Boston Symphony ponders change after kicking out mother and child
mainAn official from the BSO has written to Adele Ohki apologising for her eviction from Symphony Hall while pointing out that the orchestra has ‘a long-standing rule’ not to allow children under five into concerts, or rehearsals.
Kim Noltemy, chief operating an communications office, adds: ‘I oversee the various audience policies at the BSO and yesterday I brought your concerns to the attention of the senior management, including Mark Volpe.
‘We will study the issue further and survey the current audience on the subject. This will be a process and I cannot promise you that there will be a change, but we will review the matter anew.’
That seems fair enough.
Except ‘the long-standing policy’ is inaccurate. A former BSO assistant concertmaster has commented on Slipped Disc that she remembered infants being brought to rehearsals in the 1970s and 1980s. Cecylia Arzewski added: ‘I am very sad to hear how you have been treated!’
Why do people think that rules don’t apply to them? If the orchestra has a rule, whether or not it’s been in place for many years or just recently, the fact is there is a rule. You might not agree with it, but it seems to me Ms Ohki was well aware of it before she turned up to the rehearsal. She just hoped it wouldn’t apply to her. What next? Can I use my phone or take photos, does the rule really apply to me?
I agree the debate should now happen, and children are to be welcomed into some forms of performance when appropriate, but let’s not mistake that for a right to ignore the rules.
Yesterday, I attended a matinee performance of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. A couple with a child of about one had to be asked to leave when the little girl became too loud and disruptive. Prior to their departure, the mother tried to quell the noise by sticking the kid under her sweater and fidgeting about with the child. It ruined the first movement of the exquisite Debussy Nocturnes. It was also incredibly rude to both the musicians and the audience. Get a baby sitter, go to Chuck E. Cheese instead, or stay at home. This is a symptom of the overparenting that is so prevalent in America today. Where have good manners and common sense gone? Many national orchestras host concerts for children. PLEASE stick to those until your child can control themselves and sit quietly through a two hour performance. As my father did, you can introduce your children to classical music by playing it for them at HOME. Parents, believe it or not, the world does not revolve around your precious progeny.
BSO needs to program baby and kid friendly concerts, like most up-to-date orchs are doing. Babies are going to have the best concert experience at a concert planned for babies not grown-ups. There are plenty of concert organizers who are doing this. Get with it, BSO!
The BSO offers a varied schedule of performances for young audiences. But 5 years old is a reasonable lower limit for children who are asked to sit quietly during a rehearsal or a performance intended for adult audiences. Obviously the nature of concerts for children vary, depending on their ages. But in addition to the concerts in Symphony Hall, children of every age are welcome at Tanglewood, where even babes in arms are admitted — though not inside the Shed, but rather to sit on the lawn with thousands of others.
Last summer I enjoyed a special family weekend at Tanglewood all day on a Saturday in which my grandchildren and great-nieces and nephews were able to learn about Tanglewood and, among other things, actually try playind all of the orchestral instruments,, under the sueprvision of the college-age musicians of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, yet another way of connecting with the young.
But to bring a young child to an indoor rehearsal or performance of a program intended for adults is too risky and far too likely to be problematic for both musicians and auidence.
Hi, Steven, I respect what you’re saying but “youth oriented concerts” have evolved – ARE evolving – more quickly than you might imagine. And evidently more than BSO imagines.
Good children’s programming is an art. You don’t just slap Peter and the Wolf & Carnival of the Animals on a program & call it educational or “youth oriented” anymore. You also cannot expect a baby or child to enjoy an orchestra concert aimed at adults.
There are so many nuances now in educational programming. And one of them happens to be the movement to present concerts just for babies. These are orchestral programs redesigned to be of special interest to babies. Shorter selections, pleasing instruments, rhythms that babies understand, closer proximity to the players. Much more.
This is something that I would encourage the BSO to explore.
Have you checked the BSO programs aimed at ages 2-5:
https://www.bso.org/brands/bso/education-community/children-families/concerts-for-very-young-people.aspx
The child who caused all this stir will be old enough for these events in four months.
Right! Which is exactly why they should do programming for babies, not just 2-5 year olds!
For example: http://www.concertosparabebes.com/
Orchestra concerts programmed to appeal to children age three and up is not necessarily the answer to developing a young audience. At age three, I took my daughter regularly to Philadelphia Orchestra “Family” concerts. By the age of five, she had become so annoyed by the audience noise surrounding us, not just from other children, but from many adults, that she no longer wanted to go. I solved the problem by taking her to regular evening subscription concerts. We did this for years, and she continues to attend as a twenty something adult. Concerts designed specifically for the young are necessary for building a future audience, but that audience will only be built if it is trained to listen actively in quiet, out of respect for the music and others in attendance.
