Stirling on the agenda:

>This precise process - of attempting, by argument and invective, to deny
>the other side a place at the table is precisely what has been going on for
>the last 90 years.  It is precisely the intent of the Griffiths article.
>If having the money and power to print justifies printing whatever you
>like, then it also justifies saying whatever is necessary to humiliate the
>powers that be.

Ah.  This is the statement I was waiting for.  Do you think, Stirling,
in reality, that what you say is really true? I posted Camellia Symphony's
wonderfully inclusive but balanced season to show that the Emperor you lash
out at, in fact, has no rows.

Steve Schwartz has mentioned that he is not too happy with the meat and
potatoes programming of his local orchestra.  But comparing the music of
our different orchestras, to me, shows that *all* styles are "allowed"
somewhere.  If I couldn't find what I wanted in Sacramento, I would look
elsewhere--Nancy Reagan used to travel from Sacramento to San Fransico to
get her hair done, and just because a guy can't find the certain aesthetic
styles he wants locally doesn't necessarily mean that there is an agenda
to repress that style--it may only mean that local musicians may not have
the leadership, confidence, or the chops to play demanding music; or the
interest and patience to play the standards.  But *all* exists happily
somewhere, so I think that your idea of an agenda looks seductive on paper,
but in reality....

Just who has not been allowed a place at the table? Women composers find
their champions and supporters, MTT champions the California School, old
ladies champion the dead white guys..., *I* have even had a place at the
table occasionally; and now that you have gotten rid of those aesthetic
middlemen by embracing mp3 technology, you can't say that anyone is
standing in the way of *your* world-renown.  You, ironically, seem to be
the only one still worried that the dining-room door is locked, and yet
it is you who has demonstrated that the proverbial table inside has been
rendered obsolete.

John Smyth
Sacramento, CA
http://facelink.com/j66560