Anne Midgett, hot-linked by Janos Gereben;

>The biggest crisis in classical music today is taking place in its major
>(possibly outdated) institutions: the symphony orchestras trying to sell
>thousands of tickets, the record labels looking for blockbuster recordings.

Symphony orchestras really do need to sell thousands of tickets to
survive, and American orchestras are, accordingly, in crisis, but I
really mind Midgett's suggestion that the symphony orchestra may be an
"outdated" institution.  To be sure, the administrators of some of them
may actually fulfill her prophesy if they decide to appeal to their
(perceived) base of subscribers by programming only old warhorses.
Sometimes music directors program interesting and innovative seasons,
only to have their efforts sabotaged--as I see it--by the orchestra's
publicity departments which advertise only the warhorses--and in a trite
manner--while ignoring the premieres and rarities.  Since concerts with
the latter kinds of works are the ones I chiefly attend, this tends to
infuriate me, as I know I am not alone in this, and opportunities to
draw new audience are being lost.  It is essential to renew and refresh
the audience, even if some people with rigidly limited tastes are lost.
To this end it is important to arouse the curiosity of potential attendees
enough to get them into the hall.  I was very struck by William Schuman's
account of his first concert.  His initial musical taste was jazz but
he happened to find himself at a symphony concert and was so overwhelmed
by the sheer sound of the ensemble that he decided to write for that
kind of group.

Jim Tobin