"We do need to hear from people who currently don't attend our concerts, but might. That's a tricky piece of market research which has to be performed by professionals."
Great news, Elaine! I've saved you the trouble of retaining an expensive consulting firm by flinging open my little AT&T Samsung and calling four non-musician friends in the city, all of whom I guessed (correctly) to be Symphony non-attenders. I did a quick minute-long survey with each of them, offering the following results:
Chuck, 32 years old, marketing vice president:
Do you attend the Oregon Symphony?: No.
Why not?: I don't know why, uh, I don't know what's going on. They don't advertise or speak to me, they don't communicate to me through their marketing. Oregon Symphony, Portland Symphony...?
What sort of programs would interest you?: They need to do some advertising to tell me what's going on there... something that intrigues my interest. I'm probably not a symphony type of person though.
Why not?: Symphonies are kind of long... uh, well... actually I've never been to the symphony - ever, in my life. That's sad, huh. Why don't you take me?
Kyle, 25 years old, college administrator:
Do you attend the Oregon Symphony?: No.
Why not?: Because I just moved to Oregon and I didn't know that we had a symphony.
What sort of programs would interest you?: Discounted rates for younger patrons would help. I like stuff that's a little bit more edgy and experimental, something less standard than the typical classical stuff. You can only hear Vivaldi so many times by so many different symphonies before you get irritated with it.
Megan, 27 years old, PhD psychology student:
Do you attend the Oregon Symphony?: No.
Why not?: Uh, why not? Limitations of time and finances.
OK, so if time and finances were not issues, would you attend?: Possibly, yeah... I don't know enough about the Oregon Symphony to know if I would like what I heard.
What sort of programs would interest you?: [laughs] Uh, I don't know. I have no idea. Broad, varied programs. Combinations of new music and the classics.
Tony, 30 years old, service professional:
Do you attend the Oregon Symphony?: The what?
The Oregon Symphony...: Uh, no... I don't think so. Should I?
That's your call. Why don't you?: Sweetheart, I don't know what the hell you're talking about... symphony? There's a Portland Symphony?
No, but there's an Oregon Symphony. Would you be interested in going to one of their concerts?: If I haven't heard of it then it must not be any good. What kind of shit to do they play?
Classical music, mostly: [exaggerated sigh] I don't know about that. Sleepy time.
What sort of music or programs would interest you?: Can they bring Rufus? His Judy Garland show is pretty fierce.
6 comments:
Wasting their limited resources by trying to market themselves to those friends of yours -- who know nothing of classical music, aren't even aware that there is an orchestra in the city where they live, and have little disposable income -- would be one sure route to bankruptcy for the Oregon Symphony. The cost would be too high, the prospect of success too low.
I'd like to see you begin your discussion of possible solutions by acknowedging one simple truth: It is not the job of an organization like the Oregon Symphony to be the first introduction to classical music for people who don't know a thing about it and don't care to learn, any more than it's the job of the Met to introduce the great unwashed masses to opera or the Broadway theaters to teach the heathens what's so great about live theater. The job of those elite organizations -- and as the biggest and best orchestra for hundreds of miles around, the Oregon Symphony is one of those -- is to be the best possible exemplars of their art form, so that people who do already appreciate what they do can see and hear performances at a high level. Period. To expect these organizations to do any more than that is wasteful and unlikely to succeed and, well, just plain stupid.
So whose job is it to instill in people like your friends here some sense of just how life-changing classical music can be? Well, for starters ...
-- the schools (which have all but stopped teaching art and music, thus imparting the message that they're not important);
-- the traditional print media like the Oregonian (all of which have cut way back on arts coverage in recent years) and Willamette Week (what, not even a review of Portland Opera's current production in this week's issue?);
-- the broadcast media (which has NEVER paid any significant attention to the performing arts despite the fact that the performing arts can offer television exactly what it wants and needs most -- great visuals, entertainment, glamor;
-- the smaller community arts groups, orchestras and ensembles throughout the area;
-- the politicians and large wealthy businesses in town, which ought to be funding groups like the symphony MUCH more generously than they do in the name of educating the populace and improving our quality of life;
-- oh, and let's not forget: their parents, all of whom are ultimately responsible for teaching their own children to be curious and all of whom have, in this case, apparently failed to show their children that there's more to life than what's directly in front of your nose.
Speaking of Judy Garland, There is an exciting group on Yahoo called the Judy Garland Experience (http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/thejudygarlandexperience/).
The group always has a few fascinating discussions going on with participants that include Garland family members, authors, historians, people who knew and worked with Judy, other celebrities, and fans of all levels. The group's photo albums are filled with many never before seen pictures from the member's personal collections, and they always have the rarest audio files posted. This week they have a never released Judy At The Palladium concert from the 50's, as well as her appearance on a 1966 Kraft Music Hall, a retrospective of Garland performances in Chicago, radio rarities, and a whole lot more.
Please stop by our little Judyville and check it out, you may never want to leave!
