So what's going on with the Pittsburgh Symphony?

[barry guerrero]

I looked at their schedule for next season and there's no Bruckner or Mahler on the schedule. It looked rather sparse and much more 'lightweight' than usual. Are they having money troubles? If so, I think Honeck will get drafted somewhere else.

[waderice]

Slight clarification, Barry - Honeck will conduct M5 June 17-19 (final concert of the season).

Wade

[barry guerrero]

Thanks. But they've also 'been there, done that'. With THAT brass section, why no Bruckner!

OK, now I've found this depressing article

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2015/03/15/Pittsburgh-Symphony-Orchestra-out-of-sync-with-potential-audiences-survey-finds/stories/201503150029

If were Honeck, I wouldn't stay one season more and would walk away. Let 'em become another Philip Glass/John Adams/Mason Bates/cheesy film scores orchestra. Then let's see how long those great brass principles stick around. Why not open a McDonald's and Disneyland next door. They could sell Steelers, Penguins and Pirates t-shirts at intermission (now called half-time). Doing social media during concerts should be encouraged as well. Fun for the whole family.

[ChrisH]

Maybe he'll end up with New York.

[John Kim]

I heard a live Honeck/PSO M6th that was supposed to be released by Exton, and can attest it was a GREAT concert by all accounts.

Shame on Exton for having failed to release it.

John

[barry guerrero]

"Maybe he'll end up with New York"

Probably so. But I think Chicago would be a better fit for Honeck (Muti won't stay that long), while Noseda could be perfect for N.Y.

[Steele]

http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2015/06/17/Honeck-s-status-the-big-question-at-the-Pittsburgh-Symphony/stories/201506170060

[barry guerrero]

They're doomed, especially if they're going to take those surveys seriously. Nothing truly great ever lasts.

Of course people on the street are going to say that a symphony orchestra is boring and doesn't represent them. Of course 'comping' free tickets all over the place is going to cause problems. Of course the demographic of those who attend symphony concerts includes a lot of grey hair and a few walkers. Why shouldn't it?

 Why are the results of the survey surprising to me them? If things in life weren't that way, the PSO would perform where the Steelers play, and the Steelers would play in Heniz Hall. 

They're NEVER going to cover the majority of their costs from ticket sales. They need to do a better job of fund raising and banging on corporate doors. The trick isn't to fill the hall with twenty-somethings, the trick is to entice 50-somethings, 40-somethings and latter 30-somethings into buying subscriptions and/or donating. You don't augment the grey hair by putting a bunch of Philip Glass-heads in the seats. Then the grey hairs will stop coming and you solved nothing.

Here's another point. If you're going to do evenings of movie scores, don't just do John Williams. That's been done to death. There are TONS of great classic movie scores. Roll the cameras, show the movie and perform the soundtrack live. See if you can get Robert Osborne or Ben Mankiewicz from TCM to host an evening.

Symphony orchestras and opera companies are not just competing against other forms of entertainment, they're competing against the ability of people to stay home and watch symphonies and operas in the comfort of their own homes. That's why going after endowments and corporate sponsorships is a must.

And by the way, regarding those much dreaded grey and blue-hairs  .   .    .   bus them in from the outer suburbs. Works every time.

[AZContrabassoon]

they're competing against the ability of people to stay home and watch symphonies and operas in the comfort of their own homes.

That's exactly the problem, and one without solution. Over 50 years ago, Glenn Gould said that in the future, concert halls will be gone as people stay home and listen to recordings. He was right. We know that a live performance with a great hall, great orchestra, good leadership and great music is the best way to experience the classics. But given costs and hassle of going to a concert, staying home is quite attractive, especially given the quality of playback equipment these days. Classical music isn't alone with this problem. It afflicts sports and movies, too.

The idea of playing film music sounds like a good idea, but it's not sustainable in the long run. For several years, our local orchestra had a conductor who did make quite a few well received soundtrack recordings.We had many concerts with film scores from Herrmann, Rozsa, Waxman, Korngold, Steiner -many of the masters. John Williams was left to the pops concerts. But as cool as it was to hear, it wasn't very nourishing.

[Phoenix]

But given costs and hassle of going to a concert, staying home is quite attractive, especially given the quality of playback equipment these days. Classical music isn't alone with this problem.

I might also add the length of the concert, or should I say, the shortness of the concert.  I wanted to attend a concert locally that included Tchaikovsky's 2nd sym, Rachmaninov's Paganini Rhapsody & Rimsky-Korsakov's Snow Maiden suite.  At first I was pretty excited about the concert until I realized there was maybe an hour and a half, tops, of music. 

Looking back, maybe I should have gone.  I really like Tchaikovky's 2nd, and the conductor was Gerard Schwarz!  I just couldn't get past the shortness of the concert.  They could at least have thrown in something short like Mahler's 3rd as an encore, right?   

[barry guerrero]

.    .    .  or "Gurre-Lieder"

[Phoenix]

.    .    .  or "Gurre-Lieder"

That works, too!

[Steele]

http://triblive.com/aande/music/8679716-74/percent-symphony-ticket#ixzz3frkBbA6E

[barry guerrero]

"One major recommendation presented at the League of American Orchestras annual convention in May was to increase flexible ticket-exchange programs"

That's a bit obvious, but the article went on to say that the PSO was already doing that.


" A bigger crowd provides better acoustics, too."

That's flat-out false.