Back on the Islands...
More bad, but not unexpected, news; the Honolulu Symphony is filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has canceled concerts through the end of the calendar year.
I am heartsore. Honolulu is my home town, and the Symphony holds many memories for me - I played my first concerto with them (Mozart K. 271, I think) as a preteen. They saw their heyday in the 80's under Donald Johanos, who raised artistic standards and introduced new repertoire, including an ambitious recording project with composer Dan Welcher (who coincidentally composed "Haleakala" on my parents upright Yamaha). Since the labor dispute and strike in 1993, the Symphony seems never to have regained it's footing, and the last few seasons in particularly have been disastrous from a fiscal standpoint - during the 08-09 season, musicians worked for months without pay.
I'll let someone else dissect what went wrong with the symphony. What was most upsetting to me was not so much what has happened, but reaction to it. The advent of online print media and that ever-present "comment" button means that everyone has an easy way to weigh in immediately, and as I scrolled through the responses, I realized that a vast majority expressed a similar sentiment: "Who cares? We don't need a symphony." A selection below:
It is said if a city doesn't have a symphony then it is not a Big City. Bull. If a symphony doesn't get 100 percent of its operating capital from ticket sales then it is just a failed business and should fold. Symphonys are just play toys for the rich. Honolulu will do fine with or without a symphony. The rich will just have to find another place where they can dress up in their finest and go to show off how rich they are. If symphonys were so great they would be packed to the rafters with both the rich and the average folk.
Yikes..their business plans says that only 30% of their revenue came from ticket sales and 70% from donations. It should have gone the other way around. No wonder they fail to balance their budget each year. Yes, close these dolts down.
109 yrs old, and unable to support yourself, time to die already.
The culture and traditions of the European elite are what have brought this planet to the brink of disaster.
No thank you. You can keep the music of dead white European composers. Good riddance to the symphony.
We are all sick of the fiscal mismanagement of this mediocre symphony. Please close it. We need to discuss more important groups. The economy is in a disaster.
I wish the musicians well, but symphonies are a relic of another time.
Get rid of the strings and form a Jazz band. More appealing. Maybe have a guest violinist from time to time.
Symphony = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzz
The symphony is just a way for the rich to dress up and act rich.
Why is it that we hear from month to month and year to year how bad they are doing? How is it that they are constantly getting all this free press? I guess they are failing because !) they suck 2) noone care about them 3) they have done a miserable job of promotion...bottom line is that it is not my problem...or anyone elses but theirs.
All of these touch on the PR problems that all orchestras face - the perception that orchestras are elite bastions of the rich (and therefore not for "the people"); that orchestras are sadly out of touch with current cultural trends (and care only about "dead white European composers"); that orchestras ticket sales should represent a far higher percentage of their actual budgets.
As with anyone in this industry, I can refute (to a certain degree) all three, but the important take-away from this is not discrediting criticism but rather grasping the perception of those in the community who do NOT have a relationship with their local orchestra. And the level of local vitriol directed towards the Honolulu Symphony in all of the articles that have come out in the last week is deeply disheartening. Because it's not like the Symphony didn't have educational initiatives or community concerts or programs to reach out to the larger public; it's that these activities could not alter or overcome the more powerful notions of what the Symphony represents.
It presents a tremendous PR/branding conundrum for orchestras. On one hand, you want to celebrate your artistic triumphs abroad or your critically-acclaimed recordings. But in the end, the success of any arts organizations lies in the connections it has forged and the loyalty it has built in the community it serves.
I hope the Honolulu Symphony will be able to regroup - it's certainly possible for an orchestra to rise out these ashes (others have). From my own perspective, the Symphony was such a fundamental part of my childhood; I don't think I would be where I am now without them and can't imagine home without them. And for the Island community as a whole, what a loss, what a loss - the Symphony brought so much joy to so many, from their Waikiki Shell summer shows to their educational concerts to presenting world-class soloists at Blaisdell... I await better news with both anxiety and hope.
I am heartsore. Honolulu is my home town, and the Symphony holds many memories for me - I played my first concerto with them (Mozart K. 271, I think) as a preteen. They saw their heyday in the 80's under Donald Johanos, who raised artistic standards and introduced new repertoire, including an ambitious recording project with composer Dan Welcher (who coincidentally composed "Haleakala" on my parents upright Yamaha). Since the labor dispute and strike in 1993, the Symphony seems never to have regained it's footing, and the last few seasons in particularly have been disastrous from a fiscal standpoint - during the 08-09 season, musicians worked for months without pay.
I'll let someone else dissect what went wrong with the symphony. What was most upsetting to me was not so much what has happened, but reaction to it. The advent of online print media and that ever-present "comment" button means that everyone has an easy way to weigh in immediately, and as I scrolled through the responses, I realized that a vast majority expressed a similar sentiment: "Who cares? We don't need a symphony." A selection below:
It is said if a city doesn't have a symphony then it is not a Big City. Bull. If a symphony doesn't get 100 percent of its operating capital from ticket sales then it is just a failed business and should fold. Symphonys are just play toys for the rich. Honolulu will do fine with or without a symphony. The rich will just have to find another place where they can dress up in their finest and go to show off how rich they are. If symphonys were so great they would be packed to the rafters with both the rich and the average folk.
Yikes..their business plans says that only 30% of their revenue came from ticket sales and 70% from donations. It should have gone the other way around. No wonder they fail to balance their budget each year. Yes, close these dolts down.
