WHY I NEED A BLOGROLL

posted by James Reel

When Arizona Public Media switched to this new blog platform, my old blogroll, with links to other sites of consistent interest, went away. I'm sure our tech guys will eventually get around to telling me how I can reinstate it, but for now I'll just have to be more conscientious about linking to specific items I run across. For starters, and just as an excuse to call your attention to the overall blog, Drew McManus has something nice to say about my little post on music critics, which you can find in his realm, Adaptistration. As I've said in the past, although Drew focuses on orchestral administration in a changing cultural and economic climate, his blog is full of information that music lovers as well as administrators could profit from.

MUSIC ED AND ORCHESTRAL AUDIENCES

posted by James Reel

More comments are rolling in following my column detailing why I’m no longer a Tucson Symphony season subscriber. Here’s a missive from a friend; I’ll quote her anonymously, since I haven’t gotten clearance to reveal her identity:

The second summer I ushered at the Hollywood Bowl I noticed the orchestra was playing many of the same pieces they played the summer before. I looked at past schedules ten years back and again they were playing many of the same pieces. I inquired why the orchestra did not play more of a variety of music. Why didn't they play recent compositions, exposing people to the idea that classical music lives on? I received this answer: The majority of people purchasing tickets want to hear what they already know. The orchestra needs to support itself. If they play music few people know on a regular basis they will have a small audience. Now, I like _Rhapsody in Blue_ and _Fiddle Faddle_ like everyone else, but I was a little disappointed with this answer. Jim and I have attended concerts at the Disney music hall in L.A. The acoustics are so good the musicians have difficulty concentrating. In the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion the music went out into the hall and stayed there. In the Disney hall the music comes back to the stage, making it difficult for the musicians to continue playing, for the music they just played is returned to them. Honestly, I'd rather the city or county pay police and fireman a higher wage, and hire more of them for that matter, or pave the streets in my neighborhood, or finish the road work at the hospital we visit every day, than spend the money on a new music hall. If the money for all of these endeavors was there I'd be all for it. Unfortunately, the money that is there is wasted in bureaucracy and pet activities for those who have the best lobbying efforts. A consideration, when discussing introducing kids to classical music, is the competition. With the exception of orchestral and band students, classical music just isn't cool but rather boring. Most young people listen to bubblegum sexy pop music, not because they like the music, but for the visualization that has become attached to it, and the fact that that music is all they’re exposed to. I doubt the _Lord of the Rings_ concert was attend by so many kids because they liked the music. The novelty of their favorite adventure story drew most of them in and I'm sure the parents couldn't resist. The concert was accompanied by a view screen behind the orchestra showing drawings of the different scenes from the movie, and although they were well done it did take away from the pure listening pleasure of the experience. Through my experience in the classroom I've come to understand that kids are not encouraged to use their imaginations. All the visual is provided for them. When it comes to unadulterated listening, many do not have the skills to put their own visualizations to the music and lose interest quickly. This is not true of all children, of course, but this is what I experienced while teaching. When I was an orchestral student in the late ’80s and early ’90s I learned the fundamentals of music: melody, harmony, how to read a score, theory and so on. We listened to classical music as much as we played it. An elementary music teacher I know recently left the classroom, for she was spending more time on discipline and begging her students to practice than teaching the basics, allowing students to enjoy the music they were playing. Spending time listening to music and pointing out the aspects that make it interesting was considered a waste of time. What is my point with all of this? Maybe it's the devil’s advocate in me. I don't necessarily agree with all the points I'm making, rather just looking at the reality of the situation. I know your opinion comes from a much more musically educated point of view then my own, but when discussing the programming chosen for the orchestra, I think it is important to take the financial situation into consideration. How can this situation be changed? Encourage young people to listen to music rather than watch it. Teach the basics in school or private lessons along with the playing of the instrument, allowing them to appreciate what they are playing. As you mentioned, lower the ticket prices so those under 30 can afford an evening of culture. Play the classical music stations in the car.