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/thejudygarlandexperience/
i think your ideas for the oregon symphony are thoughtful and appropriate, but who knows what sort of things are going on there any more.
i actually enjoyed reading what your friends had to say about the symphony and why they don't go - but it seems some long-winded cantenkerous reader of yours disagrees. and i would disagree with him about the role of the symphony in "educated the unwashed masses" - the major symphony in any city is usually the first place that kids get to hear and experience a live symphonic performance so of course there's an educational component to the symphony's mission.
thanks for at least sparking a good dialogue about all this
As that "long-winded, cantankerous reader" who posted earlier, may I just say ...
I'm all for major orchestras educating the kiddies. That's how I became a lover of what orchestras do, by being exposed to it slowly and repeatedly, from a young age and over a long period of time. When I was a schoolkid -- long ago and far away -- my class went on a field trip to hear our city's orchestra perform once every year. Do orchestras still do those schoolkid concerts? If not, they should.
But that's not what we're really talking about here. The context of this discussion is whether the orchestra should fundamentally change what every orchestra does in an attempt to reach the 30-year-olds like "Tony" above, who don't yet know what orchestras do or even if his city has one. And the point I tried to make is that if somebody reaches age 30 without knowing what a symphony does, it's probably already too late for that person. I heart Rufus too, but someone who attends an Oregon Symphony concert only because Rufus Wainwright is performing with it will probably only ever buy an Oregon Symphony ticket when Rufus performs. That is, a one-shot deal like that ain't ever gonna turn Tony into a regular symphony concertgoer.
(By the way, none of these audience-building "ideas" include anything that major orchestras haven't been trying repeatedly for the past 40 years. The orchestra in the town where I grew up famously performed with the Grateful Dead in 1970. And you know what: that orchestra was struggling to find its audience then, and it's struggling to find its audience today.)
There is one intriguing point repeated by several of SMB's friends that may actually be worth looking into, however: a name change. As a friend of mine points out, major orchestras are entities that have always been associated with major cities, but "Oregon" is a name people associate with nature and the great outdoors, not with classical music. So maybe the way to signal they intend to fundamentally change is by changing their name to the Portland Symphony or something. As my friend says: The name "Oregon Symphony" just sounds weird, like "Manhattan National Park."
Mostly this post was an exercise in silliness... but I certainly appreciate the responses here.
I'm sorry, but I very much disagree, Anonymous poster 1, to your statement:
"It is not the job of an organization like the Oregon Symphony to be the first introduction to classical music for people who don't know a thing about it and don't care to learn, any more than it's the job of the Met to introduce the great unwashed masses to opera or the Broadway theaters to teach the heathens what's so great about live theater."
If it's not the job of our flagship opera companies, symphonies, theaters, dance companies and art museums to be attractive and exciting and relevant enough to contemporary audiences through programming and projects and outreach, then whose job is it exactly?
These institutions are the "keepers" of great treasures, and (ideally) the generators of future treasures. We should be expected to look to them for leadership and inspiration. They should be delivering leadership and inspiration. No, they should not adopt a "lowest common denominator" approach to their programming/mission, but to strive always for breadth, depth, relevance and a malleable relationships with their audience. Alongside shepherding the "great treasures," I want to see bold new ideas every season at these institutions.
And if you managed to read through the performance section of this week's WW, you'd find my short review of Portland Opera's "Cinderella" contained therein. I'm not here to defend WW's arts coverage - it certainly has room for improvement and new energy - but as alt-weeklies go, it's not bad stuff.
For some months now I have been chatting with friends and colleagues - musical and non - about the need for the Oregon Symphony, in this transitional period, to also fully reconsider the ramifications of its current name. The place of Portland holds great cache today. The Symphony seems interested in becoming more involved in the Portland community, in the idea of "thinking locally," in investing time and resources in Portland performance. The Oregon Symphony is most certainly a PORTLAND institution - what if they decided to name themselves accordingly?
Also, I ask that all posters in the comments section to please sign in, in some fashion, when leaving a comment. This is a public and well-read blog, and I appreciate your help in making it a human and humane one, too.
Nobody disputes the educational role of the Symphony, however if you "change" the Symphony Orchestra from what it is, it is no longer the symphony is it? It is just Rufus (who I love as a performer and musician) but it ain't the symphony!The glorious and mysterious sound of 80-100 musicians playing together, is a unique gift of the European tradition. There's nothing like it! Take it ot leave it! If you leave it, your loss! Change it and it's nothing! It should be not an either/or choice. I want Rufus AND the fabulous Judy Garland AND Tschaikofsky's 4th Symphony, And I want them live (OK not Judy, obviously)!
I have a message for all you 20 and 30 year olds:Take a break form your iPods and participate! Open your minds and luxuriate in the complexity of the symphonic ensemble! If the symphony must die because of entering the new Middle Ages or because all you can appreciate is the thumb thumb thumb and pedestrian lyrics of Gwen Stephanie, so be it! I, for one, am willing to let go, rather than be present at a concert of "Christian Rock" (that's for Elaine Calder) I wouldn't wear hot pink pants either, even that made me more likely to get laid....
To conclude, stop asking Stephen MB to come up with "solutions" to the "problem". You do not need to be a hen to know an egg is rotten, or have a ready solution to every problem that comes up, in order to even state the problem!
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