The five year age seems to me arbitrary. I know many children younger who can sit quietly listening better than children twice their age. It begins and continues with parents. Parents cannot train their children to sit still and listen to live symphonic music without having the concerts available as a trading ground.
Adults at symphony orchestra concerts can be very interesting. Some years ago I took my son, age five, to a summer evening Philadelphia Orchestra concert, which he quietly sat through in its entirety. At the concert’s conclusion, a woman who had been sitting two rows ahead turned around, and berated me for bringing my child, though he had made no disturbance. Another lady nearby came to me, saying, “I thought his behavior was excellent. It is wonderful to see a child here enjoying the music.” May the discussion continue!
Couldn’t help noticing that the Boston Symphony Orchestra website lists 173 administrators:
Adam Twiss, Electrician
Alana Forbes, Facilities Coordinator, Symphony Hall
Alexandria Sieja, Assistant Director of Development Events
Allison Cooley, Major Gifts Officer
Alyson Bristol, Director, Corporate Partnerships
Alyssa Kim, Senior Publicist
Amanda Severin, Manager of Artistic Planning and Services
Amanda Warren, Graphic Designer
Amy Aldrich, Associate Director, Subscription and Patron Service
Ana Costagliola, Database Business Analyst
Andrew Cordero, IT Asset Manager
Andrew Leeson, Manager, Direct Fundraising and Friends Membership
Andrew Tremblay, Assistant to the Orchestra Personnel Manager
Angelina Collins, Accounting Manager
Anne McGuire, Assistant Manager, Corporate Initiatives and Research
Anthony Fogg, Artistic Administrator and Director of Tanglewood
Arthur Ryan, Box Office Representative
Barbara Hanson, Sr. Leadership Gifts Officer
Bart Reidy, Director of Development
Bernadette M. Horgan, Director of Public Relations
Beth Mullins, Assistant Manager of Education and Community Engagement
Brian Van Sickle, User Support Specialist
Bridget P. Carr, Senior Archivist
Bridget Sawyer-Revels, TMC Office Coordinator
Bruce Huber, Assistant Carpenter/Roofer
Bruce Peeples, Grounds Supervisor
Caitlin Charnley, Donor Ticketing Associate
Charles F. Cassell, Jr., Facilities Compliance & Training Coordinator
Christopher Barberesi, Assistant Manager, Corporate Partnerships
Christopher W. Ruigomez, Director of Concert Operations and Assistant Director of Tanglewood
Claire Carr, Senior Manager of Education and Community Engagement
Claudia Calmo-Ramirez, Custodian
Claudia Veitch, Director BSO Business Partners
Darlene White, Manager of Berkshire Education and Community Engagement
David Chandler Winn, Associate Director of Tanglewood Ticketing
Dennis Alves, Director of Artistic Planning
Desmond Boland, Custodian
Diane Cataudella, Associate Director, Donor Relations
Doreen Reis, Advertising Manager
Drew Schweppe, Major Gifts Coordinator
Eleanor Hayes McGourty, Assistant Director of Program Publications
Ellen Highstein, Tanglewood Music Center Director
Emilio Gonzalez, Manager of Education and Community Engagement
Emily Diaz, Assistant Manager, Gift Processing
Emily Fritz-Endres, Executive Assistant to the Director of Development
Emily Reynolds, Assistant Director, Development Information Systems
Emily Siders, Concert Operations Administrator
Erik Johnson, Chorus Manager
Erin Asbury, Manager of Volunteer Services
Errol Smart, Custodian
Evan Mehler, Budget Manager
Fallyn Girard, Tanglewood Facilities Coordinator
Fran Rogers, Major Gifts Officer
Gaho Boniface Wahi, Custodian
Gary Wallen, Associate Director for Scheduling and Production
Greg Ragnio, Subscriptions Representative
Gretchen Borzi, Associate Director of Marketing
H. R. Costa, Technical Director
Heather Mullin, Human Resources Manager
Helen N. H. Brady, Director of Group Sales
Himanshu Vakil, Associate Director of Internet and Security Technologies
Israel Cuba, Infrastructure Engineer
Jake Moerschel, Technical Supervisor/Assistant Stage Manager
James Gribaudo, Function Manager
James Jackson, Assistant Director, Telephone Outreach
Jane Esterquest, Box Office Administrator
Jason Lyon, Box Office Manager
Jennifer Johnston, Graphic Designer/Print Production Manager
Jennifer Roosa Williams, Director of Development Research and Information Systems
Jessica Schmidt, Director of Education and Community Engagement
Jill Ng, Director of Planned Giving and Senior Major Gifts Officer
Jim Boudreau, Lead Electrician
Johanna Pittman, Grant Writer
John Demick, Stage Manager