THE ENEMY WITHIN

posted by James Reel

Martin Bernheimer, in the Financial Times, assesses the peril to professional arts critics in American newspapers. Much of what he writes is spot-on, if not really news at this late date. But what’s stirring up dissent online is his contention that “A primary cause of our imminent extinction must be the Internet. ... On the Web, anyone can impersonate an expert. Anyone can blog. Credentials don’t count. All views are equal. Some sort of criticism may survive the American media revolution, but professional criticism may not.” This is just silly, as AC Douglas and Lisa Hirsch have already pointed out at their own intelligently written blogs. But what I’d like to point out is that American dailies are full of their own frauds, poor general-assignment reporters assigned to cover the arts despite having no background in the subject and no understanding of the professional standards of arts criticism. I’m not just referring to freelancers, either. As the pros are being bought out or fired, their places are being taken, if at all, by deeply unqualified hacks. It’s becoming far easier to find intelligent arts commentary online than in a daily paper.

NOT A SOCIAL DUTY

posted by James Reel

Several people have been e-mailing and even calling me to comment, mostly positively, on my column about deserting the Tucson Symphony. Here are some pertinent remarks from a former professor at one of America's major music schools, quoted anonymously because without permission:

I read your critique of the TSO with great personal interest. I agree that programming could be more creative and inventive. But I wonder whether the innuendos your article contains regarding Conductor Hanson's culpability are only inferred by me, or whether you really believe that to be the case. Perhaps your analyses and critiques should be directed at the Board of Directors (many of whom may be affluent but hardly musical programming experts) and management. How about exploring that avenue? For a number of years are seats at the TSO concerts were next to those of a former president of the symphony board and his wife.If their reactions to programming of symphonic works different from the standard historical repertory are symptomatic of Symphony Board members, it is easy to reach theconcluion why the conductor is unnecessarily hampered by external forces that have nothing to do with the music being performed.. There are many of us who prefer to hear music live. The accoutrements of elaborate headsets and in-the-home sound equipment attempting to emulate the concert hall are undesirable to satisfy our internal and external musical experience. And that is not because of Social Duty. but because music is intended to be heard live, and not to be listened to as a patchwork of "takes" by the latest technological devices to reflect some sound engineer's concept of perfection!

DEFECTION REJECTION

posted by James Reel

And already a response to my TSO defection from a faithful KUAT listener and TSO subscriber, with an important point to make:

Read in Cue Sheet you will not renew your TSO subscription for 08-09 season. i agree with your reasoning, but not to the point of not renewing our subscriptions. Yeah, we have CDs and KUAT-FM, but TSO is our live symphonic music and we will support it forever, even in the Convention Center Music Hall. Perhaps with our continued support a new music hall will evolve. Without our support it will not. i am disappointed in your decision to not attend TSO concerts. i respect and enjoy your TSO concert reviews. More importantly, your reviews might influence musical expression and future programing.

DEFECTOR

posted by James Reel

In the latest Tucson Weekly, I announce my retirement from the Tucson Symphony Orchestra audience:

For the first time in 30 years, I'm not renewing my Tucson Symphony Orchestra season subscription. I made that decision when I realized that I'd skipped a few concerts last season because of travel or illness, and I didn't care. If I don't regret missing concerts I'm having to pay more and more money for, why should I spend that money in the first place? It isn't that the TSO is a bad orchestra; far from it. You won't confuse it with the Boston Symphony, but it's a perfectly able professional ensemble from front to back, much better than the band it was back in the 1970s, when it boasted some fine individual players (especially the principal woodwinds), but spotty work across larger sections. Even so, the programming becomes less and less inspired every year. Most concerts are dominated by thrice-familiar pieces; anything new or unusual occupies only about five minutes of any program. (The big exception next season is Daniel Asia's Symphony No. 5, but that is a rare occurrence.) Like every arts organization, the TSO earns its tax-exempt status as an educational rather than an artistic endeavor, and education shouldn't be limited to kiddie concerts. Adults need to be introduced to new things, too. But when I read the schedule for next season, there are only a couple of things that look more attractive to me than staying home and watching a video.

There’s much more to it, which you can read here.