There is a free fall happening that is hard to get our collective heads around, and the infighting going on in orchestras is shutting out the most valuable and viable of voices, the audience. Whether it’s a lockout (Indy), a force in (Jacksonville), a bankruptcy or a strike, the “why can’t we all just get along” cliche is actually appropriate for a very specific reason….
We can actually be replaced. It might be blasphemous to say this, but along with the intimacy a live performance may bring, it can also turn people off if they don’t like who they are coming to listen to because of the way they are conducting themselves (pardon the pun). In a protracted battle the consumer has a clear choice:
- Go hear a compromised orchestra that has collectively turned their own people off with the open bickering back and forth in the press.
- Hear a recorded/live streamed video/audio performance available any time for free or at minimal cost where the listener can focus on the music, rather than wonder what the management, the board and the musicians are feeling about each other in the midst of a contentious labor situation.
There’s a double edged sword to transparency where if there is more focus at a concert on 1, then they the audience and the donors will prefer to go with 2! They want to hear music not noise. It’s very distressing to read about what is going on especially because the “who’s right and who’s wrong” argument is irrelevant to an audience because everyone is wrong in their eyes in an ongoing and protracted battle. Amplifying the negative makes people walk in the other direction and the press is not sunlight, it’s a spotlight that they control 100%. The message is distorted or lost when it is given to them, and then the extra layer of “I didn’t say that”, “my words were taken out of context” adds yet another level of contentiousness. With all the railing against atonality and dissonance on stage in musical works, it seems that this dissonance is all you hear off stage in the media releases so is it any wonder why it turns people off? Doesn’t it make sense then to work this out behind closed doors and GET IT OUT OF THE PRESS? It’s worse now also for the fact that it is not just in a paper anymore but online 24/7 with the ability for the contentiousness in the comments section to continue ad nauseum much to the delight for those in the online advertising department who can make money off of this!
If you are going to do a press release, then there should be a sworn commitment to do it jointly with each side’s approval, and fashioned into a statement that engages the community for their advice and help. For example:
The Musicians, Management and Board are having an ongoing and serious discussion about the future of the organization and how it can 1. best serve the community 2. continue to grow in artistic excellence 3. be fiscally responsible and sustainable whilst taking care of the musicians so that great live music and music education can be available for future generations. We collectively welcome suggestions from anyone to help guide us in each of the three points above and as always we are looking for direct support so that we can continue to make this city proud of their orchestra, your orchestra. We face big challenges and we are not always on the same page but we are working hard to come to a unified forward approach whilst we continue to deliver great music for you our audience. Send suggestions/support to…..
Keeping it out of the press may not prevent some situations from escalating, but it may buy time to talk further and take the pressure off of having to “report” something because each side is being hounded for a statement which can be spun in a hurtful and incendiary way (which it most often is!). Ultimately though keeping the negotiations behind closed doors protects everyone’s interests. Further to this, by empowering the audience to help, we stay cognizant to their importance, because they the audience can live without us, but we can’t live without them!