OSO violinist and Third Angle artistic director Ron Blessinger gives his thoughts on the 2008-2009 OSO season here.
Blessinger praises the populist approach to programming and the leadership of Carlos Kalmar, but at the same time, he’s already thinking about the future – literally – a stance with which I whole heartedly agree:
Ron Blessinger
So…..what’s not to love????
I guess it depends on what you want from your orchestra. As Carlos mentioned in his comments this evening, the OSO audience consists of multiple constituencies, and you just can’t please all the people all the time. I’m wondering, though, if we’re finally ready to start moving beyond that mindset. I’m seeing more and more examples of orchestras who are committing major parts of their seasons to introducing and educating their audience about the important work of living composers. Marin Alop’s work with the Baltimore Symphony to include the Composers in Conversation series looks fantastic. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t think they could sell tickets. What can we learn from their approach? Also, orchestras up and down the west coast are putting great resources into developing audiences for new works, from LA to Seattle. It can be done.
and
I’m so glad that my orchestra has chosen to commission my friend Tomas Svoboda to compose a new piece for next year. I also think it’s a shame that it will be the only piece in the entire season that is of our current century, which is already 8 years old! Just here in Portland alone, we have a thriving scene in contemporary art, theater, dance, and writing. The audiences are here, waiting for the right reason to start their relationships with this music. Are we ready to be that kind of matchmaker?
A worthy conversation to have, in the larger symphony “family”, which would include concertgoers as well as donors, members of the orchestra, board, and staff.
What do YOU think about the 2008-2009 season that the OSO has prepared for you? What do you wish was different? Do you want more of something or less of something, or both? Please use the comments section to make your thoughts heard – I appreciate private emails, but public comments will really enable a dialog to take place on this blog!