John MacRae, Director of Principal and Major Gifts
John Morin, Stage Technician
John O’Callaghan, Payroll Supervisor
Jon Doyle, Graphic Designer
Julie G. Moerschel, Executive Assistant to the Managing Director
Julien Buckmire, Custodian/Set-up Coordinator
Karen Guy, Accounts Payable Supervisor
Karen Leopardi, Associate Director for Faculty
Karol Krajewski, Infrastructure Systems Manager
Katherine Laveway, Major Gifts Coordinator
Kathleen Pendleton, Assistant Manager, Development Events and Volunteer Services
Kathleen Sambuco, Associate Director of Human Resources
Kevin Toler, Art Director
Kim Noltemy, Chief Operating and Communications Officer
Kristie Chan, Chorus and Orchestra Management Assistant
Kyla Ainsworth, Donor Acknowledgment and Research Coordinator
Kyle Ronayne, Director of Events Administration
Landal Milton, Lead Custodian
Laura Hill, Annual Funds Coordinator, Friends Program
Laura Schneider, Internet Marketing Manager and Front End Lead
Laurence E. Oberwager, Director of Tanglewood Business Partners
Leah G. Monder, Operations Manager
Lenore Camassar, Associate Manager, SymphonyCharge
Leslie Antoniel, Leadership Gifts Officer
Leslie Kwan, Associate Director, Marketing, Promotions and Events
Luciano Silva, Manager of Venue Rentals and Events Administration
Lucy Song, Accounts Payable Assistant
Maggie Rascoe, Annual Funds Coordinator
Maggie Zhong, Senior Endowment Accountant
Marc Mandel, Director of Program Publications
Mario Rossi, Staff Accountant
Marion Gardner-Saxe, Director of Human Resources
Mark C. Rawson, Stage Technician
Mark Paskind, Assistant Manager of Planned Giving
Mark Volpe, Managing Director
Mary E. Thomson, Director of Corporate Initiatives
Mary Ludwig, Manager, Corporate Sponsor Relations
Maurice Garofoli, Electrician
Meaghan O’Rourke, Internet Marketing and Social Media Manager
Megan Cokely, Group Sales Manager
Mia Schultz, Director of Investment Operations and Compliance
Michael Finlan, Telephone Systems Manager
Michael Frazier, Carpenter
Michael Miller, Director of Ticketing
Michael Moore, Associate Director of Internet Marketing and Digital Analytics
Michael Nock, Associate Director for Student Affairs
Michelle Meacham, Subscriptions Representative
Minnie Kwon, Payroll Associate
Nadine Biss, Assistant Manager, Development Communications
Natasa Vucetic, Controller
Nia Patterson, Sr. Accounts Payable Assistant
Nicholas Vincent, Assistant Box Office Manager
Nick Squire, Recording Engineer
Nina Jung, Director of Board, Donor & Volunteer Engagement
Paul Ginocchio, Manager, Symphony Shop and Tanglewood Glass House
Peter J. Rossi, Symphony Hall Facilities Manager
Peter Socha, Buildings Supervisor
Ray F. Wellbaum, Orchestra Manager
Richard Drumm, Mechanic
Richard Sizensky, Access Coordinator/Symphony Charge Representative
Richard Subrizio, Director of Development Communications
Richard Yung, IT Services Manager
Robert Barnes, Director of Facilities
Robert Kirzinger, Assistant Director of Program Publications-Editorial
Robert Lahart, Director of Tanglewood Facilities
Robert Sistare, Senior Subscriptions Representative
Roberta Kennedy, Buyer for Symphony Hall and Tanglewood
Ronnie McKinley, Ticket Exchange Coordinator
Rudolph Lewis, Assistant Lead Custodian
Ryan Losey, Director of Foundation and Government Relations
Samuel Brewer, Public Relations Associate
Sandra Lemerise, Painter
Sarah J. Harrington, Director of Planning and Budgeting
Sarah L. Manoog, Director of Marketing
Sarah Radcliffe-Marrs, Manager of Artists Services
Shawn Wilder, Mailroom Clerk
Sid Guidicianne, Front of House Manager
Sophia Bennett, Staff Accountant
Stella Easland, Telephone Systems Coordinator
Stephanie Baker, Assistant Director, Campaign Planning and Administration
Stephen Curley, Crew
Steven Harper, HVAC Technician
Susan Coombs, SymphonyCharge Coordinator
Susan Grosel, Director of Annual Funds and Donor Relations
Susan Olson, Human Resources Representative
Suzanne Page, Major Gifts Officer
Szeman Tse, Assistant Director, Development Research
Taryn Lott, Senior Public Relations Associate
Teresa Wang, Staff Accountant
Thomas D. May, Chief Financial Officer
Thomas Davenport, Carpenter
Thomas Linehan, Beranek Room Host
Thomas Vigna, Group Sales and Marketing Associate
Timothy James, Director of Information Technology
Tuaha Khan, Stage Technician
Vincenzo Natale, Chauffeur/Valet
Wei Jing Saw, Assistant Manager of Artistic Administration
Yong-Hee Silver, Senior Major Gifts Officer
Goodness! So many more flaks than musicians.
