Steve Schwartz wrote:

>Len Fehskins replies to Stirling:
>
>>My guess is the avant garde series would be financial disaster, and most
>>of the orchestra's patrons would find the notion of a "beginners" series
>>offensively condescending.
>
>Well, of course you don't *advertise* it that way.

Why not, the "classics for dummies" CDs sell well enough.  We in Boston
need a series of concerts where people who do not know much about the
music, but are interested, would feel comfortable coming.

Often the best device for this is a series of "children's" concerts.

>As to losing money - the whole damn season loses money.  A symphony
>orchestra season simply doesn't pay its way in most venues.  If you're
>going to lose money anyway, lose it on something that takes a risk and
>extends the audience's experience.

I don't think what I have proposed is a risk - at least not in any sense
of loosing subscribers or attendance.  The idea is to organise concert
life so that people can pick and choose which parts they experience.  If
someone does not want to listen to anything avant-garde, the concert seasno
should accomodate them, if someone does not want to hear works they feel
they have burned out on because of the attention to them that has already
been paid - then the concert schedule should accomodate them.  What looses
subscribers is bad performances, forcing them to listen to music they don't
like, or not offering the music they like at all.  Consider that there are
people who love Beethoven, there are some, many fewer, who loathe his
music.  Now imagine if I included a Beethoven work on every program and
aggressive told people that if they didn't love it, then there was
something wrong with them.  In all probability it would lead to more
hatred of Beethoven than love.

Now imagine the reverse - I have a concert series rich in Beethoven.  The
orchestra can pay attention to the nuances of his music and his vocabulary.
The Beethoven lover can arrive expecting a feast, and those who are curious
about Beethoven can come and listen and decide whether the argument is
powerful.  The event will be looked forward to by the supporters, it will
be talked about without distraction while it is present, and those who are
not interested can ignore it.

Now substitute "Beethoven" in the above with any other genre or composer
who has a following sufficent to fill a hall.  I believe that if one cannot
fill one subscription series of the 20th century avant-garde in Boston -
with the NEC, Boston Conservatory, Berkeley College of Music, Longy School
of music, as well as departments at Harvard, BU, BC, MIT and Brandies, then
where could one do it? If it means doing some of the concerts with smaller
forces in a smaller hall - so be it.  After all several of the most
important avant-garde pieces are scored for large chamber groups.

I believe this will generate *more* money, not less.  This because
each concert series will no longer have to worry about "not offending"
a particular group, and will be able to focus instead on pleasing a
particular group as much as possible.  The people who act as if each
rendering of a Beethoven symphony is a waste of their time, won't have to
waste their time.  The people who would never listen to a serial piece of
music - won't have to.

Stirling S Newberry
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