In two blog entries this month at Polyphonic.org, Ann Drinan writes about the recently concluded League of American Orchestras National Conference in St. Louis. On July 15, Drinan covers the Conference’s keynote address by Elizabeth Merritt. (Merritt’s address may be viewed here.) In Drinan’s July 9 conversation with longtime orchestra manager Peter Pastreich, Pastreich offer his personal views of some of the issues facing orchestras. “From the ’60s until recently we’ve had an uninterrupted expansion period—the economy was exceptional throughout the country as well. We are affected by what happens in the outer world recessions—we had one in the ’70s, two in the ’80s, and one in the ’90s—but they didn’t affect us very much.… 2008 was different.… I went back to work full-time in 2009 and it wasn’t as much fun because it was a different atmosphere. The recession had hit hard and one third of our board members lost their jobs. Not the CEOs but high level executives; they had to resign from the board. Major orchestras were also experiencing problems, with long-standing board members who now couldn’t afford to support orchestras.… The future of orchestras: I am not worried that there won’t be orchestras in the future; there will be plenty of orchestras to manage 50 to 100 years from now. Look at all these kids in conservatories—if there were no future, why would they be there?” Read the entire interview here.
Posted July 17, 2013