Of course, they have Tanglewood to manage, so that accounts for a number of positions. What impresses me is that, when people say classical music is “dead” in America, you have a robust organization like this. I guess William Osborne’s frequent observation is correct: the health is in the big cities.
Slightly reminiscent of something from the “The Compassionate Society” of Yes Minister; a hospital with 500 administrators but no medical staff nor patients.
I don’t understand. The Berkshire Eagle reported that Tanglewood had something like 400,000 tickets sold. I would not call that ‘no patients.’ This, of course, does not include the BSO season, nor the Boston Pops season, nor the Esplanade Orchestra, which must add a good chunk more. My family and I (yes, young children) regularly attend the Holiday Pops, which runs for almost two months. Every performance I have been to has been sold out. Perhaps instead of criticizing the BSO we should be asking ourselves how they do so well?
The 500 administrators and no patients bit was about the episode of said series, not the BSO. I’m well aware of the BSO’s prosperity and happen to like the orchestra. The thing I don’t care for too much are people who ignore or break rules and then complain about the consequences after getting caught.
Nice cut/paste/sort, but the listing is for “Staff & Administration”, and a quick look at the titles shows that these are not all administrators, or “flaks”. I’m rather impressed that they list stage technicians, electricians and mailroom clerks. It’s good for team building, and most organizations that size wouldn’t even think of recognizing these positions on their web page.
Of course, now they will have to add more “flaks” in “Child Assessor” positions to conduct extensive interviews and evaluations of every under-five child to determine which ones are sufficiently well-behaved to be admitted to concerts and rehearsals.
Surely some of these are part-time positions? I notice they have a grant-writer. That function is usually one of several for a member of the communications staff, as is responsibility for programmes. Either these are part-time or too many people are hanging about too much with not enough to do.
Many of these do look like part-time positions (and why shouldn’t part-time staff be acknowledged? Part-time musicians – harps, bass clarinets, tubas, percussionists, etc – always are). Given that the BSO apparently runs Boston Symphony Hall, Tanglewood, the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and the orchestra, they’re effectively running two major venues plus two substantial symphonic ensembles, as well as chamber music and outreach programmes.
173 staff seems like a fairly reasonable number to be doing all that – quite lean, in fact. Though if you count the membership of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (and again, why wouldn’t you?) musicians massively outnumber administrators in the organisation as a whole.
Sorry to say, but you seem to have not much insight in orchestras concluding from the way you speak of “harps, bass clarinets, tubas, percussionists, etc” as “part-time musicians”. My orchestra regularly needs more subs in the percussion than in any other section. And while harp and tuba players may have a more uneven workload than most of their colleagues because it depends on the scheduled repertoire, they are fully employed in every professional orchestra I have ever known.
My point precisely. ‘Part-time’ staff are full-time members of the team. They all deserve equal recognition.
Forgive me, but I still don’t get it why you claim for instance that a bass clarinet player on a full time contract, doing exactly the same number of services as everybody else in his section, is only a “part-time musician”. It is nice that you concede him or her to be a “full-time member of the team” nevertheless, but this whole distinction doesn’t seem to make any sense.
In addition to the musical ensembles you mention, the BSO also has the Bostono Pops and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, adding to the programming, booking, fundraising, and other administrative issues. it is, as I undertand it, the largest orchestral organization in the world.
Some years ago the BSO management decided that it was worth given recognition to everyone who worked in Symphony Hall, recognizing that electricians and stage crew do work that is just as essential (and often more difficult) than that of administratore, fund raisers, publicity personel and the like. It stries me as a valuable and truly American gesture.
Next platform for fame: Baby Ohki Instagwams Fwum Michelin-Starred Restawants.
