Discussion Panel: Page 30

I’m going to take advantage of the moderator’s privilege to ask some additional questions of the participants. Laura Brownell wrote: “Orchestras such as San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Nashville have found ways to achieve all of the above-mentioned benefits, despite the change in the economic environment that is described in the VPD Introduction, because they know […]

These comments pose some interesting questions about what constitutes success. The St. Louis recordings under Vonk, which seemed not to have had much circulation (partly out of lack of promotion) were extremely polished, but came into the world in the wake of more distinctive repertoire from Vonk’s predecessor Leonard Slatkin. Expectations would have to be […]

Robert Levine wrote: “Is it possible to measure the effect of “engaging the widest possible audience” on ticket sales in San Francisco, given that MTT was always a popular music director. Have ticket sales increased as a result of the media projects? Have the projects established the SFS as “providers of an exceptional classical music […]

Robert Levine asked: “Is the Cincinnati model one that could be used by other orchestras, or is the situation unique due to the relationship with Telarc and the fact that half of the releases are Pops programming, which probably can’t support multiple versions of the same repertoire in the same way that the market for […]

Robert Levine wrote: “It does appear that self-producing recordings was not viewed as a success institutionally, given that it was not continued. Given that the recordings were musically and technically of very high quality (at judging by the ones I’ve heard), what lessons can be learned from that lack of success?” Arch Media (the company […]

Robert Levine wrote: “If San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Nashville (which are very different kinds of orchestras) ‘know it is important’ and ‘…have made [media] an institutional priority,’ they must have felt that the investment was going to yield some corresponding benefits. Other orchestras, as demonstrated by their failure to ‘shoulder the labor costs associated with […]

rruggerijr wrote: “Seems to me that this arena has remarkable potential to reveal the essential contribution of an orchestra to its community, area and nation. It also may serve to broaden knowledge of and stimulate interest in orchestral music… particularly contemporary symphonic music…However, a substantial downside is that these benefits are relatively intangible to those […]

David Stearns wrote: “Cut to the dawn of self made recordings, one of the first being the St. Louis Symphony in the early years of the Hans Vonk tenure. Those recordings – at least to the very few that heard them, and perhaps the even fewer who remember them – wanted to beat the major […]

The two most important questions that face the new self-made recording industry are these: Have the new generation of artist/producers learned from the mistakes of their major-label elders? And if not, how much does it matter? During the CD boom of the 1980s and early-90s, you had to see the downfall coming. Even while in […]

There are many valid reasons for orchestras to look for electronic media opportunities today. I would like to start by focusing on one that is of particular importance to the musicians of the New York Philharmonic. Electronic media is vital for us to attract and retain the highest level of players to our orchestra. Our […]