Orchestra Summit 2006

McManus: This is a unique situation where NewMusicBox has been able to bring together a number of individuals from very different constituencies who have not had the opportunity to necessarily sit down in the same room and have these discussions. And as we’ve discovered, a lot of the issues that are being hashed out are simply logistical—they have answers, they just need more discussion and they will eventually find solutions in each representative organization out there that will be unique to that particular organization. They can share from each other, but they’ll still find solutions. And, along those lines, we’re going to have everyone sum up with just no more than a minute, a kind of closing thought that they may want to put out that gives us their final idea or a question they would like to pose, and we’ll start with Chris.

Theofanidis: The model that I like is the Sam Jones model, which is he’s there, you trust him, he develops a long-term relationship with you, and then there’s a give-and-take there. It’s not somebody being farmed in who’s going to be there for a brief time. This person really understands the landscape of the orchestra, of the city—he’s there and that’s the great way to go. I mean, all of those issues that are being dealt with, the way you’re dealing with them, I think comes from that very fruitful relationship. It starts very fundamentally with that sense of trust that you have between each other, and it’s a long-term thing. I applaud you for that, and I think that that’s the way to go.

Lennon: I think a very productive next step, if this is going to go beyond just being a very interesting conversation, would be to create a forum or a conference where a collective group of composers have access to all of us and people who are dealing with what we’re dealing with. We talked about collective action; I think it’s a matter of collaboration as well. I’d love to see this take the next step—have a room filled with composers. I bet they wouldn’t have such unique experiences after a while, and we could start seeing some common problems that very well could be addressed by the group of people in this room.

Bilfield: I would love to see a real surge in composer residencies at orchestras because, again, when a composer has a face within the ecology of an orchestra, it’s more meaningful for the orchestra, it’s more meaningful for the players, for the board of directors, and it’s something that can’t be ignored. I don’t think that it needs to be a very high-profile composer or that it necessarily has to be just one composer, but having some connection to the community, the continuity and the face on the street is essential.

Fogel: I guess I would say to begin with, you cannot keep an art form alive if you just keep playing the past. It has to be refreshed. There’s no question about that. And there are some significant issues that probably demand even more in-depth discussion with a wider range of people than is possible in a one- or two-hour conversation. I’d love to actually see your idea, David, of a broader conversation, but really almost a one- or two-day retreat. We think about orchestras in this country and maybe just from my position, I have now visited 82 of them. Most of them are tiny orchestras that most of you in this room have never heard play, and some of them play really well. And if we really mean for new music to be exposed in this country, we really have to, in the Mid-Texas Symphony as well as Seattle and Chicago, and Omaha, and everything else. I’d love to see representation from that whole range of orchestras as well as composers.

Levine: I have a friend who used to work for Cesar Chavez. And Chavez once suggested they needed a retreat, and my friend said, “We don’t need a retreat; we need an advance,” which didn’t go over very well with Chavez, I understand.

I’ve come to believe that the changes that happen in this field happen on the local level, and they’re ground up and not top down. And the answer is to make these things happen within institutions and kind of use the inkblot theory and have them spread rather than promulgate them from on high because this is an industry that doesn’t listen on high.

Schwarz: Well, I think Robert and I come from a slightly different position now than the rest of you, because they all have large constituencies—Boosey & Hawkes has lots of composers, in a sense you’re [Chris] now representing a lot of composers, you’re [David] representing the union, you’re [Henry] representing all the orchestras in the country. We represent our little places, and I’m with you [Robert]. I believe that we all have to make the difference where we are. I’m a great believer in the audience. I believe in their taste, I believe in their judgment. My biggest concern is that relationship between new music, in particular American composers, and our audience. I care deeply about it, I’m doing everything I can to enhance that.

McManus: Well, now that we’ve heard everyone’s opinion on this idea, this is a tool that everyone watching this video right now can use on their own in their own respective local communities to reach their own orchestra, to reach their own musicians, to reach their own managers, to reach their own conductors, and to start these discussions on their own level, in their own communities.