Joan Boorstein replies to me:

>I don't know about other parts of the US, but Carter's birthday was
>oberserved in Boston by the BSO with the premiere his Interventions for
>Piano & Orchestra, with Daniel Barenboim as soloist and James Levine
>conducting.  The concert was repeated at Carnegie Hall with Carter in
>attendance -- I believe on his 100th birthday.  I also recall that his
>100th birthday made the front page of the New York Times.

That's just it.  It often takes a special occasion -- a commission, a
birthday -- to program any Carter in the US, and furthermore he is usually
played by new-music specialists.  In Europe, they play him as a matter
of course.  Now Boston and New York probably count as exceptions.  But
think about an organization like the Detroit Symphony or even the Cleveland
Orchestra, which for a major band does program a lot of new music.

I understand why this happens, chiefly because these organizations are
expensive to maintain and you don't want to turn off a subscriber base.
However, it seems to me (and forgive me for repeating this for the
gazillionth time) that this makes for an unhealthy, weak audience.  If
music -- unlike painting, sculpture, and literature -- is to be confined
to the tried and true or to those T&T clones, Charlotte Church and Sarah
Brightman have won.

Steve Schwartz

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