The Symphony Orchestra as Cultural Phenomenon

Philip Glass: ICARUS: Standing at the Edge of Time

2010-07-04T20:01:00.001+01:00

Emile offered me the following sound-bite as we said goodbye after the concert:

"Einstein wasn't taken to the beach; he was taken to the cleaners."

Although I should say that I did speak to a few people who thought that it was a brilliant occasion. This led to me thinking long and hard about the sorts of criteria I was using to judge the music in the overall context of the whole project, a project that was celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society and, as such, promoting awareness of science. Was the music to be judged in terms of its functional role? Or was the whole experience to be judged as an attempt at artistic integration? I confess that I was still disappointed by the composition, even after trying to think things through from a different perspective. Would a piece of music that more directly engaged, on a musical level, with some of the ideas about bending time have been more suitable? More exciting? Less clichéd and naff? Or would it have distracted from the narrative of the story? I would have been interested to talk to different sections of the audience to get a greater diversity of responses compared to those so invested in contemporary music such as myself.

How to keep up-to-date with this blog

2010-07-04T19:39:00.002+01:00

If you are not set up to follow blogs so that you are automatically alerted to new posts and comments, then please get yourself an RSS Reader (an aggregator) or similar which will allow you to follow blogs, news-sites, journals and other such webpages that send out automatic alerts to notify you about new content. I use Google Reader but there are many ways to do this.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/5_reasons_why_rss_readers_still_rock.php

If you have a better suggestion or other advice then please post a comment!

Round-table discussion: what future for the symphony orchestra?

2010-07-04T19:23:00.003+01:00

This is just the briefest of summaries and doesn't do justice to the full discussion, which included questions about repertoire, inter-personal relations, funding models, ossification/vitality, seedbed/museum, the problems associated with rehearsing and presenting new work and much more ...

Some 'headline' memories:

James Dillon talked of orchestral and arts managers needing to take "intelligent decisions".

Steve Cottrell suggested that academics and practitioners who work in or with the arts need to stick together in the tough times that lay ahead (surely not knowing that today the UK government has suggested they intend to implement 40% cuts in many departmental budgets).

Marshall Marcus urged us to articulate the value of the activities we practise and pleaded with us to let go of the principle of entitlement which underpins a lot of thinking about the funding of orchestras.

Emile Wennekes showed how orchestras have already adapted to new patterns of consumption (mostly digital) and suggested some of the challenges posed by new forms of mediatisation -- a concept that is key for his own research. He referred to the 90% of those who listen to classical music who have never attended a concert.

Kathryn McDowell suggested that the diversification of the orchestra's activities will ensure its continued success and pointed to a catalogue of LSO activities to support her case.

Delegates were quick to question the motivation and purpose of the plural nature of the activities today undertaken by orchestras.

Those delegates who asked questions showed that there were no taboos and that everything was up for discussion, including, thankfully, searching questions about the rhetoric of diversity and accessibility and the practice that is undertaken in its name.

The final question struck a chord and seemed a fitting way to conclude: the panel were asked about the internal diversity in orchestras, something which is less often discussed than external diversity. This of course involves considering where the performers and employees of the future come from, where they are trained and all the rest of it. Marshall Marcus was direct in his response. He said that orchestras are like a mirror. If you do not recognise yourself in that mirror, then you are not going to be engaged.

Exactly what is the status of the concert performance in relation to all of the orchestra's activities? Will it always be top of the pyramid? Or will a different model emerge? The answer seemed to be that the live performance will remain and should remain as the most important aspect of orchestral activity. This question lies at the heart of much of the discussions that were had here and elsewhere in the conference.

It was a shame that it was not recorded for a wider audience, but no doubt it meant that the discussion was more frank than might otherwise have been the case.

The question now is how best to continue to develop relationships between academics and orchestras. That is an urgent priority.

Discussion welcome! If you were there and wish to supplement this post with your own memories of, and responses to, the discussion please do comment.

Day 2 - where to begin?

2010-07-03T00:14:00.000+01:00

The first full day of the conference and we took up from where we left off with a full day of brilliant papers.

The quality of scholarship is so high, and papers presented and with so much passion that it is truly humbling. The discussion and questions amongst the group is testament to this quality and passion.

