“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.” - Daniel Burnham, Chicago architect. (1846-1912) #

Here are the facts… #

We saw an explosion of growth in American orchestras in the late 80s and throughout the 90s. The quality of the art was rising, many smaller cities around the US were proving that their orchestra could give any of the top 10 a run for their money on their best nights, and the funding for the orchestras increased during this period. By 2000, concert attendance was up for all orchestra concerts, education concerts, special events, and was up 11% from the late 80s. Concert income and endowment income each increased, but the drop in spending at gift shops, program ads, hall rentals, and special presentations declined 12% and OVERALL earned revenue declined 1.4% as a result. Public and private support increased a whopping 82% and a 9% increase came from the local and federal governments, but the state funding was down 6%. Private donations were up over 100% during this time. Despite these increases, orchestras were posting some of their first operating deficits in a decade as total income increased 1% and expenses increased 2.5%. #

What was happening? The growth in the 90s: quality, visibility, and the talented staff to run these orchestras came at a price that continued to grow year after year. That was OK to do in the 90s, but the September 11th attacks in 2001 helped to fuel the recession we had mostly in 2002 and 2003. Economist knew that recession was coming, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as we thought. Most orchestras were able to work through it OK, but some didn’t in San Jose, CA and Tampa Bay, FL. Instead of making big plans to avoid a bigger economic jolt, most orchestras continued on their path to attract the best musicians and staff, some cut their expenses, and a few made big plans. By 2005, the average orchestra received 45% of its income from donations, 13% from investments, and 5% from governments. We underestimated the recession that hit us in 2008 and those effects are sending ripples throughout the American Orchestra landscape. Now that many of those contracts are coming to an end and it’s time to renegotiate, orchestras have found that the debt has pilled up and that there are few indicators that revenues will go up and that investments will bear the fruit needed to sustain what was built during the 90s and 2000s. #

This is what I make out of the facts… #

Who could have predicted the full effects of the economy and how that would change some of these orchestras overnight? It’s hard to say that most of the problems were created by unwise decisions… some orchestras did make unwise decisions, but there are not enough of those cases to say outright that orchestra management, board of trustees, or musicians are to blame. This is not an argument about the musicians being greedy – the boards being lazy – and the management being careless.The storm of the recent recession lasted for over 18 months and many orchestras will never be able to repair the damage that the storm left unless given a bailout OR some major sacrificing is done all around the table. #

I must address the function of the Board of Trustees: They have to preserve the public trust by taking the financial responsibility for the orchestra – they are all held personally liable, and their personal assets, for legal action if bills can’t get paid or they get sued. So when an orchestra has a $42 million budget and the numbers project a big deficit in the future, and the economy is dictating that revenue, donations, investment income, and government assistance is not looking so hot, then the board has the fiduciary responsibility to dictate the terms of the relationship between the staff/artists and those of us that are in love with… even if it is not a favorable solution. #

Today, there is a question about survival.  #

I believe that there are people out there that would be willing to invest in orchestras taking a more aggressive stance on proving their impact. Tomorrow’s healthiest orchestras, literally tomorrow’s, will rest on the foundation of building sustainable societies. How many more stories of another struggling orchestra do we need to hear until we shift our focus from “we play so good” to “we demand that our art (all those good notes) be dignified with the mission of creating better human beings, stronger communities, and sustainable societies”? With that mission, could we find those to invest in our survival? #

We have 110 kids in Play On Philly. Social scientists here estimate that we will spend at least $23 million on them before they’re dead. Or we can invest $2.2 million in them over a ten-year period and drastically increase their chances of graduating from high school… which would generate $99 million of taxable income before they’re dead. What about the 70,000 living at/below the poverty line or the 110,000 of them that will drop out of high school? Another group of social scientist from the University of Pennsylvania think our 110 kids could cost up to $39 million before they’re all dead taking into consideration the economical challenges they now face. So what if you gave them a violin and taught them everyday for 3 hours? Want to guess how many of them, based on rigorous research, have a high chance of avoiding the “trap”? 71%. What impact could professional orchestras have by providing this opportunity to those children and communities? What if we helped 500 kids? 1,000? 5,000? I think when you save cities hundreds of millions and produce billions in taxable income, people might write the tens of millions we need every year to stay vibrant, flexible, and relevant. #

