U.S. Symphony Orchestras

Markets have crashed before and orchestras did not go out of business. I suspect something more fundamental is at work. Is the model of philanthropic financing still viable? How far can anything go relying upon the kindness of strangers?

Also does corporate/philanthropy sponsorship influence the musical programming? I'm speculating, but people giving millions to orchestras probably want to hear music that they know about and not something on the adventurous side.

Regarding the top 20 list -- I'm in no way qualified to verify it's accuracy. Your thoughts would be most appreciated.

Time to think outside the box and bring the symphony orchestra into the 21st century. Just a few random ideas to make the orchestra more relevant to more people in today's market for attention.

Allow tweeting by musicians during performances. It's not as if every musician is playing during every moment of a performance. Why not let him/her tweet their thoughts during those idle moments? Find out what the brass section really thinks about the guest conductor.

Appear regularly at non-classical music festivals. Why not the CSO at Lollapalooza or Baltimore SO at Ozzfest? The London SO at Stonehenge on a solstice -- trippy!

Link classical music to a reality TV show. Screw dancing, how about "Conducting With the Stars"? A series where a group of non-musician celebrities attempt (with the help of a real maestro) to conduct an orchestra through a musical movement. The audience then votes on who continues to the next week. Half of the show would be actual performances, with the balance being the conductor teaching and explaining to the celeb how to understand and direct the music.

And of course, there's the obvious -- "Symphonic Idol".

Some of these ideas are crazy, but so is MMA. I'd just hate to symphony orchestra go the way of the vinyl record.