CMC Up Closer: Behind the Scenes in 2013-2014, our 55th season
Last year, I took you behind the scenes of Chamber Music Corvallis, so you could get a better idea of what is involved in presenting six concerts of chamber music by world-class ensembles. I’d like to take you behind the curtain again, because every season is different.
Our 2012-13 season was not quite as eventful as the previous season. In 2011-12, we had five changes to our original program. Thankfully, in 2012-13, only the Auryn Quartet required a change, because they had to cancel their tour due to health issues for one member (this Quartet has played together for over 30 years without a single personnel change, and they don’t play with replacements). We will do our best to have the Auryn Quartet back as soon as they are able to travel, because many people were disappointed. On the positive side, we enjoyed an excellent concert by the Moscow Quartet, who stepped in at short notice. An interesting dimension of the Moscow for us was the first violinist’s friendship with Dmitri Shostakovich.
You might think that CMC has a deep “bench” to take care of things. We don’t. We number about ten volunteers. I have been taking care of the music side – finding the ensembles, booking them, negotiating their fees, selecting what pieces they will play within the boundaries of everything they are offering, and writing the concert program notes – and my colleagues do everything else: hospitality (we almost always host our artists in our homes), publicity, printing, selling program ads, communication with you, fundraising, backstage work, page turning, and liaison with other music organizations. The musicians outnumber us this season three to one!
We believe that we present a quality product. We constantly ask our audience what and who they would like to hear. But it is impossible to please everyone. Some people want to hear modern and contemporary music. Other people don’t want to hear anything after Brahms, and not everything before Brahms. Some people say they would like to hear a vocal group; others say, “That’s not chamber music.” Some people want our concerts to be earlier, or later, in the evening, or want afternoon matinees, or concerts on the weekend, rather than mid-week (we present mid-week because it is less expensive than weekends).
Some might ask why we have four string quartets this season. The answer is I did not plan to have four, but after booking three, an agent suddenly offered CMC the Ebène Quartet, which is one of the most sought-after quartets in the world. The agent had one single open date, and I had to say yes or no immediately. As John Lennon said, life is what happens when you’re making other plans.
Classical music has almost always lived on the edge. Chamber Music Corvallis is no exception. Season subscription sales fell nearly 30% at the start of last season (they recovered some, but were still down from previous seasons). We spent a lot of time wondering why. Was it the programming? Probably not. CMC programming has not changed significantly during the past eight years. You may not like a particular piece, but I have increased the number of contemporary pieces only slightly. I don’t want CMC to turn into a musical museum.
Was it the recession? Probably, to some extent. Almost every musical organization in the country has seen ticket sales and attendance decline since the beginning of the recession. Are our prices too high? They are actually modest, given the very high level of our ensembles. We just barely break even. Was it the increasing competition from more and more musical events in Corvallis? Could be. Was it the difficulty in attracting new, and younger, patrons (a perennial problem for every classical music organization)? Was it the result of busier lives, responsibility of caring for aging parents, the pressures of work and family? That is probably a factor. Was it due to a failure of CMC to market itself, or to innovate?
This last question is the most difficult to answer. CMC doesn’t have the resources to do elaborate marketing. As for innovation, it is a tricky issue. Where is the perfect point between innovation that drives people away, and innovation that attracts people to us? CMC needs to be careful not to rest on its laurels, and settle into comfortable, repetitive programming that satisfies some of our audience, but could prove fatal in the longer run; but we also need to be responsive to our audience, and not present something that is just too radical. Janacek, and Bartok, and a lot of pieces written within the past ten years, are not radical; a piece for computerized electronic programs, or a work of ambient sounds that lasts four hours, might be an innovation too far.
We work hard to keep costs down, and devote every possible dollar to the music. But this season may be the last to present six concerts. Chamber Music Corvallis began 55 years ago with three concerts, and gradually expanded to six. Financial realities may require us to reduce the number of concerts in 2014-15. Our 56th season may present fewer concerts, but we will maintain our musical standards for every one of them. Our 55th season promises to be an outstanding musical experience for you. The point of all the behind the scenes work is to put the music on stage. Chamber Music Corvallis is 55, and still alive. Thanks for listening.
