Throw Open the Doors to Diversity!

Here’s a tease for Monday’s post:

Today some very strong words from Bruce Theriault, Senior VP for Radio of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, who said we need to “throw open the doors” to diversity, to new people with new ideas, to young people who understand converging media formats, and to look around us and realize that the public radio audience is 82% white, while the American population is nearly 50% non-white.

I haven’t heard one single word at the classical sessions about diversity or youth.  I don’t want the readers of this blog to get defensive, but seriously, this is our future, too.  Not just the news stations.  I challenged Bruce about his laudable goals, because I’ve been asking the CPB for several years to fund a diversity project for classical stations, one that’s been a proven success, but the CPB always tells me the classical stations don’t want it.  To her credit, Kathy Merritt at the CPB thinks it’s a good idea.  It’s the classical program directors who turn it down every time.  I think I’ll share some of the ideas in this blog in the weeks to come, and let’s talk about it!

We’ll chat more on Monday…

About Marty Ronish

Marty Ronish is an independent producer of classical music radio programs. She currently produces the Chicago Symphony Orchestra broadcasts that air 52 weeks a year on more than 400 stations and online at www.cso.org. She also produces a radio series called "America's Music Festivals," which presents live music from some of the country's most dynamic festivals. She is a former Fulbright scholar and co-author of a catalogue of Handel's autograph manuscripts.

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3 thoughts on “Throw Open the Doors to Diversity!”

  1. I’m a bit late in noticing this, but what diversity project are you talking about that’s been a proven success? I’ve come across a few major obstacles in the area of audience diversity for Classical Music, and it’s not just with the stations and programmers.

    Is the racial make-up of the audience exclusively the fault of the broadcasters? If they never reach out to anyone, that’s certainly a problem. But is this about expanding the audience for Classical Music, full stop, or just for the stations? Also, in which category are ethnic Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese listeners counted in these percentages?

    Reply
  2. Hi David,

    Excellent questions. When I was the Editor of Performance Today I was the moving force behind two weeks of programs that brought a variety of ethnic voices and music into the mix. We called it something like “From the Village to the Concert Hall.” The audience response was amazing. Just huge, and all positive.

    Another empirical experience was when I was a full time announcer on a classical station. I had a lunchtime show that brought in performers of many, many ethnicities, and the ratings for that hour doubled in a year when I infused the programming with really meaty, interesting, diverse content.

    My third experience was the children’s programs I produced for four years. I created 110 of these programs, called Boombox Classroom, and they were half world music and half classical music. The series won a number of awards.

    On the strength of those successes, I applied two years in a row to the CPB to create programming that would be diverse but could fit within the parameters and core values of classical stations. The CPB personnel were for it (it was, after all, funding for diversity!), but the peer reviewers at stations said it would never fit on a classical station. How did they know, if they weren’t willing to try it?

    In general, I think we underestimate our audiences, and it’s for sure we don’t reach out to new, diverse, young audience. And yes, I included Chinese, Korean, and Japanese music in the mix! I used to play in a Japanese ensemble.

    I wish I could convince my colleagues that there’s a whole world of music out there that would enrich our programming!

    Marty

    Reply
  3. Marty,

    Thank you for the detailed reply. I was hoping that the program you were talking about was directed at getting a more diverse audience for Classical Music, rather than combining World Music with Classical Music to bring people in. As much as I enjoy music from all sorts of folk traditions, as well as genre fusions, I was wondering about Classical Music. I realize your concerns are much broader than mine, but that’s where I’m coming from.

    I agree with you that audiences are routinely underestimated – in so many ways! But will diversity programs like these dilute the content of Classical Music or bring a more diverse audience to it?

    The reason I bring this up is that I’ve heard too many times that Classical Music cannot be made relevant to non-whites because it lies mainly outside of their ethnic tradition (I’m not saying that’s right or wrong here, I’m just saying that’s the barrier I’ve run into). So when I hear about a mixed program, my first thought is that someone is taking the position that Classical Music cannot bring them in, so we must add World Music to the mix. If that’s a bit of bait to draw in people who otherwise wouldn’t listen to Classical Music on purpose (so to speak), obviously I can get behind that idea. That’s great, and there are plenty of ways that can work. But if it ends up reducing the amount of program space for Classical Music, that’s not what I was hoping for. I don’t think it’s out of line for me to suggest that the reverse wouldn’t be allowed, simply because there isn’t any logical reason to include, say, a Haydn string quartet in a World Music program.

    Again, I understand that you’re looking at a larger picture. Thanks again for your time.

    Reply

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