Tina K. Ramnarine gave a fantastic keynote that opened up a space where an optimistic but nonetheless critical approach was taken to the role of orchestras in the context of culture-led social renewal, the search for new audiences and digital technology. I think that a lot of what was discussed will resurface tomorrow in the round-table panel...

I really hope the post-colonial and historical perspectives that ask us to question what we think we know about orchestras, merge with the discussions that we have tomorrow.

One final thought. The importance of place and of geography is the one thread that seems to run through all the research presented here ...

Conference gets off to a flying start

2010-07-01T22:08:00.000+01:00

What an amazing start to the conference. All the papers today were superb and the discussions after each were just as compelling.

David Wright's keynote was a masterclass in social and cultural history. It prompted a very lively discussion about the Arts Council and their support of the London orchestras. I'm sure this theme will be returned to over the next two days.

I am exhausted, so off to bed. Early start tomorrow. If today was anything to go by, it's going to be brilliant.

Lovely to meet so many interesting people!

Roddy

Late addition to the round-table panel

2010-06-09T00:48:00.000+01:00

I'm delighted to announce that Marshall Marcus, Head of Music at the Southbank Centre, is joining as a member of the round-table panel. Marshall is one of the ex-leaders and former CEO of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He is actively engaged with UK-based projects related to the Venezuelan El Sistema and is well-placed to discuss the relationship between orchestras and wider social integration today.

Submit your questions to our panel!

2010-06-07T16:37:00.001+01:00

The round-table discussion on 3 July looks set to be a really stimulating event!

The topic is 'The future of the symphony orchestra in the twenty-first century'.

If you have a question on this topic which you wish to submit to the chair, please do so. On 3 July we will endeavour to ask as many as possible from those submitted.

Submit your questions via email to the following address:

orchestra.questions [at] gmail.com

The speakers are:

Stephen Cottrell
James Dillon
Marshall Marcus
Kathryn McDowell
Emile Wennekes
Julian Rushton (chair)

Thanks!

Orchestra Revolution/American Orchestras Summit

2010-05-28T16:00:00.006+01:00

Thanks to Michael Mauskapf (one of the delegates who is speaking at our conference), for pointing me in the direction of a couple of important events in America.

First, a meeting in Atlanta, that takes place very soon: Orchestra Revolution.

http://orchestrarevolution.org/

Takes some time to look at the website, play the video on the homepage and send in questions for the panel to discuss on 16 June.

I'll be sure to keep an eye on this event as we approach the round-table discussion in London, 'The future of the symphony orchestra in the twenty-first century'.

Second, a conference that Michael organised with colleague Mark Clague at the University of Michigan.

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/orchestrasummit/home

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/orchestrasummit/video_archive

If you wish me to write a post about your research on the symphony orchestra then please contact me via the IMR with some information about what you have been up to, and the events that you have been involved in.

Conference Programme now available

2010-03-17T15:44:00.002Z

The Programme is finally available. This took a while to put together between us all, but we think it is worth the wait. All the papers look fascinating and discussion and debate should be really productive. Roll on July!

The programme is available by following the link on the IMR website http://music.sas.ac.uk/

Booking now available

2010-03-17T15:41:00.004Z

Booking is now open!

SOCP brings together a range of papers that investigate the different roles played by symphony orchestras in a variety of historical, geographical and cultural contexts, from early- nineteenth century Italy to present-day Venezuela, from Shanghai to Hollywood.

The conference gives delegates an opportunity to discover new research and ideas and to enter into frank discussion about the role of the symphony orchestra in the twenty-first century.

A booking form is available for download on the IMR website. Day-rates and three-day rates are available as well as concessions where applicable. Places are limited. Follow the links on the IMR website http://music.sas.ac.uk/

Guest speakers - new addition

2010-01-22T12:11:00.002Z

Dr Stephen Cottrell in to join the Round-table discussion, 'The Future of The Symphony Orchestra in the Twenty-first Century'. A full and updated list is on the first post below.

A glass ceiling for women in the orchestra pit - [link]

2010-01-22T12:02:00.000Z

I thought that this article may be of interest.

Guest speakers - new addition

2009-11-27T19:23:00.003Z

Kathryn McDowell, Managing Director of the London Symphony Orchestra will join James Dillon, Emile Wennekes and Julian Rushton (chair) to discuss 'The future of the symphony orchestra in the twenty-first century'.

One more name tbc