Local programming for the national spotlight

In Thomas Deneuville's review of the Brooklyn Phil's recent Brooklyn Village he asks "At which point does deserved pride turn into navel gazing?" I also have mixed feelings about this program. On one hand I think it's the kind of innovative, community-specific programming that every orchestra should engage in, but on the other it seems a bit too contrived, too twee - a program too self conscious in its all-encompassing coolness and eclecticism. It's a small quibble, though. On the whole I think Pierson is creating really innovative programs.

Unlike Deneuville, I am not concerned with the Brooklyn Phil becoming less global. I think very few ensembles can and should be global ones for the simple reason that national or global trends might not be best for audiences in your hometown. The Oakland East Bay Symphony's programming is a prime example of this. Like the Brooklyn Phil they are reaching out to the many cultural groups that live here, but on the other hand they're certainly not performing Kreayshawn transcriptions. 

Comments

[Thomas Deneuville]

Thank you for the kind mention, Dustin.

What I meant by not being global (and that I—I realize it now—articulated poorly) was that this kind of endeavors might cater only to a very specific population (possibly white, educated, and with a certain level of income). New York's boroughs are ethnically very rich (Queens even more so than Brooklyn) and I am not sure that this local trend really echoes with the majority of the communities that could be involved.

I need to look more into the Oakland East Bay Symphony's programming...

Thanks again,

~Thomas

[Dustin Soiseth]

Right, and I think that's a valid point. It's kind of like the $9 jam in the article you linked to. It's fantastic jam, local, handmade, but who's it really for?

Michael Morgan's programming at the OEBS is definitely worth checking out. It's not cool or hip in the ways that the Brooklyn Phil's recent programs are (with its mix of trending young composers and pop acts), but it is some serious outreach.