If you look back on my post about David Gockley and the San Francisco Opera -- quoting David's very stark words about the company's financial problems -- you'll see a lively debate in the comments, between Lisa Hirsch and myself. The debate, essentially, is about whether the San Francisco Opera really is in as much trouble as David says. And that disagreement spreads toward other institutions. When the Philadelphia Orchestra announced it would declare bankruptcy, was it really in as much trouble as it said it was? Or, maybe more pointedly, … [Read more...]

Here's a classical music leader pointing at dark clouds hovering over our field. I'm talking about an admission of serious trouble, in an extraordinary -- extraordinarily honest and forceful -- statement by David Gockley, General Manager of the San Francisco Opera, and (I'd think by more or less unanimous acclaim) one of the top arts managers in the US. David says that his company is in serious trouble, because of factors that affect all arts organizations like it. He wrote this in the Opera's program book, in November 2010. A friend … [Read more...]

In the past, I've started the year off here with posts called "Where we stand," in which I sum up the current state of classical music, or, maybe more accurately, consider the latest evidence that classical music -- in its mainstream form -- is declining. But right now I'm rewriting last year's version of that document, to use in my Juilliard course on the future of classical music, which starts next week. (The link takes you to last year's curriculum. I'll put the new one up when the course starts again.) So I'll hold off on the current … [Read more...]