U.S. Symphony Orchestras

HI Rok2id - I understand where you are coming from in your last post - many orchestra boards or management teams have a hard time stating problems, and many musicians don't help matters either. However, "acting like a business" is not always the answer. Some boards think they can run an orchestra like they run their for-profit corporations, and those with that attitude usually fail spectacularly. Arts organizations are very different animals from the for-profit corporate world. Producing great art must be first and foremost - otherwise no one is going to support the organization. Far too many orchestras (and other arts organizations) are cutting the product (meaning not just in dollars but in quality) and paying the price for it.

Another weird thing is that many arts organizations do not like to advertise that they are beginning to have financial trouble, claiming that no one wants to give to an organization in trouble. So they wait until it is far too late, often drastically cutting back the product the while. That trick never works.

Hi Brownsfan - thanks for the comments. Regarding the governance structure of orchestras, these can be quite a bit different from group to group, and then as far as fund-raising goes, there are always big arts donor politics, which are different in each locale and can be very tricky (fortunately, the musicians have nothing to do with any of that, though it does greatly effect management). The executive board is ultimately the responsible party, though, you are correct there. The management team runs the organization for them. Often the vast majority of the full board members have no idea what is going on, and don't want to know - they just blindly trust the executive board. But every organization is different, and it is hard to make generalizations. The size of orchestra boards vary greatly, as well, as do the size of the management teams.

You mentioned endowments - one fascinating aspect of these that many people have no understanding of is that sometimes they are actually not much help at all as far as operating expenses go. It depends on whether the contributions are "donor-restricted" or not. The donors can put all kinds of stupid restrictions if they want, and there is not a damn thing anybody can do about it, rendering the contribution essentially untouchable and useless. So some orchestras that may have what looks like a sizeable endowment can't actually put it to any constructive use whatsoever, even if everyone involved wants to do so, unless they can convince the donor to remove the restriction. You would be shocked at some of the stories I have heard about donor-restrictions in various orchestras around the country.

it seems rather odd that the BSO,which is probably the most financially endowed orchestra in the world,isn't in the top 10.i realize that these ratings are subjective,but you have to wonder why their standing isn't little higher.does anyone have any ideas?

It's a British / European Publication??

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.