Karl Miller wrote:

>Where are people going to be exposed to the range of art music.  Certainly
>not on NPR, or PBS...or in the concert hall, or in school.  Where should
>they be exposed to art music?
>
>Once again I am reminded of the notion of dumbing down art music so it
>will attract new listeners.  I wonder, how many years has that notion
>be applied to programming concerts and the media, and is there any
>evidence that it has accomplished any good?

This is certainly not news.  The question is: where do we go from here?
If you don't think what people are currently doing works, then offer
alternatives.  And by alternatives I mean ideas likely to result in the
continued life of orchestras.  Or do we take some higher road even if
it means the whole thing collapses?  So far the good that has been done
is that there are still orchestras in existence when, in purely economic
terms, by all rights there shouldn't be.  Everyone in the business is
looking for this magic bullet.

Cursing the darkness is all well and good, but lighting a candle...better.

Michael Morgan