“As members of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians gather in Park City this week, one of the most important items on their agenda is how to prove their value in an ever-growing and competitive entertainment industry,” writes Lottie Elizabeth Johnson in Monday’s (8/19) Deseret News (Salt Lake City, Utah). “ ‘We have to remain relevant. That’s an issue for everybody, is how do the orchestras keep their profile in the public eye,’ said Meredith Snow, chair of ICSOM and a longtime violist in the Los Angeles Philharmonic…. Being relevant in a saturated musical world isn’t the only big issue the conference is tackling. The full-time musicians are also exploring how to find new donors, how to diversify their audiences and how to tackle the age-old trouble of salaries.… ‘You look at most orchestras, we’re very white … that does not reflect the society that we live in,’ Snow said. ‘We need to be looking at inclusion and diversity, and offering female composers and conductors and people of color and Latinx … You just have to keep your community alive and connected and vibrant, and I think that the arts, that’s what they’re there for.’ ”
Posted August 22, 2019
