Detroit is ‘leading the charge towards how orchestras will function in… the 21st century’

Leonard Slatkin has given a pumped-up interview to our pals at resmusica, describng how his US orchestra has emerged from ‘horrendous economic peril’ to create a new set of outreach and multimedia strategies.

It’s not just about the Detroit Symphony–it’s about what Detroit is. It still has a lot of problems, but if you come to Detroit–if anyone comes to Detroit–they feel a palpable energy in this city. The amount of construction that’s going on, businesses moving in, young people coming to Detroit because they can get property very inexpensively, in particular from the arts community.

My next set of thoughts and ideas about growth here have to do with putting all the resources of the new people coming into the city, merging with the different artistic factions that are there, and really making this a vibrant scene for visual, aural, whatever kinds of arts there are.

Full interview here.