said something about deciding which concert traditions deserved to stay and which could be changed, and he was right on.
Melinda Morang
U of M Student
Dexter Community Orchestra
Music Lover