DOS Orchestra #4 - 11 July 94

News from the world of professional orchestras.
Copyright 1994, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians

Topics

Alabama Symphony: Signs of Life?

Michael McGillvray, a member of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and head of the Birmingham local of the American Federation of Musicians, writes:

"What's happening now? We've invested a lot of time and patience in working with the volunteer support group which bought all the tangible property out of the bankruptcy. They've finally started singing our song - they are trying to raise a major endowment, on the order of $10 million +. A small, anonymous group has pledged $3 Million + as seed money. We've been saying all along that we need to address the fundamental financial structure to solve the real problem, which has been inadequate funding. The progress is agonizingly slow, and the business community that decided to wage this war is uncooperative, to say the least.

We just had some press reports of a local US Congressman, Earl Hilliard, who wants to get the orchestra started again. The "business community" tried to raise money for a consultant and couldn't come up with the cash for their own project; they told the volunteers to go ahead without them; and when the press asked for their reaction to the Congressman's comments, they said they had raised $25,000 for a "feasibility study," which seems to be a contradiction of what they told the volunteers. The business leaders keep insisting we can only have a small core, and there is a growing consensus outside their circles that the orchestra should have adequate instrumentation and be fully professional.

Probably the only realistic statement about all this in the press this week was the observation by Al Head, the State Arts Council administrator, that the necessary consensus has not yet developed; that it may take years before it does. Obviously we are doing what we can to pull it together in time for a season in 1995-6.

In the meantime, the new hall on the University of Alabama (Birmingham) campus is scheduled to open in the spring of '95, and there's no orchestra to use it. That's the point when we feel this community will, perhaps, do something."

Boston Symphony Opens New Tanglewood Hall

On July 7, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, assisted by Tanglewood students, conductors Seiji Ozawa, Leon Fleisher, and Norio Ohga, and guest artists Sherrill Milnes, Peter Serkin and Yo-Yo Ma, opened the new Seiji Ozawa hall at Tanglewood. The hall, which reportedly cost $9.7 million ($2 million of which was donated by Mr. Ohga, who is also the chief executive officer of the Sony Corporation), seats approximately 1,200 people, and opens up to a lawn that seats another 2,000.

The new hall was designed by architect William Rawn and acoustician R. Lawrence Kirkegaard. Although this is Mr. Rawn's first concert hall, Mr. Kirkegaard has renovated a number of major concert halls in the US, including Carnegie Hall and Davies Hall in San Francisco, and has been responsible for the acoustics of several new halls as well, including the Ordway Music Theater in St. Paul. Early press reports on the acoustics have been highly favorable, with Edward Rothstein of the New York Times writing that the new hall "is precisely what a concert hall should be...each instrument's character and location was delineated but the ensemble effect was warm and enveloping." Musicians have reportedly been pleased as well.

Tickets for the gala opening sold for $250 and $1,000, with higher price levels receiving special benefits, although, "in the democratic spirit of Tanglewood," as one BSO staffer said, all ticket buyers were invited to the dinner following the concert, which was a picnic of American cuisine presented in Japanese bento boxes. To handle the celebrity guest list, an instant heliport was created by laying a white sheet on the lawn for those who chose not to brave the Berkshire roads.

Central City Opera: Incident at Wounded Bow

During a sword fight on stage during a performance of Friml's "The Vagabond King" by the Central City (CO) Opera on July 9, one of the swords freed itself from a dueler's hand and flew into the pit, crash-landing into the violin of assistant concertmaster Wyn Hart and bisecting his bow en route. According to opera officials, the bow is a total write-off, but the instrument can apparently be repaired. Talks are underway regarding ways to avoid repetition of the incident.

This is not the first time that objects have left the stage during an opera service and ended up in the pit, although it does appear to be a first for Central City Opera. A member of the Canadian Opera Company orchestra was injured recently when logs got loose on stage and one rolled into the pit on top of her. More common is the wave of faux-mist that stage directors are fond of using during scenes of mystery on stage. The faux-mist rolls off the lip of the stage into the pit, where it presents hazards to the sight, breath, and pitch of the musicians.

Detroit Symphony Music Director Receives Interlochen Award

On July 11, the Interlochen School announced that Neeme Jarvi, music director of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, had been awarded the Interlochen Arts Award. Previous recipients have included the Canadian Brass and Itzhak Perlman.

Jarvi and the DSO are currently in a four-day residence at Interlochen, which is a nationally renowned music camp and arts school in central Michigan.
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