You may have seen that the St. Louis Symphony experienced a pop-up protest urging a change of attitude in light of the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO.
I have looked at reporting on this event on Huffington Post, NPR and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
None of them answered the biggest question that came to mind–Why did they choose to do this at a St. Louis Symphony concert? Are there people from Ferguson who attend the concert that they hoped to influence?
The Washington Post article quotes one of the organizers as saying they wanted to “speak to a segment of the population that has the luxury of being comfortable,..”
But I wondered if that was their only aim or if they are hoping for something more. It seems like a lot of effort to jar people out of the comfort zone.
My assumption, which may be incorrect, was that it was perceived that people of influence in general attend symphony concerts and the planners of this intermission event hoped to mobilize the attendees to act either directly or indirectly. Is this at least a partial acknowledgment that a symphony still wields some relevance?
Perhaps their aim was simply to reinforce their parting message that black lives matter.
I doubt the answers to any of these questions are clearcut because there are complicated issues of racial and social demographics and power dynamics entwined with Ferguson, the symphony attendees and the flash mob.
As to whether they were successful or not is a matter of gauging whether more people were applauding than were visibly displeased.
Two weeks ago I wrote about my participation in an NEA webinar that stressed the value of the arts in healing communities. As I watched the video of this flash mob today, I wondered if the St. Louis Symphony had been recruited to serve as a convener for a conversation without their knowledge.
Is this an opportunity for the St. Louis Symphony or some other arts organization to facilitate a conversation about the issues facing the greater community?
I was there; my husband is the Timpanist. We agreed the main reasons SLSO’s performance was chosen were 1. It was broadcast live on radio and 2. Powell Hall was an excellent setting to ensure acoustics, rapt attention, and good video footage and photos for the desired media field day
Ah, I hadn’t considered that it might be broadcast live. That may be why they waited until just short of the downbeat at the top of the 2nd half since it was likely the broadcast feed had just went live again.
Yup, pretty much what JW said, at a guess from me. I was at the Sunday performance, and this incident was not repeated.
…had just GONE live again.
Joe – You may want to read the article in the St. Louis American, the African American paper in St. Louis. Their article gives some deeper insight on the group who organized the protest/demonstration.
http://www.stlamerican.com/news/local_news/article_d3d4e0b0-4c48-11e4-bc55-275aa0a96f33.html
Sarah-
Thanks, that does provide some additional insight into the event.
I think the choice to select a symphony concert is rooted in some unfortunate stereotypes. Here are more of my thoughts:
http://timothyjuddviolin.com/2014/10/politics-and-music-ferguson-protest-at-the-saint-louis-symphony/
Thanks Tim. I totally missed that first sentence about putting on sports jackets and dresses and I read it at least three times. As you say, there are a lot of assumptions and stereotypes tangled together in this situation.