“Hello fellow Proud Supporters of the Columbus Symphony!

I just wanted to write a brief note to all of the members of this Facebook group to announce that there is a benefit concert this Wednesday evening called “S.O.S.- Save Our Symphony!” concert at the Ohio State University School of Music’s Weigel Hall at 8pm. This is a chamber concert and this concert has no admission, although donations are HIGHLY ENCOURAGED!!

The Brothers and Sisters of PMA, SAI, KKY, and TBS are hosting this event and all donations will go to the musicians of the Columbus Symphony. They would like this event to be a success and are asking that you all make room in your busy schedules to come out and support the CSO, and perhaps even to donate to the cause! Please invite all of your family and friends for a night of some great music!

Go to the link below to read more and RSVP for the event:

http://osu.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8003737021

Reminder: blog address with the latest news:

http://www.proudsupportersofthecolumbussymphony.blogspot.com

Thanks once again for your support of the Columbus Symphony!!”

I’m curious: how do the Indie Art proponents feel about all the $upport needed to bail out these stodgy old institutions? Should some of these dinosaurs be retired to make way for new artists and new institutions?

On Sirius’ Symphony channel, the host was talking about new recordings from the symphonies in Louisville, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham. Does the CSO have/had anything like this in the works?

Why do these symphonies rate being noticed in this regard? Never heard of any of ‘em, though I am sure they are competent. I have to figure than anything Louisville can do, we can do better though.

A.

I need to get me some tickets.

The Dispatch wrote As clouds hover over the Columbus Symphony, three musicians ponder the future . . .

Sunday, February 3, 2008

BY TIM FERAN AND MICHAEL GROSSBERG

If the Columbus Symphony — facing a $1.5 million deficit after a record deficit of $2.2 million the previous season — were cut from 53 to 31 full-time players and its number of performances were reduced, the lives of musicians would change.

Some could continue as full-time players, while others might be engaged on a per-concert basis only.

The downsizing proposal by the symphony board and management will be discussed between now and the end of August, when the musicians’ contract expires.

READ MORE

TBDFITL wrote [First off, nice votes. :) I think that’s going to be a successful weekend for the symphony.

Assuming anyone buys tickets …

Oh dear, time to be negative again. I tried to purchase tickets for the 4/20 show since I want to go regardless of what get voted in or what we do here. Can’t do it. It doesn’t show up on the calendar or for ticket purchase.

Yutzes.

A.

Andrew Hall wrote

gmcsoccer wrote on the dress note…i don’t wear suits or ties to performances (maybe the occassional sport coat), and i may have drawn a stare for one of the “fuddy-duddies”, but who cares. go, enjoy the music, and make an evening of it.

To be clear – I agree with that sentiment and I hope it is universal. I do think that some people are put off by the notion that you have to dress up. On a whole ‘nother (and private) site, I’ve had a tiff about this very matter.

Hey Walker and TB…! How about Sunday Apr 20 for the meet-up and CSO mixer? They are running a survey online for people to vote their fav pieces and have them performed. Be a really good one and good time for this.

Linkie here

I voted for Wagner’s Overture to Tannhauser and Mussorgsky’s Gudonov. Neither will win, but that’s cool.

A.

First off, nice votes. :) I think that’s going to be a successful weekend for the symphony.

Great idea, especially the Sunday performance. Sundays are always less frequented, so a healthy group would be wonderful.

There are some issues right now in the marketing/box office department (LOTS of turnover in the past 6 weeks), so a group will need some special care. Luckily, I used to be the CSO’s group sales manager. Unfortunately, they haven’t hired my replacement. I need to hear back from Walker about what he thinks, but I’ll see what can be done in the meantime. :D

gmcsoccer wrote on the dress note…i don’t wear suits or ties to performances (maybe the occassional sport coat), and i may have drawn a stare for one of the “fuddy-duddies”, but who cares. go, enjoy the music, and make an evening of it.

To be clear – I agree with that sentiment and I hope it is universal. I do think that some people are put off by the notion that you have to dress up. On a whole ‘nother (and private) site, I’ve had a tiff about this very matter.

