The Baltimore Symphony has cancelled 10 concerts next season after appalling audience figures for the current year.
Attendance last season at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall was around 40 percent of capacity and the orchestra has decided to cut its losses on ill-attended concerts next season.
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Would be curious about the programming. Surely a Beethoven 5 + Brahms concerto concert would get only 40% audience while a living composer -dominated program would be sold out months in advance?
It’s not a good time to be a dead composer, is it?
A living composer-dominated program would be sold out months in advance? Umm…..sure.
This might be the softest sarcasm I’ve ever seen on this website. I’ll take it at best as sarcasm, at worst a fantasy.
The only way it seems to sell out a classical orchestra concert with a living composer would be to involve John Williams or Hans Zimmer, or include Yo-Yo Ma somehow.
Show me a concert where an all living composer program has sold the hall—I don’t mean a new music ensemble that plays in a barn, I mean a symphony orchestra that plays in a hall.
Another example of get woke go broke. I did not renew my subscription for this exact reason.
Show us on the doll where the woke orchestra hurt you.
Who said anything about hurt? I just dislike what the institution is currently doing.
I’m sure attendance would have higher if the BSO had programmed more works by African American, Latinx and LGBTQIA+BS composers
That’s tough. But it’s tough to sell seats if you don’t have concerts.
Blame City Hall. For decades this once vibrant, historic and beautiful has been run into the ground by the so-called leadership, Democrats all. They have ignored crime and the downtown area has deteriorated badly; it’s not safe to walk there anymore. It looks, and smells, awful. The BSO crowd is generally well educated, has money to spend, and likes to dress up for concerts; but they do not want to risk their lives to go. If you think I’m making this up or exaggerating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjPZma65i90&ab_channel=WBFFFOX45Baltimore
Gee but I thought rewriting Ode to Joy with lyrics from a rapper was gonna put butts in seats?
Mark Hanson – smart move #1
Stupid decision !
Money, money, money. Nothing
else counts in this country …
you have a better idea for paying musicians who are selling something no one wants?
Yet the Sydney Symphony can pack them in 5 nights running for Mahler’s Resurrection. A cultured lot, the Aussies!
No surprise. I’ve been working for the Catholic Church in Baltimore over the last several months. The state of the city is very, very sad. The Church is experiencing the exact same decline. Good thing I have an out; I’m moving to Texas.
You’re welcome to go there, but be sure you vote Republican and not for the very same values that have destroyed the place you are leaving.
Baltimore does not have a huge fat endowment, like the one Chicago sits on. So they are doing what they need to do.
Jeff Alexander in Chicago, with an attendance track record in the same 40-50% zone, prefers to burn through the CSO endowment and meet Muti’s “entertainment” needs; and next year is doubling down on abysmal programming: Cimarosa and a tsunami of Russian music (as if Muti wasn’t radioactive enough on a standalone basis for most audiences)
Like someone that Jeff knows well would say: “Genius!”
I would love to see data backing up this particular screed. The last year I could find data for, 2021, shows a $1.6 million surplus. It is unclear to me how this constitutes burning through the endowment, but perhaps you can enlighten me.
From my seat on stage for almost every concert, there are rare concerts when attendance may be not much better than 50%, typically on Tuesday nights, but to say that “there is attendance track record in the same 40-50% zone” would seem wildly inaccurate. The recent run of “A Masked Ball” with Muti conducting was nearly sold out. But if you have data, Mr. Rodent, it would be wonderful for you to share it.
Somehow, I’m not holding my breath.
How convenient. You picked the ONLY year (20/21) where the CSO turned a surplus after 10 consecutive years of deficits. 20/21 was the Covid year Muti was mostly not around and the CSO not arranging “support” for his after reharsal afternoon activities. Don’t get too worked up, you won’t see a surplus this year, trust me on that. And no, Ballo was not nearly sold out, it was an embarassment, we all saw that
Nearly sold out? Please. I’d laugh at your statement, but this isn’t a laughing matter.
