“Since August, visitors to the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s website have been greeted with a ‘closed for maintenance’ message. Music director Alan Pierson’s contract expired in June and hasn’t been renewed and the administrative staff has left,” reports Brian Wise at New York City classical-music radio station WQXR’s blog on Friday (10/18). “An orchestra source, who declined to speak on record, says the group is experiencing severe financial difficulties due to a drop in fundraising. ‘Philanthropy is the biggest challenge facing the reorganization of the Brooklyn Philharmonic today, in 2013,” said Joseph Melillo, the executive producer at the Brooklyn Academy of Music where, a decade ago, the Philharmonic had a full subscription season.… Pierson declined to comment for this story. Other musicians spoke nostalgically of the 1980s and ‘90s, when … Lukas Foss and Robert Spano led the ensemble in programs that mixed traditional and new works … [and] twice appeared on the David Letterman Show.… The orchestra had some successes, including a pair of sold-out shows with R&B singer Erykah Badu last June, and some great reviews. To some, the orchestra’s struggles reflect a broader concern: in a borough that has seen a wide artistic renaissance, classical music struggles to find a niche.”
Posted October 18, 2013