Hey Walker and TB…! How about Sunday Apr 20 for the meet-up and CSO mixer? They are running a survey online for people to vote their fav pieces and have them performed. Be a really good one and good time for this.

Linkie here

I voted for Wagner’s Overture to Tannhauser and Mussorgsky’s Gudonov. Neither will win, but that’s cool.

A.

on the dress note…i don’t wear suits or ties to performances (maybe the occassional sport coat), and i may have drawn a stare for one of the “fuddy-duddies”, but who cares. go, enjoy the music, and make an evening of it. whenever i go, i try to find a nice meal before or after. it just makes for a nice break from everything else.

p.s. i did like the idea of the CSO promoting dinner before or after (might even get kickbacks from restaurants) and some kind of post concert gathering/meet & greet.

I imagine the CSO has some of the same problems as WOSU 89.7 FM does. From that article:

First, we have experienced a loss of 25% of our FM 89.7 audience over the past decade.

Ok, not much you can do about changing the past. Noted. Move on and forget it.

Second, the AM band is struggling, with many people under 40 not even realizing it’s available to them.

WOSU is doing some good stuff recently with the Social Media Cafe, twittering, etc. They are getting integrated. CSO should do the same.

continue to carry “live” concerts from CSO, ProMusica, and the Columbus Jazz Orchestra.

CSO should stream concerts online. If they are… they should figure out a way to let people like me know that. Why not a virtual Symphony? It happens live, streams online, people are twittering it, etc.

In addition, WOSU will provide a 24-hour local/national classical service on http://www.wosu.org and on the second channel of FM 89.7 HD.

Options are good. More options are better. Not sure how you apply that to CSO, but it is something to think about.

We intend to expand local arts coverage during the NPR blocks of programming to develop more interest in our local performing arts organizations

I’d love to see the CSO represented in some way at Agora. While with that show we have done a good job representing more of the emerging arts scene, we could do great things by bridging the gap between emerging artists and established Arts institutions.

I know I want to see CSO succeed.

And, finally, just publishing that- engaging people via communication is great. This is what WOSU is doing here- making a partner out of its audience.

It seems to me that CSO & classical music in general IS trying quite a few things to adapt to the times — Pops performances, theme nights, guest musicians, etc. Just that these changes either don’t meet with the approval of the critics, or (more to the bottom line) still aren’t enough to fix the underlying problems.

Chuck (2) wrote If you only put that much energy into saying something positive about the current state of classical music, then maybe everything would work out for the best. I thought I was negative about the classical music scene…sheesh!

.

“I only hit you because I love you” ?

Yep, my negativity on CU or in general is what has depressed ticket sales and made the orchestratra “on the brink.” Did you notice the thread title? It is not about fluffy bunnies. It is about something approaching an autopsy. I am the (jumping the gun, I’ll grant and hope) coroner.

Did you notice that I also made a very positive suggestion to Walker and those of us w/ CSO hook-ups?

I am also negative because I am tired of the classical music industry’s constant bitching and whining. We have been going through this same drama for a generation now, across the board and not just Columbus. Each infusion of cash from a dead donor is like giving an addict one more hit of smack – it just makes the addict happy and lets him ignore the real problem.

I am really negative because I see the logical progression to a classical music ensemble having nothing left of “classical” in it, being all about the Pops and Popcorn. I’d rather see it die.

Staying in our little sandbox here, what are you doing positive? I posted bullish comments on the performance of the Ninth. Alas, travel has prevented me from going to the other concerts I wanted to, but I will post at least a small review when I do. No one followed up. Have you or any of the others posted same? Aside from the video game music concert, there has been nothing specific to particular CSO concerts.

A.

PS – Here is my positive suggestion for the day : The CSO should create the 43215 Outreach. Work with the developers and give 2 symphony tickets to everyone who buys/rents the new residential properties in the inner downtown. Promote that fact you can walk to it. “Stroll to Strauss.” “Lope to Lizst.” “Shuffle to Schoenberg.” “Mosey to Mozart.”