Minnesota Orchestra is back

[sdtom]

Just read in the local paper where the strike is settled. Hurrah
Tom

[mbhaub]

No hurrah yet. The orchestra has been downsized to 77 (?) players. Quite a few top players have left and may not come back. They lost their conductor who may be difficult to re-engage. Can they rebound to the level they were at 18 months ago? I sure hope so. Will they ever again relive the glory days of Mitropolous or Skrowaceski (however you spell it). One thing is for sure: this is a wake up call to all orchestras in the US that unless you find a way to connect with younger people today, your days are numbered. It's just too expensive to run a major orchestra these days and frankly, the vast majority of the public couldn't care less whether you exist or not. With a rapidly changing demographic, unless we can get more people interested in live classical music I don't care how well you play, you will go out of business. Sadly, in our sports-obsessed culture, good music no longer matters.

[sdtom]

Could you imagine the uproar from the community in Minnesota if the Vikings closed down? I hope the best for them and am looking forward to attending. As far as the conductor is concerned we'll see.
Tom

[JimL]

Hate to say it, but...lotta young people see stuff on YT.  Lots of unsung stuff on YT, legitimately or not.  I've always taken the position that if you want to connect with the young, program unsung stuff.  Of course, the bean counters will never believe it.  Short-term profits are the only ones there are.

[jerfilm]

Well, I suspect it will be years before anyone of Vanska's stature can be coaxed back to Minnesota.   So, to say it's back, is probably a stretch.  As pointed out, the size is drastically reduced and only will be increased at a very deliberate rate over a period of years.  it's a shame that the $50M they spent to enlarge the lobby of Orchestra Hall couldn't have been spent on keeping the orchestra intact.  The governing board needs to be replaced completely and I have a hunch that we will not be alone in withholding support until that happens.

J

[chill319]

Suppose the Minnesota orchestra sought to distinguish themselves from, say, the defunct Syracuse orchestra by making sure that one work by an unsung composer was included in every program that included a concerto by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven, or Rachmaninoff. Do members think this would be financially viable? Or are there not enough of us?

[sdtom]

Well, I suspect it will be years before anyone of Vanska's stature can be coaxed back to Minnesota.   So, to say it's back, is probably a stretch.  As pointed out, the size is drastically reduced and only will be increased at a very deliberate rate over a period of years.  it's a shame that the $50M they spent to enlarge the lobby of Orchestra Hall couldn't have been spent on keeping the orchestra intact.  The governing board needs to be replaced completely and I have a hunch that we will not be alone in withholding support until that happens.

While I agree with what you say about the enlarging of the lobby witholding support is not the answer. I would rather have an average orchestra than no orchestra at all and if there are too many people who feel the way you do then they'll close down forever. Do you have any idea where the money came for the lobby? If a portion of the money came from donors who gave for that purpose can you take the money and pay salaries?

Suppose the Minnesota orchestra sought to distinguish themselves from, say, the defunct Syracuse orchestra by making sure that one work by an unsung composer was included in every program that included a concerto by Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Beethoven, or Rachmaninoff. Do members think this would be financially viable? Or are there not enough of us?

At the point of starting up again I for one heartily think it's a good idea.
Tom

[jerfilm]

To address your question, Tom, no, of course you can't spend money given for a capitol campaign for operating expenses.   But that is exactly my point about the current Board and their silly priorities.  Why on earth would you spend any time at all raising money for a fancy lobby when your orchestra is  on the verge of  bankrupcy?  One can't help but suspect that there were egos involved here - perhaps someone(s) wanting to leave some kind of permanent legacy that you can see.   Who knows?  Even if some wealthy patron had said "I'll give you $10M if you can raise another $40 for lobby expansion" - even if that were the case, I would have said, at this point turn it down just because of how it's going to look to musicians and many of our patrons.  But that's just my opinion.

As for supporting the orchestra, we've been season subscribers for 57 years and have givmuch en at least $1000 a year toward the orchestra's youth outreach programs for as long as i can remember.  This doesn't make so sense to us anymore as we spend our winters in the Coachella Valley in California where we are now subscribers and patrons of the Palm Springs Friends of Philharmonic which sponsors 6 guest orchestras in January, February and March.   Last night we heard the Royal Philharmonic with Maestro Zukerman playing Beethoven 3 and the Brahms double concerto.  Incidentally, I don't recall the Minnesota playing the Brahms in all those years.

At any rate, if and when it appears that the orchestra is under a more sensible management,  we'll consider something other than buying tickets for a few select concerts.

Jerry

[sdtom]

I've heard that Vanska is going to be lured back and that the size of the orchestra will be 92 members. http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/ The schedule looks to be promising. I'm already down for the Thursday March 6th concert. I like Prokofiev's 4th and have never heard "The Rock" live before.
Tom

[jerfilm]

I hope you're right, tom but here's the official note I got from the orchestra announcing the deal:


A 15-percent reduction in musicians' base and overscale salaries in the contract's first year. Over the life of the contract, minimum base salaries will begin at $96,824 in year one, rise to $99,008 in year two and $102,284 in year three.
A number of musician positions remaining vacant through the life of the contract, with an agreement to add seven members over three years, which will increase the size of the Orchestra from its current 77 members to 84. The agreed optimal size of the ensemble remains 95 members.

Jerry

[sdtom]

I heard this from my father so it may or may not be correct
Tom

[raffite33]

I rather suspect adding some unsungs could help their recording sales more than their ticket sales.  I'm sure a lot of folks, myself included, are going to snap up the new Jarvi Raff 5th on Chandos SACD.  Will audiences in Geneva line up around the block at Victoria Hall to hear it live?  Less likely, perhaps.

Anyway, I guess folks like me, who live too far away from Minnesota to attend a concert, can always spring for their Beethoven cycle on BIS to show their support.  Well worth the outlay, if you don't already have it.

[jerfilm]

Brief update.  Got the season subscriber materials in today's mail.  Full season coming up.  Lots of hype.  There are about 3 concerts I would like to hear and two of them are when we are 2200 miles from Orchestra Hall.

As near as I can tell, only thing on the schedule even remotely "unsung" is Griffe's Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan.........wow.....

J

[semloh]

Thanks for that update, Jerry. It's unfortunate that you'll be so far away. I guess most of us at UC think of the Griffes Pleasure Dome as a little gem, but it is a pity that the programme doesn't contain UCs. Perhaps they agree with the comment made by 'raffite' - that their best bet is to reserve the UCs for recordings.

[sdtom]

I am very interested in the Sibelius/Mahler concert.
Tom