{"id":374,"date":"2007-06-26T13:37:48","date_gmt":"2007-06-26T21:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/06\/26\/adventurous-programming-and-why-you-should-care-about-it\/"},"modified":"2013-02-07T15:19:17","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T23:19:17","slug":"adventurous-programming-and-why-you-should-care-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/06\/26\/adventurous-programming-and-why-you-should-care-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"adventurous programming and why you should care about it"},"content":{"rendered":"

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has recently named those orchestras and organizations which were selected to be honored for “Adventurous Programming” during the 2006-2007 season. I also have a connection to a couple of those groups honored, which I’ll talk about after the jump.Here are the awards and those to whom they were awarded (and here’s a link to the entire press release<\/a>):<\/p>\n

John S. Edwards Award for Strongest Commitment to New American Music<\/strong>
\nAtlanta Symphony Orchestra<\/p>\n

Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming<\/strong>
\nChicago Symphony Orchestra<\/p>\n

Leonard Bernstein Award for Educational Programming<\/strong>
\nMinnesota Orchestra<\/p>\n

Awards for Programming of Contemporary Music<\/strong><\/u><\/p>\n

Orchestras with Annual Operating Expenses more than $14.1 Million<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Los Angeles Philharmonic
\nSecond Place: The Cleveland Orchestra
\nThird Place: San Francisco Symphony<\/p>\n

Orchestras with Annual Operating Expenses $5.7 – $14.1 Million<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: New World Symphony
\nSecond Place: Nashville Symphony
\nThird Place: Colorado Symphony Orchestra<\/p>\n

Orchestras with Annual Operating Expenses $1.8 – $5.7 Million<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
\nSecond Place: Hartford Symphony Orchestra
\nThird Place: New Mexico Symphony<\/p>\n

Orchestras with Annual Operating Expenses $470,000 – $1.8 Million<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Boston Modern Orchestra Project
\nSecond Place: Berkley Symphony Orchestra
\nThird Place: South Dakota Symphony Orchestra<\/p>\n

Orchestras with Annual Operating Expenses $470,000 or less<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Northwest Symphony Orchestra
\nSecond Place: Orchestra 2001
\nThird Place: Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra<\/p>\n

Collegiate Orchestras<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Portland State University Symphony Orchestra
\nSecond Place: Peabody Symphony and Concert Orchestra
\nThird Place: Stanford Symphony Orchestra<\/p>\n

Youth Orchestras<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra
\nSecond Place: Etowah Youth Orchestras
\nThird Place: Vermont Youth Orchestra<\/p>\n

Festival Orchestras<\/strong>
\nFirst Place: Cabrillo Music Festival
\nSecond Place: The Aspen Music Festival and School<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My connection goes to the Collegiate Orchestras and Youth Orchestras categories.\u00c2\u00a0 Portland State University is the local music school of note in Portland, and their new conductor Ken Seldon is doing a great job there so far.\u00c2\u00a0 This award is a sign that things are changing for the better at PSU.\u00c2\u00a0 I hope that the university powers that be will continue to give the orchestral program the funding it needs to grow and prosper.\u00c2\u00a0 Peabody Conservatory is where I did one of my graduate degrees, and their conductor of the upper orchestra, Hajime Teri Murai,\u00c2\u00a0 has always had a strong commitment to make sure that students at Peabody are exposed to cutting edge music and the best recent contemporary music by leading composers.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m glad to see that the work he began shortly before I arrived at Peabody is still continuing and flourishing.\u00c2\u00a0 Finally, there is the Vermont Youth Orchestra.\u00c2\u00a0 Its music director, Troy Peters, was in my youth orchestra in Tacoma, Washington when I was growing up, and he was the best man at my wedding.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s a great musician, composer, conductor, and educator, and he’s doing an amazing job with the program in Vermont.<\/p>\n

So, why should you care about any of these awards?\u00c2\u00a0 Because these places you see honored above are places where boundaries are being pushed, new repertoire is being actively explored, and audiences are being successfully challenged AND entertained.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of the orchestras and festivals you see listed are also doing pretty well financially (with Cleveland a notable exception this year) and they seem to have found a mix of the familiar and the new which appeals to a broad cross-section of their desired audiences.\u00c2\u00a0 They also all have focused, as part of their mission, on making sure that they are curating concerts which contain both the old AND the new, rather than just concentrating on the old masters.<\/p>\n

