Great Expectations

Some have commented on the fact that orchestras today perform many types of concerts besides subscription concerts of standard repertoire. In our orchestra this is done ultimately for financial reasons. While most of us would rather stick to standard works, almost all orchestras in this country have to rely on some mix of pops, educational, opera, ballet and community service concerts. An excessive amount of these types of concerts for extended periods of time can be demoralizing artistically. In Columbus we typically spend the entire summer season performing outdoor pops concerts exclusively and I always have a hard time dealing with it. Nevertheless it’s just one more price musicians must pay in order to make a living in an orchestra and students should be aware of this reality.

There was another comment about the loss of artistic identity in an orchestra. This is particularly true for section musicians. Because the conductor controls almost everything that happens in a performance, whether one likes it or not, the resulting atmosphere can be quite stressful especially if one has strong feelings about how a particular piece should be performed. Many musicians compensate for this loss of identity and control by organizing and performing their own chamber or solo recitals, but this can be difficult to do on top of a full work load in the orchestra.