Creative Collaborations American Style How U.S. orchestras and choruses are planning to survive
BY S. JAMES WEGG
For three days in sweltering Atlanta, Georgia well over 1,000 delegates representing orchestras and choruses of all shapes, sizes and budgets met in the state capital to hunker down on their very survival. The conference theme, “It’s time to take on the future” permeated every session, discussion and performance. With a spate of bankruptcies occurring during previous financial upheavals (San Diego Symphony, Colorado Springs Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic) no one wanted to be next on the “out-of-cash/out-of-art” list, even if most companies rise from the ashes in one form or another—forced to make changes instead of planning for them. The business of art was poked, prodded and pilloried by an array of distinguished panellists and presenters. In many ways the most provocative keynote was provided by Russell Willis Taylor in her talk: “There Are No Crises, Only Tough Decisions.” Taylor’s extensive background both in business (DMB&B advertising agency) and arts management (stints as the first-ever fund developer then executive director of the English National Opera) made her the ideal choice to speak frankly about the danger of systemic inertia with tongue planted firmly in cheek, she led the charge for change armed with a slide presentation that relied mightily on satire to make her many telling points. “How to Fail in Business Without Really Trying” was the motto. Slipping in supporting anecdotes and asides to her always engaging delivery, the assembled managers, executives and employees were given a prescription for a swift end to their “sacred” operations (after all, classical music has been here for centuries—how could it possibly disappear?).
Here are a few samples: • Never make an empirical decision—ignore data (especially if you don’t have any). • Create more value for your employees than for your customers.
• Fear new technologies of all kinds. • Blame your customer for miserable ticket sales failure. (If you play it they may not come.) • Don’t accept that uncertainty is the price of innovation.
Subscribe to any or all of these behaviours and your demised is assured. Not surprisingly given Taylor’s career, this list could apply equally well to commercial as well as not-for profit entities. An admitted devotee of research driving products (concerts) and strategies (especially marketing), the current-day consultant took the statement of income and expenses for a number of major U.S. orchestras (budgets~$5 million+), stripped the orchestral jargon out of the category descriptions then asked a top financial analysis firm to both examine the fiscal health of the organization and also speculate as to what kind of business the figures represented. The unanimous reply? These were the financial statements of airlines. After the initial laughter died away, Taylor made the observation that, in many ways, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Delta Airlines were both in a business that tried to sell as many seats as possible with huge amounts of fixed costs. Once more, business and the arts found commonality not previously contemplated. Happily, Taylor was equally generous with her remedies. Of those, two stood out and are equally applicable south of the border as in Niagara. “Create relationships, don’t amass audiences,” rang truer than the final cadence played by the Atlanta Symphony Brass Quintet that heralded the beginning of the afternoon’s proceedings. “Arts organizations have [now] to be about somebody, not for someone.” So many art-producing companies (Gypsy Theatre, Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects, Music Niagara come immediately to mind here) are so connected to their artistic directors, that the collapse or removal of any of them will likely cause the end of the entity. Businesses large and small also struggle with singular leadership that does not plan for succession. Combining just those two, organizations who want to continue and flourish for generations to come, must embrace, speak with and understand their audience like never before. With the global emergence of the individual as their own personal arts curators (Why go to a concert if I can download it and listen to it whenever I want to?), those who create and produce art must speak to the public just as clearly as the material they present. Failure to do so will be the fast track to oblivion and a viral tweet.
S. James Wegg is managing editor of James Wegg Review (JWR). The popular on-line Ezine, has over 1,000 articles related to fine arts and film including reviews, previews, interviews and commentaries. Further information can be found on the website: www.jamesweggreview.org; contact by phone 905-938-2850 or email jamesweggreview@bellnet.ca.
The Uncomfort Zone
