A Kansas orchestra is liquidated
OrchestrasThe Hutchinson Symphony has told its musicians that the audience has dropped below sustainable levels. The orchestra, founded in 1964, served a large number of venues and schools in an undercultured state.
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Think of what a gift even a fraction the size of what CIM or the CSO recently recieved could have done for this group (which I am sure is a rare glimmer of culture in a relatively sparse and remote area…)
You never want to see any orchestra fold and close. But the letter, assuming it is accurate, makes plain that the audience was just not there in sufficient numbers to not only pay for, but to justify, the effort. If this orchestra suddenly came into a pot of gold, what is it to do if the seats are empty? Keep playing?
And organizations such as local and civic orchestras (big ones too to a certain extent) run on the backs of large numbers of volunteers and it is more and more clear based on the (non-musical) organizations I am involved with that the age of dependable volunteerism is pretty much going away. It is a foreign concept to the young, and too much to expect for the elderly.
I think some musicians are so delusional that they would prefer to be funded by emergency lifelines in order to avoid the harsh reality that there really is very little demand. Due to the changing demographics in the US, I give classical music another ten years (twenty max). Eventually it will only be a hobby, like knitting at the local community center.
Funny to see Mr Nelson downvoted when there’s nothing to disagree with. No audience means no business, it’s as simple as that. It seems that some in classical music need to live in denial of basic economic laws.
Not sure why you are being downvoted, David, but I will say that organizations that call for volunteers, like food pantries, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, etc etc, have suffered a massive decline in numbers of volunteers over the past two decades. There is a reason for this and it has nothing to do with classical music. It’s a much larger societal/social issue. I am amazed this community had an orchestra in the first place, especially this far into the 21st century.
Can Kansas still be a cultured state with a declining preference for classical music?
I’m not sure undercultured is appropriate. It did give the world Joyce DiDonato, James King, Samuel Ramey, Diane Bish and James Barnes in the classical arena. There are good orchestras in Wichita and Topeka and numerous community and amateur orchestras. Not bad for a state with a population under 3 million.
Also noted violin pedagogues Dorothy Delay, Alice Joy Lewis, and her son Brian Lewis.
Don’t forget conductor Karl Krueger and tenor Benjamin Bliss. I am sorry to see Hutchinson lose its orchestra, but the Wichita Symphony is a only a short drive away.
I think that there are a number of factors in the sustainability of any orchestra.
It’s a combination of thoughtful, clever fundraising, realistic payment for musicians, and the willingness or ability for the community to support an organization that is essentially a luxury.
People have been predicting the demise of the symphony orchestra for decades, but many groups have survived even through recessions, depressions, and, more recently, curtailed seasons because of the pandemic.
It all depends on everyone’s willingness to keep such entertainment in their community, and perhaps hard work and sacrifice, depending on the local circumstances.
Many musicians must have a “day job” and play only part-time, and other orchestras cannot pay their musicians at all and only rely on amateurs who simply want to keep making music.
It just depends on the community.
Orchestras should receive state funding, by the same reasons as museums and galleries
By the way, I consider banjo duelling piece classical music)