Chris Rochester, Music Director
Our 2012-13 season was not quite as eventful as the previous season. In 2011-12, we had five changes to our original program. Thankfully, in 2012-13, only the Auryn Quartet required a change, because they had to cancel their tour due to health issues for one member (this Quartet has played together for over 30 years without a single personnel change, and they don’t play with replacements). We will do our best to have the Auryn Quartet back as soon as they are able to travel, because many people were disappointed. On the positive side, we enjoyed an excellent concert by the Moscow Quartet, who stepped in at short notice. An interesting dimension of the Moscow for us was the first violinist’s friendship with Dmitri Shostakovich.
You might think that CMC has a deep “bench” to take care of things. We don’t. We number about ten volunteers. I have been taking care of the music side – finding the ensembles, booking them, negotiating their fees, selecting what pieces they will play within the boundaries of everything they are offering, and writing the concert program notes – and my colleagues do everything else: hospitality (we almost always host our artists in our homes), publicity, printing, selling program ads, communication with you, fundraising, backstage work, page turning, and liaison with other music organizations. The musicians outnumber us this season three to one!
We believe that we present a quality product. We constantly ask our audience what and who they would like to hear. But it is impossible to please everyone. Some people want to hear modern and contemporary music. Other people don’t want to hear anything after Brahms, and not everything before Brahms. Some people say they would like to hear a vocal group; others say, “That’s not chamber music.” Some people want our concerts to be earlier, or later, in the evening, or want afternoon matinees, or concerts on the weekend, rather than mid-week (we present mid-week because it is less expensive than weekends).
Some might ask why we have four string quartets this season. The answer is I did not plan to have four, but after booking three, an agent suddenly offered CMC the Ebène Quartet, which is one of the most sought-after quartets in the world. The agent had one single open date, and I had to say yes or no immediately. As John Lennon said, life is what happens when you’re making other plans.
Classical music has almost always lived on the edge. Chamber Music Corvallis is no exception. Season subscription sales fell nearly 30% at the start of last season (they recovered some, but were still down from previous seasons). We spent a lot of time wondering why. Was it the programming? Probably not. CMC programming has not changed significantly during the past eight years. You may not like a particular piece, but I have increased the number of contemporary pieces only slightly. I don’t want CMC to turn into a musical museum.
Was it the recession? Probably, to some extent. Almost every musical organization in the country has seen ticket sales and attendance decline since the beginning of the recession. Are our prices too high? They are actually modest, given the very high level of our ensembles. We just barely break even. Was it the increasing competition from more and more musical events in Corvallis? Could be. Was it the difficulty in attracting new, and younger, patrons (a perennial problem for every classical music organization)? Was it the result of busier lives, responsibility of caring for aging parents, the pressures of work and family? That is probably a factor. Was it due to a failure of CMC to market itself, or to innovate?
This last question is the most difficult to answer. CMC doesn’t have the resources to do elaborate marketing. As for innovation, it is a tricky issue. Where is the perfect point between innovation that drives people away, and innovation that attracts people to us? CMC needs to be careful not to rest on its laurels, and settle into comfortable, repetitive programming that satisfies some of our audience, but could prove fatal in the longer run; but we also need to be responsive to our audience, and not present something that is just too radical. Janacek, and Bartok, and a lot of pieces written within the past ten years, are not radical; a piece for computerized electronic programs, or a work of ambient sounds that lasts four hours, might be an innovation too far.
We work hard to keep costs down, and devote every possible dollar to the music. But this season may be the last to present six concerts. Chamber Music Corvallis began 55 years ago with three concerts, and gradually expanded to six. Financial realities may require us to reduce the number of concerts in 2014-15. Our 56th season may present fewer concerts, but we will maintain our musical standards for every one of them. Our 55th season promises to be an outstanding musical experience for you. The point of all the behind the scenes work is to put the music on stage. Chamber Music Corvallis is 55, and still alive. Thanks for listening.
Chris Rochester, Music Director