The Ballo was a total disaster from a profitability perspective, bewteen the portion of tickets given away to scores of Italian free riders coming from all over and the singers’ cachets. More generally, this year was a total disaster from a profitability perspective, it will be known soon enough and yes this circus would not be possible without the endowment.
Am willing to bet the cancelled concerts are those involving underrepresented composers, impact of climate change on our sensibilities, music that’s “reimagined” for our new inclusivity etc. I.e.: unlistenable crap. Long live the 3Bs!
https://www.bsomusic.org/misc/bso-updates/
“During our subscription season, the BSO typically has one program a week and multiple performances of that same program. For our coming season, we will be performing one (and on rare occasions two) fewer concerts of the same originally scheduled program. In other words, we are consolidating select performances but importantly maintaining every unique concert program throughout the season.”
They are cancelling single performances (e.g. the second of two Meyerhoff performances), not whole programs. No cancellations planned for Strathmore, where they routinely play all the programs.
The Baltimore Symphony is a truly outstanding orchestra, and from what I can tell they have some of the most compelling programming among major U.S. orchestras. But they have a real challenge getting an audience in Baltimore, a rather troubled city. Even at Strathmore, in well-heeled Bethesda, they never come close to selling out (at least at the shows I attend), not helped, of course, by COVID.
Marin Alsop’s woke legacy.
Ah, yes, Marin Alsop’s fault, whose last full season as MD ended in 2019…
Her last season was ‘20-‘21
Hence the word “legacy” – and she fled the orchestra in the middle of the pandemic when a music director is mostly needed.
It’s 10 individual concerts, not 10 programs. Still, doesn’t this look like a small-scale move toward what Mark Hanson’s predecessor disastrously tried pretty recently? Respond to diminishing returns by diminishing offerings–this is the opening move?
Hanson is not getting off to a promising start by using language like this: “It’s important to note that we’re not taking any unique programs off of the Meyerhoff schedule. . . . We believe that a slight consolidation will enhance the concert experience.”
(I wonder if this enhancing consolidation will affect such offerings as BSO plays ‘Get Out’ and BSO plays ‘Home Alone’?)
It is sad but certainly understandable. Baltimore is situated too close to Washington and too close to Philadelphia, both cities with their own orchestras and in the case of Washington, a federally subsidised orchestra. Baltimore is also a dying city, as is Philadelphia, losing industry, with enormous poverty and very high levels of crime, neither conducive to finding donors nor getting an audience to come out in the evening.
I would be surprised if they survive the next ten years.
Washington has no federally subsidized orchestra. NSO and KCOHO get no funding. The building is partially maintained by the park service. Not one penny for arts programming or staff.
You are wrong. There was a scandal because Pelosi channeled a shockingly large chunk of Covid bailout money to the Kennedy Center while the rest of the city was suffering so badly.
Apparently not.
https://www.kennedy-center.org/press-releases/clarification-on-federal-funding/
This is in response to Joe Harper and Ludwig’s Van:
Being close to Washington DC and Philly didn’t really effect our attendance at the BSO. There are those who preferred NSO for their string section and those who preferred BSO for their wind section. There are also DC die-hards who would never think about listening to a concert anywhere else but at the prestigious Kennedy Center. As for competition between BSO/NSO, when the BSO leadership designed and built Strathmore Hall, the NSO declined the invitation to have their own series there in addition to their northern neighbor’s series. BSO established a presence in Montgomery County to establish relationships with concertgoers in this wealthy area. It didn’t come to fruition as thought. And NSO chose to remain an entity unto itself, to minimize any competition.
Philly, on the other hand, is at least 2 hrs drive from Baltimore. Around these parts, commute time matters! But you should know that other cities outrank Baltimore for high crime rates in the past decade. Last I checked, we ranked 7th highest. Regardless, neither of these 3 cities is particularly safe. Baltimore gets a bad rap for crime, but let’s face it, that is almost a wash between the hardship these 3 orchestras each face within their respective cities. I would say the Exclusivity Clauses do more damage than crime.
In 2020-2021, we had streamed concerts and online fare until practically summer season. No live audiences. Marin was in her last season as music director. Poor leadership?
