Sometimes it’s really important to get a reality check. We spend so much time worrying about the state of the music industry that we forget that what we do is not the most important thing going on in the world. Yes, it’s important to us and our audience, and occasionally we have some little impact on the greater society, but there’s a lot going on out there in the real world. Yesterday was my reality check.
Today I noticed a very scary article that was posted on ArtsJournal on Friday. The US society has gotten to the point where there are some States spending more on prisons then they are on higher education. If this doesn’t scare the livin’ bejesus out of you then……….
Artists are always amongst the first ones that totalitarian regimes suppress. It is the individuality that makes dictators nervous, and the ability through art to expose fundamental truths. The question arises today about the value of cultural exchanges between (relative) democracies and dictatorships. Is it worth while? The New York Philharmonic is about to find out.