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a glimpse behind the veil at Cleveland Orchestra February 27, 2007

Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, 2comments

Ellen DePasquale

Ellen dePasquale, one of the Cleveland Orchestra’s most high-profile musicians, has resigned as associate concertmaster, even as the orchestra is preparing to hold an audition that will displace her as second-in-line after concertmaster William Preucil.

Some of you may be wondering “what’s the fuss about?” Basically, there is a change in the basic heirarchy of the first violins of the Cleveland Orchestra. If you’re looking at the orchestra from the audience, the Concertmaster sits just to the left of the podium (conductor), closest to the audience. To the Concertmaster’s left is their stand partner, in this case referred to as the Assistant concertmaster. Directly behind the Concertmaster is the Associate concertmaster. In the case of the Cleveland Orchestra, this is the player who moves up when the concertmaster is absent. Apparently, the outgoing Associate concertmaster, Ms. DePasquale, is leaving under protest because the position of First Associate Concertmaster is being added, and will basically cut in line in the order of succession, becoming “a heartbeat away from being concertmaster”.

This is an interesting situation, because what would normally be an in-house, private affair has become news. It also speaks to what might be internal tensions within the upper ranks of the first violin section of the Cleveland Orchestra. I would suspect that there is some tension between the Concertmaster and one of the other titled players (currently, there are the concertmaster, two assistant concertmasters, and one associate concertmaster). Adding the additional First Associate concertmaster position would displace someone one more level from reaching the first stand of the violin section. This might not seem like much, but it’s much like having a noisy neighbor and building a three foot extension onto your six foot fence to make a point.

There were rumors about this resignation a few weeks ago on the MyAuditions discussion forums, and it will be interesting to see what comes of this publicity. This case of ruffled feathers comes on the heels of an inflammatory article on Cleveland Orchestra Concertmaster William Preucil in the Cleveland’s free weekly paper, the Cleveland Scene. As with most weekly free paper web sites, the action is mostly in the comments.

the future of classical music? February 27, 2007

Posted by Charles Noble in : the orchestra world, add a comment

I was surfing various blogs and came across this site. It is a project of the American Youth Symphony’s Plight of American Music Initiative. While it seems largely to be aimed at the efforts of youth orchestras and other youth ensembles, some of the points made could be applicable to major symphonic ensembles. Here is the opening of their mission statement:

As you may know, from jazz to rock and roll to hip hop, mainstream America has always greeted the expressive music of young generations with disdain. In spite of this, history has proven these musics to be a
valid part of American Art.

However, for the first time in our history, a generation– from kids to college graduates– is being brought up on a diet of electronic, non-melodious music. Criticism is no longer about the moral or philosophical content of a young generation’s music, but rather the way in which music comes to life — which up until now was by performers playing musical instruments.

This new paradigm could render traditional forms of American music, such as the symphony, opera or even jazz extinct as the current generation reaches maturity and the current supporters have passed on.

And here are the opening paragraphs of their report on the “MTV/hip-hop generation” and symphony orchestras:

The American Youth Symphony issues this report as part of its Plight of American Music Initiative. This Initiative, in part, is an ongoing discussion program─taking place in middle and high schools across the country─addressing the state of instrumental music performance and its appreciation by the MTV / Hip Hop Generation.

We view this report as significant because unlike major studies and data cited herein, it recognizes the new paradigm that exists in our society regarding electronic sound (see definition below), MTV and Hip Hop culture and a reconfiguring of traditional demographic segments.

The effects of this new paradigm are challenging. Previously, the research of musical tastes and behaviors went forward on the premise that people agreed generally with what defined music, i.e. melodies, harmonies and rhythms performed by people on musical and vocal instruments. However, the traditional parameters of what constitutes music and a musical performance have been dramatically expanded by the MTV / Hip Hop culture. Today, the young generation no longer differentiates between the artistry involved in playing a musical instrument, such as a violin, versus the artistry involved in choosing a violin sample and then programming a computer to play it.

It is in this context that this report concludes that the culture, financial position and presentation of the major
symphony orchestras in the United States, with regard to classical music, are detrimental to the task of impacting the MTV / Hip Hop Generation. We do conclude however, that the role of the youth and community orchestras is vital but needs retooling in order to increase the MTV / Hip Hop generation’s familiarity with instrumental music performance.

The basic thrust of the report is that the age group of non-classical music lovers between 12 - 34 years old is being totally overlooked by all traditional music institutions, and that there are specific strategies which might help to woo this important and under-served generation. Here are some of their recommendations:

Proponants of traditional music forms must:

1) . . . be willing to abandon the failed marketing strategies of large symphony orchestras who may have different social and musical priorites and who possess complex financial stuctures.

2) Recognize that youth orchestras do not have to change their mission of providing an enlightening experience to youth by teaching them classical music. However, they must also institute an equal mission of making the experience for young listeners interesting and comfortable.

3) Understand that commercial marketing is the new world order in garnering widespread musical allegiances among youth and that fostering a long-term welfare culture of survival by grants, donations and tuition makes you less creative, savvy and resourceful in the commercial marketplace.

4) Recognize that your greatest financial comodity is the orchestra itself.