In 2021-2022, there is no music director and the unvaccinated, untested were not welcome in the concert hall, even at six feet distance with masks; even after aerosolized particles were disproven; even after upgrading the air handlers. For the conservative base, who are very wealthy, this discrimination was angering. Many resolved to unsubscribe for good. Could this consolidation of concerts be needed because Covid policies and safety protocol are driving away 60% of subscribers? Could it be that not having a Music Director is having artistic ramifications? Could it be that the transgender inclusion tipped their hand and showed their true Fascist agenda, which real Americans flatly reject?
I don’t know what your connection is to the BSO, but if you were at Strathmore pre-COVID, you’ll know attendance wasn’t all that great then, either. I’m sure people are staying away due to COVID fears, but I doubt there are many who refuse to come because – horrors – they have to wear a mask.
And what are you talking about, that aerosolized particles aren’t a factor in COVID transmission? Those they ESSENTIAL means of transmission. What’s been disproven is surface transmission.
What I mean is of all the music institutions in the EU and USA which decided to conduct an analysis of which wind instrument is the most dangerous to be around, they ultimately concluded the condensation from the lungs traveled as far as if one were speaking, about 17 mm. Propagandists assumed flute would spread the most; one study concluded it is actually the oboe which spreads furthest; and of course the singers were deemed even more dangerous. But what is 17 mm compared to 6 feet social distancing? a safety policy employed by all the orchestras. The “vaccines” are shown to damage the immune system of the recipient. The more shots one gets, the higher the chances of being hospitalized and the more often one gets Covid. So many statistics are available on this matter. For this reason, many countries won’t mandate the vaccine but provide Ivermectin (Japan) and Hydroxychloraquine (Uganda) instead. In 1918, wrote Anthony Fauci, people were becoming ill with pneumonia from the practice of wearing masks! Not from “Spanish” flu.
Philadelphia grew by nearly 78,000 people from 2010 to 2020, to over 1.6 million. The Philadelphia metro area grew from 5.97 million to 6.24 million over that same period. The drugstore chain RiteAid and the industrial services company Harsco just moved their corporate headquarters into the city.
Philadelphia has its problems, and it isn’t booming like Sun Belt cities are, but it is not dying.
It is remarkable that a small city like Baltimore – located so close to DC, Philly and NYC – has for so many years been able to support a major Orchestra and world-class Conservatory. These are major cultural achievements!! But indeed the world has changed. Perhaps had those in power recognized years ago what was happening, they might have prepared for it. Well, too late now…
They need to bring in snoop dog to conduct.
With “Ain’t no fun (If The Homies Can’t Have None)” as an orchestrated encore!
I love this story so much. Musicians overwhelmingly vote Democrat and for the values that are destroying their art and profession. They vote for Democrat/Soros DA’s that have turned cities into crime-infested hell-holes. They vote for “empathetic” city leaders who have allowed rampant homeless encampments and filthy drug addicts on every corner, discouraging anyone from setting foot downtown. Then, they vote for orchestral leadership that replaces great art music that their custormers LOVE with hot garbage low iq “Schubert-rap” or whatever other such pathetic attempts to debase yourself at the alter of wokeness. You made the bed, now sleep in it.
Seven of the top ten states for crime rate have Republican governors, and overwhelming GOP majorities in their legislatures. I just took a nice bike ride to the lake and an early morning swim here in Chicago. Somehow, I failed to find any “rampant homeless encampments” or “filthy drug addicts”, notwithstanding your assurance that they are “on every corner”. Certainly we have our issues, especially in neighborhoods like Engelwood, which is a 15 minute drive from the border of Indiana and its ludicrously permissive gun laws.
You know very well that law enforcement is primarly a local issue, not a state issue. So while it may be true that “seven of the top ten states for crime rate have Republican governors, and overwhelming GOP majorities in their legislatures”, the overwhelming majority of these crimes occur in cities run by Democrats. Examples: St. Louis MO, memphis TN, Cleveland OH.
