IDIOT CONSULTANT UPDATE

posted by James Reel

    At the end of my post about dangerously dumb advice from a consultant to the Oregon Symphony, I wrote, “I can’t wait to see what A.C. Douglas has to say about this.” Well, Mr. Sounds and Fury has weighed in, and he is not only incredulous but speechless (although, amusingly, it does take him a few paragraphs to get to the speechless part). Orchestral oboist Patricia Mitchell is also indignant, but much more polite about it than I was. She asks a very good question: “So tell me ... if you go to a rock concert do you expect to hear rock music, or symphony music? If you go to a Willie Nelson concert do you think you'll hear Willie or Beethoven? And when you go to a symphony concert do you think you'll be hearing Paul McCartney?” Well, OK, she acknowledges that Paul has broken into the classical biz, but, really …
    While you’re surfing, check out what the Oregon Symphony’s own principal violist, Charles Noble, has to say about the related subject of inspiring more and bigger corporate gifts. One of his points: “The answer clearly isn't ‘dumbing down’ what we do, but we can make what we do relate more to people's everyday lives, or at least the everyday lives that they wish they had.” Yes: the everyday lives people wish they had. There’s an important element of fantasy, delight and challenge in classical music that places it not out of our ordinary reach but just a bit beyond our easiest grasp. We have to try just a little harder to “get it,” and that’s why we feel so rewarded when we make the effort and find that we can succeed. No orchestra will build an audience by playing music so easy that it bores us.