Problem: You’re involved with a classical music organization, maybe a big one. And even though you might describe your institution as “a vital community cultural resource” (to quote one orchestra’s website), you know that once you get beyond the “cultural” part of that — which basically means the contribution that you make to the community with your music — you don’t have all that much to offer. You sense that you’re not a vital part of the community when other issues — non-musical issues — might arise.
Solution: Do something for the environment.
I’m writing this on Earth Day. The main news section of the New York Times has three full-page environmental ads, from Macy’s, Starbuck’s, and the BBC. Macy’s website, on its home page, suggests you ride your bike or walk to work, and offers a link to a Macy’s Earth Week celebration, where you can get environmental tips, and learn what Macy’s is doing for the cause. The IBM home page prominently asks if you’ve recycled all your old computers, offering a link to an environmental page that tells you how to do so, with further links to pages like this one, which offers an entire green campaign, with the slogan “Good for business. Good for the planet.”
And of course there’s more. The New York Mets are building a new stadium. It’s going to be green, says the team, built almost completely from recycled steel, and with a green roof over the administrative offices, plus other green initiatives. Major League Baseball has its own green initiative, the Team Greening Program. The Pittsburgh Pirates have an environmental program; the San Francisco Giants generate electricity with solar panels.
And what do classical music institutions do? Nothing I’ve ever heard of. Which doesn’t mean that nobody is doing anything — that would just about defy belief — but certainly we don’t hear a lot about this. Have any of the new concert halls boasted that they’re green? Not that I’ve heard of. The Nashville Symphony’s page for their new Schermerhorn Symphony Center says not a word about anything environmental. The LA Philharmonic’s site says nothing green about Disney Hall.
And sure, some — a lot? — of the corporate environmental stuff is hype. A computer newsletter I get, “PC World Daily Tech News,” asks “Are Big High-Tech Companies Green Hypocrites?” The baseball initiatives have been questioned, as the articles I linked to show. (They generate huge amounts of carbon playing night games.) Back in January, the New York Times reported that the FTC was asking whether corporations really did offset their carbon footprints, after saying that they’d done so.
But classical music organizations don’t even take phony stands (if that’s what the corporations are really doing). I’ve blogged about this before, and asked the American Symphony Orchestra League (as it was called back then) if any major orchestras had ever tried to offset the carbon dioxide they generate when they tour. I never got an answer.
So that’s my solution to a community relations problem — take a stand on the environment, and do something about it. It’s just about expected, these days, and it’s almost shocking (when you think about it for a while) that classical music organizations don’t seem to know this.
Footnote: Maybe this is related to something else, the way people who aren’t classical music initiates (especially if they’re young) can be surprised that big classical music institutions don’t do anything for charity. Pop stars do, after all. The almost indignant answer from the institutions is that, hey, they’re charities!
But this doesn’t wash. From the outside, big classical music institutions look like they’re rolling in money. From the inside, they often enough can barely pay their bills, but still their whole presentation (I’m talking about major orchestras, big opera companies, and major concert halls) is lavish.
So they ought to do something for charity. I once privately advised an orchestra about this, suggesting that, since they wanted to raise more money from subscribers, it would help to work for charity themselves, so they’d create an atmosphere of giving. I’ve heard they’ve done this, with some success. One way, it seemed to me, would be to stress the charitable work of individual musicians, and also to join in community-wide fundraising efforts.
But each institution can figure this out individually. Just so they do something!
The classical music world may not be cultivating its green credentials, but at least one major theater is. From the website of Portland Center Stage:
“Originally built in 1891, the building was reborn as the Gerding Theater at the Armory on October 1, 2006, with a community celebration and block party attended by a throng of thousands. Shortly after opening, the building was certified by the US Green Building Council as exceeding the requirements for designation as LEED Platinum (go to http://www.usgbc.org for more info).
During its first year as the home of Portland Center Stage, the Gerding Theater at the Armory was mentioned in the Wall Street Journal, nominated for the Portland downtown Rotary Club’s Environmental Excellence award and the Portland BEST award for green building. It was also recognized by Forbes magazine as among the top 12 green buildings in the country. Alongside the William J. Clinton Presidential Center, the Gerding Theater at the Armory received honorable mention from the American Institute of Architects Council on the Environment’s Top Green Projects awards. In April 2007 the Urban Land Institute selected the Gerding Theater at the Armory from among 170 nominees spanning two continents for its Award for Excellence, the Americas.”
Admittedly, this is here in Portland, the greenest major city in the U.S., which places a high value on sustainability, but every major American city’s arts institutions should be pursuing environmental responsibility for its social as well as PR value.
I definitely agree. And performing the Pastorale Symphony or the Four Seasons is NOT ENOUGH!
Re Earth Day programming and whether that’s “enough”: Apollo’s Fire (Cleveland Baroque Orchestra) presents Earth Day concerts. Not every year, but with a reasonable frequency, driven mainly by the personal convictions of the music director. And I believe they’ve commissioned at least one new work on an earth day theme in the past (not a bad show of commitment for a period instrument band).
I think there are two main things a performing arts group can do on this theme. One is to be responsible as an organisation and as “green” as possible in their operations and building plans. Whether they choose to tout that or make PR mileage from it is ultimately up to the organisation.
But beyond that they have to do what they do best, which is their mission, which is creation and performance. (Macey’s, the Mets or Starbucks can’t give us the Pastoral Symphony or a new earth day cantata – an orchestra can.) So it could be argued that it absolutely is “enough” (in addition to organisational responsibility) to present awareness-raising programming.
I try, as a composer, to encourage prospective clients to review work in pdf format and via download, rather than asking for CD’s.
This does a number of things for me:
– 1 it trims my printing costs
– 2 is saves on postage
But it also is more environmentally friendly.
Bravo for making this charge.
Musicians can and must use their art to make a difference in the world around them. I applaud the idea that the organizations could do this by simply highlighting and thus incenting community outreach and “cause” impact by their artists.
I am surprised at how many musicians seem to lost touch with the fact that by simply doing what they do.. they really do change listeners’ and even colleagues’ lives.
My wife and I are using this premise to teach/build musicians at all levels.. they must have passion, discipline and application. We aren’t in Portland Oregon, as the Da Capo Institute is located in Richmond VA, so perhaps there is hope even for the East Coast. that is if we can do anything about it.
Greg, I wouldn’t normally come back to an old post like this, but I think you’ve ignored the central point in my comment. Italics added this time:
“I think there are two main things a performing arts group can do on this theme. One is to be responsible as an organisation and as “green” as possible in their operations and building plans. Whether they choose to tout that or make PR mileage from it is ultimately up to the organisation.
But beyond that they have to do what they do best, which is their mission, which is creation and performance…”
So the analogy might be:
I’m a concert violinist. That’s my mission in life. Also, not because I’m a violinist but because I’m a human being, I try to be as nice to everyone as I can. And sometimes [perhaps not often enough] I see if there are ways I can use my violin playing – since that’s what I’m good at and really understand – to be a more influential force for niceness.