See this: https://usabynumbers.com/cities-with-highest-crime-rate/
But general social conditions are a national issue; Chicago or Baltimore doesn’t have its own social safety net programs. And many cities have their law enforcement efforts constrained by state-level pre-emption laws.
No question that Baltimore is a city with a lot of challenges, though, and has been for a very long time.
The crime rate in Chicago is so high that one of our local radio talk show dudes reports every Monday on the number of shootings and deaths in the past weekend in the Windy City. Comparing crime rates state to state is a tricky business anyway; what is counted in one state is not in another.
Chicago has a lot of crime because it’s a large city. Do you understand the difference between nominal and per-capita?The cities around Chicago – Indianapolis, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cincinnati (all Republican states with lax gun laws, BTW) – all have worse crime rates on a per-capita basis.
This is of course the lamest argument – the cities with the crime are run by democrats with democrat DA’s and Mayors, etc. You’re either dishonest or ignorant.
How about the south side of Chicago? Good luck running down there. Get out of your bubble of privilege.
While your comments on this site are generally very constructive, to assign blame to any state governor for rampant crime in a major city is ludicrous, unless they adopt even more permissive stances than the woke mayors.
Max sounds like my San Francisco friends desperately pleading for their city by saying “I took a walk around rich neighborhood X, high in the hills, and didn’t see a single homeless person!”.
Hey, E Rand – stop watching Fox News, get yourself a reputable education, and learn discernment when gathering factual information. And BTW, it was the Republicans who took music education out of the schools some 40 years ago, and so our American orchestras are feeling the effects now.
Nice try at a straw man but it won’t work. Dems can’t lie their way out of the destruction they’ve brought to cities. We still have our eyes and ears. This will blow your mind, but I despise Fox News and am educated to a degree that would rattle you. I guess we aren’t all drones?
Concertgoers in the UK, and elsewhere outside the United States, may not be familiar with American orchestras’ concert schedules. The tradition here is to play one program per week, with three or four (sometimes two) performances of each. The Baltimore Symphony’s announcement seems to say that they will be cutting some of these programs back by eliminating one performance of some programs, which should make for fuller houses—and perhaps allow for more touring performances within the state. It’s not ideal, but it’s not a tragedy either. I live in Boston, and in the Covid era the Boston Symphony has had some sparse attendance mid-week too. Our BSO has more of a financial cushion than Baltimore’s, but the stress is real.
I live in Virginia and used to attend BSO concerts in Baltimore and at Strathmore. But no more. Marin Alsop and apparently most of the musicians endorsed the BLM BS after drug dealer Freddie Gray died in police custody. Crime has relentlessly increased since. It isn’t safe to go to Baltimore for any reason. And I won’t support the Woke.
Freddie Gray died when he was put in the back of a police van unsecured and was ping-ponged back and forth around the van as it rode and turned through traffic. Something that should not be done to any human being, and astounding that it is allowed anywhere. If it’s “woke” to be appalled by that, call me guilty. And it’s BS to believe that Black lives matter as much as White lives? Noted, “Dr.”
Their programming has been a mixture of war horses and Woke Crap. They are true believers in it, too, lest you think they are just selling out to appease the mob. No wonder people don’t want to go to concerts there anymore. What normal concert goer wants to hear that ? Their Woke Beethoven 9 was beyond embarrassing, by all accounts. Get ready for their next “crisis”….
I’ve been going to the Baltimore SO fairly regularly for the last 4-5 years. I’ve heard a lot of interesting programming, but nothing to get me clutching my pearls (I did skip Beethoven 9 simply because I don’t like it enough to go hear it anywhere; but who cares if they change the text a little in Ode to Joy? Nobody can understand it anyway).
But what’s with this “Woke crap?” Was it “Woke crap” when Shostakovich wrote his 7th symphony (or indeed, almost everything)? When Strauss wrote Metamorphosen to mourn the bombing of the Munich opera house? When Poulenc wrote “Dialogues of the Carmelites?” When Britten wrote “War Requiem?” Or when Picasso painted “Guernica?”
Artists have always created works to comment on or memorialize traumatic events. If it’s good, hopefully it lasts. If not, it doesn’t.