The point is, these orchestras have taken chances over the years to arrive at the honored places which they now occupy.\u00c2\u00a0 Being bold and adventurous results in some setbacks, but overall you end up with more than you started with.\u00c2\u00a0 Being conservative and “safe” results in some initial gains, but in the end you have consolidated a shrinking toehold with no new insights or strategies.<\/p>\n

I feel that the Oregon Symphony, for all of the public griping by some critics about the makeup of our programming “too much that’s unfamiliar, audiences are confused” and similar malarky, needs to focus on making itself a force for positive change in the arts community in Portland and in Oregon.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve heard a lot about what we can’t do – reasoned, reasonable explanations of why certain things are undesirable,\u00c2\u00a0 too risky, or too strange to do here in Portland.\u00c2\u00a0 I would argue that Portland is a city – of all cities – which would embrace a unique approach to an established art form.\u00c2\u00a0 I hear way too little about what we can or could be doing – all I hear is what worked for us in the past, and what other orchestras in other cities might be doing that might work here.<\/p>\n

The Oregon Symphony stands at a crossroads – we can choose to be either an innovative force for change which also honors and treasures the great works of our past, or we can stay moribund and rudderless, waiting for forces either internal or external to come and make decisions for our future which might be drastic and with far-reaching consequences.\u00c2\u00a0 We can start with simple gestures such as changing the standard orchestral dress code for the players for certain concerts, or choosing soloists and guest conductors who are challenging the status quo of classical music.\u00c2\u00a0 We can start, before all of that, by saying that we are unique, vital, valuable, and constantly striving to find that which is interesting and invigorating in our art form.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has recently named those orchestras and organizations which were selected to be honored for “Adventurous Programming” during the 2006-2007 season. I also have a connection to a couple of those groups honored, which I’ll talk about after the jump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[67,86,117,55,3666,3662,62,3656,3660],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-classical","tag-conductor","tag-critic","tag-orchestra","tag-oregon","tag-portland","tag-symphony","tag-the-orchestra-world","tag-viola"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-62","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2311,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/09\/a-few-more-carnegie-details\/","url_meta":{"origin":374,"position":0},"title":"a few more carnegie details","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The OSO's press release: Apr. 9, 2009 BOUND FOR THE BIG APPLE: OREGON SYMPHONY WILL PLAY CARNEGIE HALL IN 2011 (PORTLAND, Ore.) - For the first time in its history, the Oregon Symphony will travel cross country in spring 2011 to perform a concert at music's most prestigious venue, Carnegie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"carnegie hall stage entrance","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/img_8304.thumbnail.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7838,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/09\/10\/nytimes-takes-note-of-oregon-symphonys-2013-carnegie-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":374,"position":1},"title":"nytimes takes note of oregon symphony’s 2013 carnegie program","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"From the list of its most anticipated classical music events in today's New York Times: SPRING FOR MUSIC This annual festival of North American orchestras, conceived by top music professionals to encourage and reward adventurous programming, has in its first two seasons effectively filled what it has shown to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17344,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2020\/02\/07\/coding-vs-musicking\/","url_meta":{"origin":374,"position":2},"title":"coding vs. musicking","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A few weeks ago I had this (most likely very unoriginal) thought: in programming\/coding, the axiom goes \"garbage in, garbage out\". In the orchestra world, it sometimes can follow that rule, but most of the time, at any level of professionalism, the opposite is expected: \"garbage in, beautiful out\". This\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3100,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/11\/programming-in-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":374,"position":3},"title":"programming in crisis","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 11, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Holly Mulcahy has a wonderful article up at The Partial Observer about the rash of program\/artist substitutions prompted by the funding crisis at US orchestras.\u00a0 Here at the Oregon Symphony, there haven't been any mid-course corrections, as such, but guest artists have had their contracts renegotiated at lower rates, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1453,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/19\/worlds-top-orchestras\/","url_meta":{"origin":374,"position":4},"title":"world’s top orchestras?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 19, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't know how one could actually come up with a list like this and keep a straight face, but I guess it's akin to the coaches\/journalists polls that determine college football\/basketball rankings.\u00c2\u00a0 At least orchestras don't have to navigate the inanities of the BCS system... UPDATE: Robert Levine skewers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1459,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/21\/fatigue-factor\/","url_meta":{"origin":374,"position":5},"title":"fatigue factor","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"It's that time of the season when the first wave of fatigue starts to set in. \u00a0We've had two back-to-back classical series, then the Inside the Score concert, and now we're on our second back-to-back classical run. \u00a0It feels like everyone is pretty much running on fumes this week, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "conducting"","block_context":{"text":"conducting","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/conducting\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}