Just because infants came in in the 1970s and 1980s, doesn’t mean that a) they had the same policy as they do now or b) that they had any policy at all. I think it’s fair for BSO to review in light of this.
I think this New York Times article says it all really!
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/27/opinion/sunday/the-real-victims-of-victimhood.html?_r=1
Infants don’t need to go to a concert. They can listen to music at home or go to a kiddie concert somewhere. It’s not going to ruin their future potential as musical geniuses to not go to a Boston Symphony dress rehearsal. Parents who bring infants to concerts are inconsiderate of the musicians and the audience around them. Most infants and children under five get fidgety (at best) at concerts after ten minutes, whether it’s the Moldau or Mahler. And what do most parents do when that happens? They pretend they’re not there, ruining the experience for everyone else for the next hour-and-fifty-minutes. That’s why there’s the rule.
And yes, it applies to everyone, believe it or not even if you yourself are a musician or the child of a musician or the parent of a future musician.
Furthermore, it was a rehearsal. Work needs to get done in preparation for a concert that thousands of other people are going to pay a lot of money to listen to. The musicians don’t need distractions. And when you’re kicked out once, please don’t complain when you’re kicked out a second time. Use it as a learning moment.
It’s not going to decrease audience numbers to prohibit babies from going to the Symphony. In fact, it would probably decrease attendance if they ARE allowed because a lot of people might prefer to stay home and listen to great music in peace or go out to dinner.
Now, just in case you think I’m a schmuck for having this opinion, when my own children were toddlers, I TOOK THEM TO CONCERTS. For example, they sat in the front row of a performance I played of the Brahms Piano Quintet at the Gardner Museum when they were three and four years old. And you know why I allowed them to go? 1) I knew they would behave, and 2) THE HOUSE RULES PERMITTED IT.
By all means, well-behaved children should be allowed to concerts. If they start acting up, though, the parents should remove them immediately. If they don’t, the ushers should. Likewise, those children who, in their 40s and 50s, who never grow up and can’t resist texting or playing video games during a concert should likewise be kicked out. Everyone is not entitled to everything.
Children, babies at concerts are not a serious discussion. The kid-oriented culture has gone way too far. I knew it when I was in a bar in Brooklyn after midnight and a guy was drinking with a baby strapped to his chest.
The bar had put up a sign weeks before saying “we love kids and hope you bring them here, but after 8pm this is an adult bar.” There was a revolt and the Park Slope people made the bar take down the sign!!!!
As for the BSO, you expect them to be progressive on any front? Yes they have almost 200 admin people but that’s 800 less than the Met Opera and yet the BSO has more money that the Met?
Gear some programs to kids? How about gear some programs to people under 85! They have so much money in fact that they have become untethered from any sort of obligation to fill the hall or program to the taste of the public.
As for the “Pops”, evidently their concept of popular music repertoire is the kind of stuff which you could hear on Mom and Dad’s Victrola in 1958.
Hopeless.
Symphony orchestras obviously do try to program to the tastes of the public. Maybe its not what you prefer but they obviously look to maximize attendance through programming. What do you believe they should program to “fill the hall”? Every orchestra executive director would like to know your suggestions.
I know that if I go to either a concert or rehearsal (assuming I’m paying something) I don’t expect to have an infant or small child whose behavior could interfere with my being there to enjoy the sounds. So, make clear to ALL if small children or infants are allowed so I can avoid those events, or go if I want to bring my grandchild; but make clear ahead of time.
It sounds like the BSO was doing this at the rehearsal being discussed; so if infants are not allowed, don’t bring one.
I’m all for exposing young children to music of all kinds, but if this is the only way this mother can think of to expose her child to music then the real problem here is her lack of imagination and not the BSO’s policy. It’s been my observation that what an entitled parent views as acceptable behavior from a child is often experienced quite differently by other people in the immediate vicinity and it seems pretty clear from reading this woman’s post that she has little regard for either the rules or consideration for the right of the other audience members to enjoy the performance undisturbed. Apparently the lesson she wants to teach her child is that rules are for other people. If I was running Symphony Hall she would be banned from the hall with or without her child.
I would also like to put in a word for the Symphony Hall staff who have been unfairly maligned in some of these comments. I have been attending concerts in Symphony Hall since arriving in Boston as a college freshman in 1969 and I have never been treated with anything other than consideration by any of the staff or ushers. Those who have had problems have probably been kindred spirits to this woman – entitled people who feel violated when somebody tells them “no.” If the staff reacted aggressively towards this woman it seems clear from her post that her behavior left them without other options.
And still not a peep from BSO about their jack-booted thugs gleefully enforcing discriminatory, anti-pet policies.