The situation in Detroit could eventually have a profound impact on anyone with an orchestra job- it’s sort of a perfect storm involving one of the country’s most esteemed ensembles. The outcome there could be a bellwether for the business in certain ways, and the whole situation is worth observing very closely.Much more knowledgeable people than I have written extensively on the subject, notably Drew McManus here. Mark Stryker has been covering it locally, with the latest grim update here. There are two official options on the table at the moment to deal with what is indeed a terrible financial crisis engulfing the DSO. Everyone seems to understand the need for sacrifice, but obviously neither proposal is great for either the musicians or patrons; it really gets down to the lesser of two (or three) evils. Personally, I was amazed at the DSO management’s threat to unilaterally impose it’s “Plan B” if the current contract expires with no new agreement (the current contract ends at midnight Sunday). I do understand the need for posturing in a negotiation, but “Plan B” is the probably the most draconian and destructive course the orchestra could possibly take artistically, and (to me) indicates a truly delusional mindset coming from a management that supposedly has the institution’s best interests at heart.

The musicians have set up an informative site here.

Let’s hope both sides can somehow find common ground and keep playing. There’s a lot at stake, and not just for that orchestra.

There were a great many inspired performances this year under Mr. de Waart, but that’s only part of the explanation for the generally upbeat atmosphere amongst the majority of the MSO staff and musicians at the end of the season. Along with the great playing (and usually large, enthusiastic audiences), was a feeling of purpose and connection, like we belonged here, and were a really valuable asset to the community. That’s also elusive in the classical world today, and it got me thinking (again) about the overall issue of “relevance” pertaining to classical music and the arts in general.

Just as I was pondering this, several articles popped up examining this very idea. It certainly was on the League‘s mind during its annual conference, as Marc van  Bree discusses here. Drew McManus hopes for a more inclusive structure of the discussion here. Another piece in Louisville was more general, while the New York Times sat down with Michael Kaiser as he winds down his Arts in Crisis tour.

In this discourse the fashionable buzzwords seem to be “change”, “identity”, “relevance”, and “structure”, but it also seems that nobody has any idea how to realistically implement any substantial changes. Now, I’ll acknowledge that most musicians think they can run things better than arts administrators or their marketing department (and often this may be true). But reading these various pieces, I did notice one point missing from all the chatter: the type, level, and degree of change  depends where you are and what you’re doing. One of the reasons this is such a thorny issue for many arts institutions (along with getting away from traditional dogmatic thinking) is that there is no silver bullet strategy for everyone. It takes a great deal of creativity, commitment, and intelligence to figure out what kind of change works best for your institution in your community. It also takes time and money, but even small changes can make a big difference.

In the next post I’ll look closer at how this idea can really be fundamental to the process of changing the basic trajectory of an institution.

And if the article is too much science for you, here’s a different sort of math quiz.

James Levine is definitely out for the duration, both at the Met and in Boston. Seiji Ozawa has some issues as well. David Zinman has departed the Aspen Music Festival.  Leonard Slatkin was in, then out, Not Breaking News dept.: Philly is still looking. But they hired a new chief of staff.

Colin Davis is still a class act. And as usual,there’s  no stopping Valery Gergiev.

Happily for us, Edo de Waart has extended his Milwaukee contract and has also taken another appointment.

But who needs a conductor anyway (see below)? Just kidding; this video may answer that question for some.

I have a new CD. I think it’s really good.

You can get it here.