U.S. Symphony Orchestras

01-26-12: Unsound
"Symphony in C", previously known as the "Haddonfield Symphony" in New Jersey is missing.

Bless your heart! That's the orchestra I serve as a member of the Board of Directors.

No, bless your heart, keep up the good work!

For all you bluegrass folks. Strings as good as Philadelphia / Ormandy. :)

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Onhwy61, thanks for the link. I feel compelled to point out that this list was made by polling critics, not musicians. I assure you the list would be quite a bit different if musicians had been polled. It is also almost four years old now, which is not a long time, but there happens to have been quite a bit of turnover in key positions in many American orchestras the last few years (and I'm sure the same is true in Europe). The top American orchestras, IMO, right now,(and not necessarily in this order!) would be the Met, Boston, Chicago, Pittsburgh, LA, NY Phil. There are several others right under those. Certainly the traditional "big five," consisting of New York, Boston, Chicago, Philly, and Cleveland, are not actually the best five anymore, though they still rank that way in salary, along with Pittsburgh and LA and San Francisco. It is absurd that the Met is not higher on that list, and that Pittsburgh is not on it at all. Pittsburgh, for example, became one of only two orchestras in the history of the Proms that got invited back for next summer directly from the stage right after their concert this past summer.

As for the European orchestras, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra is another absurd omission. Also the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. There are some other bizarre selections on that list, but I will not knock my colleagues...

Thanks to all the others posting about the main topic of this thread, and please keep the posts coming! To Gsm18439, I understand your frustration with orchestral marketing departments - believe me, most musicians everywhere are very frustrated right along with you. However, I will say that the managers will be more likely to listen to your concerns when you are supporting them financially. Also, consider writing to them with detailed concerns. If everyone that was frustrated withdrew their support, orchestras would cease to exist for the most part. I would encourage you to renew your support for the NSO - that is actually a very fine orchestra that has greatly improved and is attracting many great young musicians. If you haven't heard them in a few years, I assure you you will hear a distinct improvement if you go again now.

Learsfool,

To your last point, the decision my wife and I made to cancel our subscription and donations was a difficult one. I remember telling my wife, "We may not like what is going on, but these musicians deserve our support. What happened is not their doing and its not their fault. They have been injured as much as anyone." We have made our reasons for withdrawing support known to the orchestra and continue to do so every time they call for a donation. Some of the representatives we have talked to have been sympathetic to our position, but all of them have been genuinely grateful for our candor.

The economy is what it is. Everyone has had to make adjustments as a consequence. This applies both to orchestras and those who support them with charitable contributions. Eventually this problem will resolve itself. Our decision to withdraw support had nothing to do with money. It was prompted by the CEO with full support of the Board of Directors moving the organization in a direction that we simply could not support. I continue to attend a few concerts a year in an effort to stay in touch with "the state of the orchestra."

As has been previously stated, there is a deeper problem at work. The key to long term survival for orchestras is to correctly identify the deeper problem and appropriately respond to it.

My premise is that orchestras must identify the private individuals who support the orchestra with charitable donations. I'm talking everything from $100 to $100000 +. These are the folks who must be retained at all costs. The demographic must be understood, and recruitment must focus on this demographic. These are the people who are not likely to withdraw support every time the economy dips or a new political philosophy prevails. Understand clearly their wants and needs. Don't alienate them! Support from governments and corporations will always be too unstable and unpredictable to provide a basis for long term viability. Those funds, when available, should be directed to the endowment and special projects. They should not be depended upon for ongoing yearly expenses and salaries for musicians.

I'm not so sure the current governance structure of orchestras isn't part of the problem. I hope I'm not being unfair, but this looks like a good ol' boys club that answers to no one and doesn't care what I think, in stark contrast to the musicians, marketing folks, and volunteers who continue to call and solicit donation, and who appear to be interested in serving the music more than their own egos. The gene pool is too small! In a publicly held corporation, the Boards are at least in some measure accountable to the shareholders. If the executive committees and Boards make bad decisions, and continue down a path of folly, what is to be done about this and who has authority to do it? Must an orchestra fail completely before they listen? It is a difficult problem, because some of the directors are also major contributors.