What is holding us back? #

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell #

I know that 99.8% of the classical music industry’s problems can be solved by making a big list of what encouraged the pessimists, optimists, and leaders to fall in love with classical music and providing that same experience to young children. If we spend the next twenty years thinking about them, they just might care when we start thinking about “us”. I grew up with supportive parents and mentors who were thinking about me and I forgot all of that as I started my professional studies at The Curtis Institute of Music. Quickly, it became about “me” and I couldn’t stand looking in the mirror at what I had become and I searched very diligently until I learned about El Sistema. I knew then, I wanted to be a leader in this growing field of El Sistema-inspired programs in the United States and share my love for classical music with young people in a meaningful way. #

Since August 2011, I’ve been leading an El Sistema-inspired program in West Philadelphia called Play On, Philly! (POP). We currently engage 110 children for three hours EACH weekday throughout the school year and a majority of the summer. We employ sixteen of the regions finest musicians and educators as Teaching Artists and the children perform about twenty-five concerts each season. We’ve raised over $1.4 million since inception and will open a second site in Philadelphia in the 2012-2013 season. The kids have collaborated with conductors and artists like Marin Alsop, Rossen Milanov, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Borromeo Quartet, and Chestnut Brass. The POP Symphony Orchestra will make it’s Kimmel Center debut with Sir Simon Rattle in April 2012 and perform at the Mann Center and Curtis Institute by the end of the season. #

Let me be clear – these kids have been playing for less than two years and the notes they play aren’t perfect. However, the notes they play have a lot of meaning and are supported with a lot of pride from mom and dad. Their performance in the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall will mark the beginning to a new era of classical music in Philadelphia and a greater sense of dignity for our art creating better human beings. #]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2012/04/adjusting-the-sails/feed/ 0 http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2012/01/empty-forest-tree-falls-was-it-heard-or-felt/ http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2012/01/empty-forest-tree-falls-was-it-heard-or-felt/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 11:35:04 +0000 Stanford Thompson http://stanfordleon.wordpress.com/?p=47 Blog Post for ArtsJournal.com’s “Lead or Follow” Discussion - #

“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” #

How would the City of ______ be damaged if the all arts education programs were to disappear tomorrow? #

Recent data from the Americans for the Arts Economic Impact reports that there are $63.1 billion in total expenditures from arts and culture organizations in the United States; creating 2.6 million jobs, providing $57.3 billion in taxable household income, producing $2.8 billion of local government and $3.5 billion in state government revenue, and collecting $6.9 billion in federal tax revenue. #

The National Endowment for the Arts released recent data about what the decline of arts education means for arts participation and the picture they paint isn’t pretty. The NEA research revealed that there was steady growth in access to music education from the 1930s to the 1970s which helped to create, nurture and sustain the audiences who would shape the cultural landscape of America. Something happened in the late 70s and a sharp decline followed. By 1982, over half of Americans had a meaningful relationship with arts education… do you think the other half of Americans were aware that their neighbor, brother, or friend had a meaningful relationship with the arts? #

We’ve measured economic impact and participatory impact… but what about social impact? Since 1982, what has happened to these children that have been denied an arts education? This is not a question to the benefit of putting butts in seats. This is not a question of how many billions that are not being spent by arts and cultural organizations because we don’t have the money. This question is about what happened to a generation and a half of American youth who did not have access to arts education? What has society paid because a kid in the inner city held a gun instead of a trombone? What has society paid because a fortune 500 executive’s son held a joint instead of one of Shakespeare’s monologues? #

According to the Pew Public Safety Performance report, the prison population in America increased 700% from 1970-2005. In 2005, we had approximately 1.5 million people in prisons and it was projected to add another 192,000 inmates through 2011. Those 192,000 inmates were projected to cost society $27.5 billion: potentially a cumulative $15 billion in new operating costs and $12.5 billion in new construction costs by 2011. The projections were wrong. We went from a 1.5 million prison population in 2005 to a 2.4 million prison population by 2010. Do the math. Almost three times that amount of people are under correctional supervision and that costs some serious cash as well. The prison system highlights one social-ill in America. Sadly, the number of americans who receive government subsidies are far greater than those we put in prison. The most vulnerable are poor African-American, Latinos, and Native Indians (people of color). #

