It was a long and fascinating week at the National Performing Arts Convention last week, likely to launch a hundred future blog entries. First, it all needs time to settle.
In the meantime, some tidbits and pointers from some of the conversations in Pittsburgh that might be worth your attention:
- The San Francisco Symphony demoed its new on-line initiative with PBS called ‘Keeping Score‘ that’s raises the bar on interactive classical music exploration. Just take a browse through the Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony (and especially the ‘explore the orchestra’ section) to see the current state of interactive, on-line education. The price tag on the effort is another question, with some estimates I heard topping over $500K. I often wonder why the San Francisco doesn’t then license these systems to non-competing orchestras in other regions to earn some revenue back, and share the power of what they’ve created.
- NEA Chairman Dana Gioia was on the lecture circuit during the combined conferences (I saw him four times). Common themes were the Endowment’s ‘masterworks’ efforts to introduce Americans to great American works of art. Another phrase that came up often was that ‘the purpose of the NEA is not to serve arts organizations, but to serve the American people,’ which went over like a lead balloon at the collective plenary.
- Regardless of the outcomes of the conference, many of us were pleased and surprised with the number of peers and old friends that were there together, from many different disciplines. I heard more than once a participant saying something like: ‘I think everybody I’ve ever known in my career is here.’ I look forward to hearing if the connection of old friends was also enhanced by the creation of new connections between strangers.
That’s it for now. More coming soon.
