Moneyball meets the Mellonball!

So a hot blow in Miami meets a cold blast in Denver as two completely different orchestras try out two models for attracting audiences.  There are huge differences between the future plans for the New World Symphony and the Colorado Symphony, not the least of which is the fact that in Miami they are using someone else’s money and are not taking any risks, whereas in Colorado they are risking it all!….

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Swimming Upstream with Sandow….

Firstly Greg Sandow is one of the first bloggers I started to read regularly, and I still do.  I have met him, I admire him and respect him greatly.  I think his recent post though about relevance doesn’t take an important thing into account, which is that a determination of what is relevant is not really our call to make….that belongs to our audiences and our communities….

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Classical Music is….Undead?

One of my pet peeves is the insane and fruitless pursuit of new audiences with marketing techniques that are so insincere and gimmicky, that we end up losing audiences! From Guitar Hero contests to DJ’s at an Opera house to $50,000 being spent on a cupcake program, it seems we try to do anything we can to pretend we don’t play concerts but just have big classical raves.  However a student brought to my class something that is on the surface a gimmick, but actually is a sincere link between pop culture and the classical era….

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Treating Patrons Like Kids….DON’T DO THAT!!!!! – Update: Response

Creativity is not only for the artists.  A patron interfaces with an arts institution long before they get there, and time and time again the visitors guidelines and etiquette policies read as though buying a ticket is a passport to not being able to do anything coupled with an assumption that you know nothing, and that we are all 5 years old!  We belittle patrons before they walk through the door, we simply have to get creative with this.  My Audience Connection class took this on last week……(Update: response from Indianapolis below)

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Build a Bridge, NOT a Lighthouse!

It occurs to me that the state of the economy seems to shift only incrementally either way, yet orchestras continue to hope that innovation and drastic action will let the good times roll.  We may be stuck with the current economic conditions for years to come, and unless we have a multi billion dollar angel of mercy, we have to deal and invest with REALITY and not throw money away on hope….

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A Little Help Here – part 3 – the inherit audience!

I’m now up in Lake Placid beginning my Summer stint having flown from Boston to Saranac Lake with the Stanley Cup behind my left ear!  (pictures are below).  I thought part 2 was it, but for those who crave the young audience, I think we need to stop dreaming of the challenge of the unknown, and stop the crazy marketing schemes that don’t work.  We need to make it a matter of inheritance….

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Converting the Converted part 1….

I am enjoying a back and forth with Geraldine regarding the role of the new Music Director from my November 11 New Conductor Smell post.  I did not enjoy reading however of what is breaking with the Syracuse Symphony with whom I am working this week.  I have many friends in the group, they are phenomenal and I so enjoy being here, it never feels like work.  I guess I’m an insider but rather than dwell on the specifics of the situation, I want to riff on where I think in general we could make some inroads….this Sunday we perform in a Cathedral….

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Reinventilating – More ASS in clASSical!

It’s been an extended break from posting with 20 performances in the last month, now on Christmas Day looking back at articles from the last few weeks, I came across yet another bright spark who has hit upon what ails Classical Music….it needs a reinvention!  Yawn….Here we go again…..

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