Good moves
1. The San Francisco Opera streams its live performance of Tosca to a sports stadium.
2. The Seattle Opera held a competition to find a host for what it calls a "reality-style video project," titled "Confessions of a First-Time Operagoer." They chose a 19 year-old student, who'll create an online chronicle of her first exposure to Wagner's Ring.
These are good things. They make the opera companies more visible in their communities. They create buzz. They bring in people who wouldn't normally pay attention. The San Francisco Opera -- which has streamed opera to the stadium twice before -- drew 27,000 people to its show. And seems like they knew exactly how to make this a real event:
Seattle's winner, says a Los Angeles Times blog, will
Is all of this a little hoky? Sure. So what? It's also fun. I'm sure the 27,000 people in AT&T Park in San Francisco had a good time. I could also say that my interests in classical music might go in other directions, but again, so what? Our field badly needs exposure and excitement. And, if what happens in pop music is any guide, the bigger and more popular we get, the more room also opens up for challenging offbeat stuff. The bigger the market, the bigger its fringe.
Every classical music institution, big or small, should do things like these. And not just once, or once a year -- repeatedly, over and over, so people (even people who might never want to go to a performance) know that the institutions are there, and that they're constantly doing new things.
As Leonard Slatkin said this week, assessing the condition of the Detroit Symphony (where he's now music director):
2. The Seattle Opera held a competition to find a host for what it calls a "reality-style video project," titled "Confessions of a First-Time Operagoer." They chose a 19 year-old student, who'll create an online chronicle of her first exposure to Wagner's Ring.
These are good things. They make the opera companies more visible in their communities. They create buzz. They bring in people who wouldn't normally pay attention. The San Francisco Opera -- which has streamed opera to the stadium twice before -- drew 27,000 people to its show. And seems like they knew exactly how to make this a real event:
Opera General Director David Gockley threw out the first pitch, so to speak, in a precurtain speech from the Opera House [says a story in the San Francisco Chronicle]. After introducing conductor Marco Armiliato, who led the ballpark and sold-out Opera House audiences in the national anthem, Gockley poked his head out from behind the curtain to call out, "Play opera!"
Seattle's winner, says a Los Angeles Times blog, will
conduct behind-the scenes interviews with the artists, attend rehearsals and even meet with the so-called Ringies, the die-hard fans who follow "Ring" performances all over the world.She'll also post Facebook updates, and tweet on both her own and the opera company's Twitter accounts.
Is all of this a little hoky? Sure. So what? It's also fun. I'm sure the 27,000 people in AT&T Park in San Francisco had a good time. I could also say that my interests in classical music might go in other directions, but again, so what? Our field badly needs exposure and excitement. And, if what happens in pop music is any guide, the bigger and more popular we get, the more room also opens up for challenging offbeat stuff. The bigger the market, the bigger its fringe.
Every classical music institution, big or small, should do things like these. And not just once, or once a year -- repeatedly, over and over, so people (even people who might never want to go to a performance) know that the institutions are there, and that they're constantly doing new things.
As Leonard Slatkin said this week, assessing the condition of the Detroit Symphony (where he's now music director):
We need to become more of a presence in the community. Not everybody goes to hockey games, but everybody knows about the Red Wings. A lot of their people do very good things in the community. We need to be like them. We want more people to know about the DSO.
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Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
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Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture
blog riley
rock culture approximately
rock culture approximately
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Laura Collins-Hughes on arts, culture and coverage
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Richard Kessler on arts education
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Douglas McLennan's blog
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Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
Flyover
Art from the American Outback
Art from the American Outback
Life's a Pitch
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
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No genre is the new genre
No genre is the new genre
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David Jays on theatre and dance
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Paul Levy measures the Angles
Paul Levy measures the Angles
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Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture
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John Rockwell on the arts
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Jan Herman - arts, media & culture with 'tude
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Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
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Tobi Tobias on dance et al...
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Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
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Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and Other Sounds
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Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...
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Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology
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Martha Bayles on Film...
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Fresh ideas on building arts communities
The Future of Classical Music?
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
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Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Overflow
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
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Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
PostClassic
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
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Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
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Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds
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Jerome Weeks on Books
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Scott McLemee on books, ideas & trash-culture ephemera
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Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
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Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world
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Public Art, Public Space
Public Art, Public Space
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Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
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John Perreault's art diary
CultureGrrl
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
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Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog
Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog

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