Travel + Leisure Magazine has recently crowned Philadelphia the #1 city in America for Culture despite our difficult economic crisis. We’ve also discovered through the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance’s Cultural Engagement Index that 1) cultural engagement is highest for Philadelphians 18-34 2) parents are active with engaging their families in arts and cultural activities with the majority of activity in education 3) engagement levels of people of color increased more and continue to be consistently higher than those for Whites 4) personal practice activities continue to increase in importance. Do you see the connections yet? #

Dr. Jose Antonio Abreu, the founder of the social development program of Venezuela (El Sistema) made that connection thirty-seven years ago. He argued that music education could serve as vehicle for social change and was not interested in cultural funding. He made it clear that he wasn’t running a music program and focused on gaining support. The program currently serves over 400,000 children, mostly who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The impact has been so promising that the Venezuelan government has demanded that they serve 1,000,000 children annually while providing the funding to do so. This funding pays for community music schools they call nucleos, community orchestras, regional orchestras, professional orchestras, administrators, teachers, conservatories, and international touring. Everything. As society saves money, more gets invested in replicating the success. #

What if we demanded that our art be dignified with the mission of creating better human beings? What if our focus was 100% on developing responsible citizens and contributing members of society? Doesn’t the research prove those claims are possible? Aren’t the communities that could use it the most waiting to be engaged? What would the “side effects” to this mission be if we were able to tap into a reliable source of funding and put teaching artists at the service of our most vulnerable communities? How would Venezuela be damaged if El Sistema were to disappear tomorrow? Not only would Venezuelans hear the tree fall, they would feel it too. #

#]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2012/01/empty-forest-tree-falls-was-it-heard-or-felt/feed/ 1 http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2011/11/popz-advice/ http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2011/11/popz-advice/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:50:23 +0000 Stanford Thompson http://stanfordleon.wordpress.com/?p=37

Let what comes out of the bell speak for itself… #

Joe gave me great advice. He felt that my idea needed to be 1) Specific 2) Measurable 3) Ambitious 4) Realistic 5) Time-Based. I was scratching my head on Nos. 1, 2, and 4 – but I had the ambitious and time-based part down… I knew my first steps to figure this “thing” out was going to be very difficult and I honestly had no idea what I was going to do. A year after my meeting with Joe, I saw a video of Jose Abreu winning the TED Prize and I knew then, this is exactly what would answer Nos. 1, 2, and 4. I had a couple of months left in my education at The Curtis Institute of Music and I knew then, that I wanted to give these new ideas a chance. After completing the Abreu Fellows program at the New England Conservatory, I knew this was going to be a very challenging road ahead… #

Think about it… a music program that offers the best teaching artists, instruments, and musical opportunities to the city’s most underserved communities EVERYDAY for the entire year should not exist. Especially in a city where we have the nation’s oldest community music school, some of the world’s best youth orchestras, music conservatories, and professional orchestras. When the economy tells us to reduce and save, how could a program like this ever thrive? Why would one want to support something whose benefits aren’t entirely clear? Aren’t we already doing a great job with educating, performing, and engaging? #

This is when Popz’ advice was more crucial than ever… “Let what comes out of the bell speak for itself”. I knew that I would have to let the work speak for itself because it is unique and needed: #

It is my dream that one day, the City of Philadelphia will have ensemble programs in every community and that a child could walk ten blocks or less to fully immerse themselves in the musical process. It is my dream that one day, professional musicians will be the mentors to these young children, creating a strong bond between their art and the communities they serve. However, it is my ultimate dream to leave this city better than the way I found it and I believe there is no better way than sharing my love for music with others. This is my duty and responsibility as an artist and a human being. #

The French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupery inspired me several years ago with the quote: “If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.” We have a lot of work ahead of us to teach people to long for the endless opportunities music can provide and build the proper resources to do so. #

This is Music for Social Innovation. This is not a new strategy. This is not a new concept. This is not a new idea. Philadelphia has seen this before and throughout the past century, the focus of this strategy has shifted. I hope you’ll follow my stream of thoughts and experiences as I try to connect the dots and make a big dream become a reality. #]]> http://www.artsjournal.com/stanford/2011/08/i-have-something-to-say/feed/ 3