“In delivering this year’s Royal Philharmonic Society Lecture in London on Wednesday, Alan Gilbert, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, lamented the narrow ways in which the roles of orchestras and their leaders are sometimes viewed,” writes Michael Cooper in Wednesday’s (4/15) New York Times. “Gilbert’s address, titled ‘Orchestras in the 21st Century; a new paradigm,’ touched on the changing roles being embraced by some orchestras as they adapt to new challenges, the importance of forging connections with audiences and communities and how to keep expanding the repertoire with new music without alienating audiences.… He warned that one approach—to compartmentalize new music by playing it only in special concerts devoted to it … would preclude concerts like the exciting one last month in which Thomas Adès made his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic with a program of Beethoven, Berlioz, and Mr. Adès’s own ‘Totentanz.’ … He recommended building trust with players and audiences so that they are all willing to try new things, and willing to give them the benefit of the doubt because of the track record established over time.” A more complete transcript of Gilbert’s lecture appears in Wednesday’s (4/15) Guardian (London).
Posted April 17, 2015
