This came in a comment to one of my solutions post, from Katy Clark, the Executive Director of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, in New York. Thanks, Katy! I feel free to post it here, because as a blog comment, it’s already public:
I’d love to have more reports, from more people.
Here’s what Katy wrote. It’s another solutions post:
Orchestra of St. Luke’s just did a project that might be of interest here. As an Orchestra that has always been itinerant, this year we decided to do a musical “Subway Series”. Five free concerts over five days in the five boroughs. We played at Snug Harbor, Wave Hill, the Brooklyn Museum, Flushing Town Hall and the Church of St. Luke in the Fields. We even had music for five players – all Mozart. WNYC was our media partner and we launched the series with a webcast from the Greene Space. We had two great partners, City Harvest, and the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. 2,000 people came and loved the concerts and we collected almost a ton of food! Hope we can do it again if our budget permits, but it was a wonderful way to make a lot of new friends.
Without wanting to take away anything from the success of this project, or Katy’s delight in it…
In New York, the words “subway series” mean games between the Mets and the Yankees, either the World Series (if the two teams happen to meet there, as they did in 2000), or the two series of interleague games they play every year. No blame to St, Luke’s for latching onto this, but now I’m imagining events that would play more tightly into what “siubway series” usually means.
In each borough, could they compete against a local ensemble — both could play on the same concert — and have the audience vote on who won? In Brooklyn, they could play the Brooklyn Philharmonic, or, more interesting, Brooklyn Rider (which would pit an established, polished group — St. Luke’s — against younger players with more of an alt-classical edge).
In Manhattan — well, St. Luke’s is from Manhattan, so if we take “Subway Series” literally, they shouldn’t compete against another Manhattan group. But why not do it anyway? There’s no shortage of competitors.
In some of the other boroughs, it might be harder to set up an equal playing field. Or am I being unfair to musicians, in Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island?
Anyhow, I like the idea.
And I’d love to ask Katy about the 2000 friends she says St. Luke’s made. Are they keeping in touch with these people? Creating more events for them to be involved with? Finding ways for them to participate on the St. Luke’s website?
These are key ways to keep friends, these days.