Life in the Pit

Most people reading this are probably already at least somewhat familiar with the Atlanta Ballet’s situation. We have been replaced by recorded music for the entire 2006-07 season. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely we will return to the pit any time soon, and it has been an extremely demoralizing situation for the orchestra. We have tried to attack the problem from numerous angles, but to no avail . . . yet.
We have been distributing information to audience members on how to voice their disapproval throughout the year, and many of them have done just that. The Ballet management has received numerous letters and e-mails from disgruntled patrons who don’t feel they are getting their money’s worth. We have also had reasonably favorable treatment from the local press, given a free concert, and much more beyond the scope of this post, and have managed to stir up quite a bit of community support.
Though audiences, on the whole, don’t seem to like it anymore than we do, the possibility of being replaced by recordings is a very real threat for pit orchestras across the country and across the world. In many cases, the reasons for this problem seem to stem from a lack of education both within and outside of an organization. The public does not necessarily recognize the need for a live orchestra until it is gone and they are confronted with the hollow sound of a recording, and organizations don’t believe the public will notice the difference. They do. If orchestras could find ways to convey that message early on, perhaps the frequency of situations like ours would diminish.