109 yrs old, and unable to support yourself, time to die already.
The culture and traditions of the European elite are what have brought this planet to the brink of disaster.
No thank you. You can keep the music of dead white European composers. Good riddance to the symphony.
We are all sick of the fiscal mismanagement of this mediocre symphony. Please close it. We need to discuss more important groups. The economy is in a disaster.
I wish the musicians well, but symphonies are a relic of another time.
Get rid of the strings and form a Jazz band. More appealing. Maybe have a guest violinist from time to time.
Symphony = zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzz
The symphony is just a way for the rich to dress up and act rich.
Why is it that we hear from month to month and year to year how bad they are doing? How is it that they are constantly getting all this free press? I guess they are failing because !) they suck 2) noone care about them 3) they have done a miserable job of promotion...bottom line is that it is not my problem...or anyone elses but theirs.
All of these touch on the PR problems that all orchestras face - the perception that orchestras are elite bastions of the rich (and therefore not for "the people"); that orchestras are sadly out of touch with current cultural trends (and care only about "dead white European composers"); that orchestras ticket sales should represent a far higher percentage of their actual budgets.
As with anyone in this industry, I can refute (to a certain degree) all three, but the important take-away from this is not discrediting criticism but rather grasping the perception of those in the community who do NOT have a relationship with their local orchestra. And the level of local vitriol directed towards the Honolulu Symphony in all of the articles that have come out in the last week is deeply disheartening. Because it's not like the Symphony didn't have educational initiatives or community concerts or programs to reach out to the larger public; it's that these activities could not alter or overcome the more powerful notions of what the Symphony represents.
It presents a tremendous PR/branding conundrum for orchestras. On one hand, you want to celebrate your artistic triumphs abroad or your critically-acclaimed recordings. But in the end, the success of any arts organizations lies in the connections it has forged and the loyalty it has built in the community it serves.
I hope the Honolulu Symphony will be able to regroup - it's certainly possible for an orchestra to rise out these ashes (others have). From my own perspective, the Symphony was such a fundamental part of my childhood; I don't think I would be where I am now without them and can't imagine home without them. And for the Island community as a whole, what a loss, what a loss - the Symphony brought so much joy to so many, from their Waikiki Shell summer shows to their educational concerts to presenting world-class soloists at Blaisdell... I await better news with both anxiety and hope.
Labels: all music is local, orchestras not named minnesota, state of the art, the business of music
posted by Sarah at
9:13 PM
7 Comments:
Those comments are horrible! I wish so many people didn't have that impression. And I know two people who JUST moved out there to play with the orchestra!
If it is any consolation, I just had a student go to the LA Phil and write a report about it for extra credit. He's in 6th grade. He described it as "a much better experience than I thought it would be." In fact, he met some of the LA Phil trombones and loved it. So if we can just get people there, maybe they, too will have much better experiences than they are expecting!
Please do not take to heart the internet commentary re. the passing of the symphony. There are very few corners of the internet where ignorant and/or angry folk don't find an anonymous outlet. It's hard to appreciate the symphony if you're sitting at home in your underwear and spewing anger into the virtual world.
My favorite of the idiotic comments:
Military bands and the Royal Hawaiian band are more exciting and sound better. I hate string instruments. They require less skill and stamina.
Yes. Of course they do. Which is why most professional string players began studying the instrument around age 4 or 5 and practice 3-4 hours a day, while thousands of excellent wind and brass players took up their instruments in junior high or high school. Because string instruments are totally easy to play.
oof, that's rough :( Sarah, did you ever get a chance for a "homecoming" concert, either conducting or performing?
Sarah, maybe not all hope is lost. According to this, subscribers aren't clamoring for refunds:
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091111/NEWS01/911110352/Honolulu+Symphony+says+most+patrons+not+seeking+refunds
Perhaps there's some possibility that the HSO can use this as a means of coming back.
Thanks also for the pointer to the Oakland-East Bay Symphony. I attended a few of its concerts ~30 years ago when it was the Oakland Symphony. My violin teacher and one of my high school math teachers played in it. They had a charismatic, gifted young MD, Calvin Simmons, who perished in a boating accident in the early '80s. It is nice to see that they've managed to come back in some fashion although it has taken a very long time.
Thank you for this thoughtful blog. I, too, grew up in Hawaii in the 60s and 70s. While my parents attended the more formal Tuesday evenings, they were trusting enough to drop off their three older children to attend the Symphony subscription series on Sunday afternoons. What a gift. I started attending (unsupervised) with my two older siblings when I was 8 years old. From our 3rd row center seats, I spent the next ten years learning and loving all there is about an orchestra--the repertoire, the personnel, the dynamic and personal communication between musicians. That experience has never left me; here in Boston I have run the Longwood Symphony since 1991.
In Hawaii, like in many small cities across our country, the musicians of the Honolulu Symphony are the backbone of music education for the young people. The best teachers in Honolulu are also the revered members of the orchestra. This is the loss that will continue to reverberate down through every pore of the community.
I pray the Honolulu Symphony will come back in some incarnation, for the sake of the next generations of people like Sarah.
lisa, you are absolutely right, where they will be truly missed is as educators - my first viola teacher was in the honolulu symphony - i'm concerned for the future of music ed in hawaii.
steve, i never got a homecoming, but i'm not giving up hope that there will be a symphony to conduct in the future!
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