What differentiates one orchestra from another? Beyond location and the musicians on stage, how does a general non-musical public navigate this concept?
This is a philosophical query that has spent some time running circles in my mind. I’m a big believer that the future for many of the word’s orchestras will be grounded in their ability to truly connect with and reflect their regionality. I started seriously contemplating this after a visit to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in November 2018.
I recall thinking to myself: “This orchestra has an identity”. I’d never experienced this so strongly before. It wasn’t necessarily tangible, either. There was a greater sense of purpose and mission driving the organisation.
Let it be known that identity is not a question of artistic standards. An orchestra should always strive for the highest artistic standards and exceptional musical experiences it is capable of producing. It is, however, a question of focus for our orchestras. What is it that drives your orchestra and is it artistic excellence alone?
Don’t forget that around you is something unique that no other orchestra can claim, and that’s your community. Your community (your city, your state) is full of stories that connect with and reflect its people. How are orchestras telling the stories of their community and their regionality? How are they connecting on a deeper level through their art?
I see the huge untapped potential here. It seems to me that there is a lot of homogeneity in our field in programming and aspiration. There is a predictable nature to what a season is going to include, and whilst this is comforting and familiar and we get to hear our fave classics, it isn’t generating a “freshness” that the future of our orchestras is going to rely on.
What is happening around you? What is it that is important to your community and how might there be an opportunity to tap into that and reflect it in your programming? Where are the opportunities in this space to engage with your community through the commissioning of new works or experiences? How could finding your identity through a more micro focus help you engage with and support local artists, create community and open up opportunities for new audiences, and, how might this make your orchestra or ensemble a destination drawcard by the same token?
From a perspective of cultural tourism, imagine if your orchestra was known for something that visitors sought out in their travels. Could it be something about the experience you offer or something about the repertoire you perform? Imagine if you offered something that couldn’t be found anywhere else, or represented something that resounded beyond the four walls of a concert hall.
I’d love to know if people perceive our orchestras to have an identity, and what that identity is for each. I would hope that a description of this would include more than “they’re the city orchestra, and they perform in [insert name of concert hall here]”. An orchestra is much more than its location and its concert hall. These are parts of an identity, but the true identity of an orchestra is its people and collectively what they value.
Not every city is London, New York or Berlin. In the 21st Century, there has to be more for our communities to find in us. There has to be some kind of heart that beats to their rhythm, something that enables them to connect beyond the music. Finding ways for our orchestras to share in the story of their community and its experiences through our art could be a powerful way of developing identity and making strides in redefining relevance.
What opportunities exist for your orchestra to deepen a connection to place?
Kane Moroney 