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.

>I do not go to the BSO to hear music I have never heard before or do not
>yet like in an attempt to come to terms with it.  I can do that far more
>productively with CDs.  I go to the BSO to hear music I know and love in
>live performance, which is a qualitatively different experience from
>hearing it in my home.  And I suspect much of the rest of the BSO's
>audience feels more or less the same way.

I get so little opportunity to hear music live I've never heard before,
I'm willing to be spoiled by the experience.  Also, I agree with you that
I want to hear music that I love in concert.  The problem is that I seldom
get the chance as most of the programs are Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms,
Tchaikovsky orgies.  I happen to love the music of the twentieth century as
well as, I admit, the standards.  So there's really very little for me in
a standard season.  If that's the programming, they lose me as a subscriber
and as a donor.  I don't need programming that simply duplicates my CD
collection.

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.

Steve Schwartz