RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
A disturbing but not surprising article appeared in the Dispatch last Sunday informing central Ohioans of the inevitable with respect to the Columbus Symphony Orchestra: "As salaries drop, players look elsewhere." Due to severe financial problems, CSO players have experienced huge salary reductions, requiring them to look elsewhere for employment - even in different fields. Without a competitive pay schedule, CSO's future looks rather dismal.
Columbus Underground Messageboard » General Columbus Discussion
As salaries drop, CSO players look elsewhere
[10 posts] [9 contributors]
Topic Rating:
(Total Ratings: )
Rate this topic:
Rate this topic:
-
labi
Weinland Park
Login to Send PM
Let's remember how torn up the CU readership was over the prospect of losing the city's top classical musicians:
http://www.columbusunderground.com/columbus-symphony-approves-new-contract/comment-page-1
Posted 1 year ago # -
Central City Recording
Clintonville
Login to Send PM
Where are the subsidies for the independent music scene? Where's the salary for the guys that work 40 hours at Giant Eagle every week then put in another 20 hours in practices and hard earned personal money (not marketing budget) into promotions to get 300 people out to see their band on a Friday night? I'm not suggesting that should be subsidized, but if they have to work and create an audience to get themselves paid, why should the symphony be any different? If you're not selling enough tickets to pay for yourself, you're not doing your job. Maybe instead of looking for employment in :GASP: "other" fields, they could spend that time actively building their audience. I'm sorry but I'm just over it.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Brant
Gahanna
Login to Send PM
New circumstances, same old questions. To what degree should the public subsidize our cultural institutions? What is the line between amateur art (indie music) and professional art (classical music)? In a culturally diverse society, does it make sense to perpetuate antiquated notions of high art and low art? What is the line between art and entertainment? Are pro sports as important to community identity as pro musicians? How much should the public be asked to support art/entertainment that only appeals to a small subset of the community? ...and around and around we go.
See also:
http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/gop-ascendancy-bodes-ill-for-arts-funding
http://www.columbusunderground.com/forums/topic/empty-seats-at-blue-jacket-games
Posted 1 year ago # -
rus
Login to Send PM
Brant, you're right this has come up before. On this question specifically:
Brant wrote >>
In a culturally diverse society, does it make sense to perpetuate antiquated notions of high art and low art?Did you notice this from jeff_r's thread?
or http://bit.ly/fHri1N
if the spaces in that link get mangled.The Traditional Narrative: The Arts and “High Cultureâ€Â
Until recently, there was a dominant narrative to explain why arts and
culture are important to a community and a public responsibility – the arts have a unique ability to lift individuals and communities to a higher and better state. For much of the past century, supporters of the arts were able to evoke this strong and familiar idea about “high culture†to create a sense of public good.While this idea may have been strongest among elites, nevertheless it
offered a widely understood rationale for public support of the arts, related to the greater good. Unfortunately, it is clear that this narrative no longer shapes Cincinnatians’ thinking or discourse about the topic in a meaningful way.The idea that the arts have a unique ability to lift individuals and
communities to a higher and better state has died out almost without a
trace. For the most part, interview subjects in our research showed no
awareness that such an idea was ever significant to creation of local
organizations like the Cincinnati Opera or the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, for instance.Neither are current Cincinnati residents focused on embracing the
arts as a way of showing that they are “moving up.†Instead, they appear to see little or no connection between the arts and social class. The opera and so forth are simply niche tastes – things that some people happen to enjoy.In today’s more democratic, inclusive, and culturally diverse environment, the elevation narrative is basically irrelevant, and no new narrative has really taken its place. An important part of the art advocate’s rhetorical toolkit, a rationale for why the arts are
important to the greater good, has been lost.Think you're right to point out the idea of high and low art is, at least in the minds of the public, not prevalent.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Andrew Hall
Dennison Place (The Circles)
Login to Send PM
Brant wrote In a culturally diverse society, does it make sense to perpetuate antiquated notions of high art and low art?
Without defending the distinctions exactly, I think that distinctions between high and low art are perfectly compatible with a culturally diverse society. I would also argue that symphony orchestras and the like suffer even more so because of this. High art is capable of being non-European.
In the past, the *only* form of high art (limiting to music) available was classical music. Now, especially in larger cities, someone who seeks out high art has a larger range of choices from non-European sources. Diversity in high art has wrecked classical music's hegemony as much as "low" art.
Even if you are someone who chooses only high art, there is absolutely no reason to go to the symphony and remain compatible with those choices.
A.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Chris Sherman
East Franklinton
Login to Send PM
brant are you suggesting that someone who paints for a living {indie art} is not a professional? im confused? are you referring to education maybe? local music is amateur?
Posted 1 year ago # -
Brant
Gahanna
Login to Send PM
I'm not suggesting that at all. The line between amateur and professional seems more blurred than ever these days. I'm certainly not using the word "amateur" pejoratively, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the work produced.
But traditionally, if someone is working a couple of day jobs and pursuing art in their free time, they're said to be amateur. CSO players are paid an average of $35-40k a year, so theoretically they don't need to pursue additional work. They're considered full-time professionals.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Walker
The KLD / Downtown
Login to Send PM
Concertmaster resigns from post with orchestra
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
BY JEFFREY SHEBAN
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCHTwo weeks into a leave of absence, concertmaster Charles Wetherbee has decided to resign from the Columbus Symphony.
Wetherbee, 44, said yesterday he wouldn't return to his position, thus wrapping up a 16-year run as the leader of the string section, principal soloist and highest-paid musician in the orchestra.
Posted 1 year ago #
You must log in to post.
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.