Donald Clarke <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>When I referred to the success of the Austin Symphony Orchestra,
>I just meant in terms of selling tickets and staying solvent, passing
>no judgement on the artistic side.

The Austin Symphony is a remarkable story in so many ways.  For as
long as I can remember, it has operated in the black, rare for any arts
organization.  From the suriving recordings, one can see that they had
their ups and downs.  A review of their repertoire shows a relatively
conservative orientation.  Perhaps because they are friends and that I
might not be able to speak objectively but, both the President of the
Board and the past Executive Director ran a tight ship with no frills.
It would seem that with the new Executive Director, that the lessons of
the past have been taken to heart.

>How many parents in their early 30s today would recognise the names of
>living classical performers?  The last classical media star was Leonard
>Bernstein.

I remember when a classical artist would, from time to time, appear on
prime time television.  Even in more recent years one could find Dick
Cavett interviews with Rubinstein, Callas, Rorem.  While I don't watch
television much, I wonder, does this sort of thing still happen?

>Advertising on the Net has now surpassed newspaper advertising in
>Britain; we are only seeing the beginning of the changes in the media.
>And with new media will come new business models.

I believe it will be many years before society has any sense of the
transformations that are taking place.  The notions of copyrights and
the folly of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and how it restricts
our access to information, and Classical Music in particular, has been
rendered meaningless by the internet.  Oh how I long for changes which
would allow the public access to the great performance history of the
past.

Along with many economists, I believe that the internet does provide
an opportunity for a niche market to survive and I think the internet
presents a great opportunity for classical music.  Perhaps some very
creative people will think of ways to exploit that potential.  I believe
some already have with things like our own classical.net and many of the
online review journals.  I am impressed with how many classical clips
are offered on You Tube.  Maybe one day I can offer downloads of some
of those great broadcast performances of classical music I have in my
collection...and do it legally.

  Karl

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