harder than it looks

So, should musicians have input into the programs that the orchestra presents?

It’s not an easy a question to answer. With orchestras, it’s always as many times complicated as there are players in the orchestra – plus the artistic administrator and the music director, oh, and the audience.

Esteemed “the-orchestra-that-shall-not-be-named” bassist Michael Hovnanian describes the conundrum thusly [italics mine]:

At first glance from a musician standpoint, having more input seems like a no-brainer. But it is inaccurate to assume ‘musicians’ are of like mind. The logistical issues of which viewpoints will be considered, and how, need careful consideration. As I have written about earlier, there is a fairly strong anti modern music sentiment among players, one I do not share. I am not convinced a tyranny of the majority on that issue is in the best long-term interest of our art. If performers throughout history had as much influence as some of my colleagues would like to wield now, I wonder if we would be enjoying the works of Hummel and Dittersdorf rather than Beethoven and Mozart . . .

On the other hand, large swaths of the repertoire go unperformed for years or decades, much to the chagrin of many players who chafe at playing many of the same pieces too often while others go unheard. It would be as if the famous museum across the street from our concert hall closed a wing or two and left them dark until somebody raised a fuss and demanded to see inside. In the musicians’ hallway (what passes for a lounge here) there hangs a lengthy repertoire ‘suggestion sheet’, which seems little more than a sop for musician complaints. What it reveals however is a heartfelt interest by players as well as the existence of a valuable store of knowledge concerning repertoire that seems to go largely untapped.

I’m sure there are many musicians (ok, not “many”, but some) who lobby their music director and/or artistic administrator for favorite pet pieces. These guys get scores and recordings from living composers all the time. I’m sure there’s a healthy bit of recycled paper in the waste stream that comes from composted scores that no longer fit in the music director’s office.

The fact is, you’re not going to make everyone happy all the time, and with orchestra musicians, you’re most likely going to piss most of us off most of the time no matter what you do for/to us.

Most orchestras have now gone to a system where the music director works in close consultation with a management staffer who is often called the Artistic Administrator (in the OSO this role is performed by Charles Calmer). The music director and other staff conductors will usually give a list of pieces that they interested in performing over the next few seasons, and guest artists that they interested in working with. The days of the music director handing a completed season of programs and guest artists like Moses handing down the stone tablets to the Israelites is long gone (if it ever existed in the first place) – these days the music director is just another piece of the puzzle.

The artistic administrator takes these repertoire and artists ideas/suggestions and tries to craft a season that will be artistically beneficial to the orchestra while also filling seats and advancing whatever other objectives need to be met. He also works out the rehearsal schedule for the entire season, following often byzantine work rules worked out in the CBA, and negotiates and works out schedule conflicts with guest conductors and soloists. I would bet dollars to donuts that whatever result we see in the season brochure in February is a far cry from what was wished for one or two seasons ago when the planning was begun.

As OSO Artistic Administrator Charles Calmer notes:

People in my position have varying amounts of influence, depending upon local “conditions.” My contribution is essentially, “have you considered…?” I also try very hard to look at the repertory as a whole so that the orchestra doesn’t again go 15 years without playing Beethoven’s Second Symphony and to help to develop the orchestra artistically. As you know, this past week and the current week would not have been possible a few years ago, but working with the conductors, we can help the orchestra to accomplish technical feats with increasing ease — and bring programs to our customers that enrich their lives with music they’ve never before experienced.

That’s the other problem – because of the nature of guest artists’ schedules and contracts, they must be booked a year or more in advance, so the entire process of planning a season begins two or three seasons in advance. It’s hard to catch passing fads when you’re looking that far ahead, I think of it being akin to doing a long-range weather forecast or economic outlook. You can take your best guess as to what’s going to fly with the public, but a guess is what your taking, because it could all change a couple years down the line.