June 17, 2008 - Okay. So last week my treasurer Kathy Lambrow and I went to the
National Performing Arts Convention in Denver. Although this was my 5th convention, it was Kathy's 1st and we were both excited because 1) this was the first time that OV would attend as a Professional Company Member instead of an affiliate, 2) this was the first time that OV had sent two representatives and 3) this was only the 2nd time that the Opera America conference was art of a larger performing arts convention. Well, interestingly for me was that there was no middle ground at this convention, only "wow, that was inspiring, informative, etc." on the one hand and "you will never be able to repay me for the 2 hours of my life you just ruined" on the other. Oh well, I've learned each of these things has its own distinct personality so I guess Denver will always be the "bipolar" conference for me.
There were some interesting questions and concerns posed at the conference such as "What constitutes live performance?" Marc Scorca (in a very clever sendup of the backstage at the Met interviews with Renee Fleming et al) posed this in his opening speech. Obviously if we are in the same room as a performer it's "live" and just as obviously if we are watching a video of something that happened weeks or months ago it's "not live". But, if we're watching a "live" broadcast, is it "live"? Very zen, n'est-ce pas? Gerard Mortier in his keynote address followed up a bit on this and came down rather firmly on the side that there is no substitute for being in the same space as the live performer performing.
Another issue that ran through the convention was that performing arts organizations need to become better advocates for their relevance and become more involved in public policy. I have to say that I (and thankfully many of my colleagues who sat at roundtables with me during these sessions) were not in agreement with this. In my opinion, arts organizations can not be involved in the advocacy realm in the way that PACs are. One, no arts organization has sufficient excess income over and above their operating budgets to do this effectively, but even more importantly, it's not our job. Those of us who are involved in the performing arts believe deeply in the relevance of what we do. The way we get the rest of the world to buy into that is not by trying to influence politicians, or convince the general public that what we offer is better than what they are already consuming. We do it by 1) producing the highest quality, most compelling work we can and 2) disseminating that work by whatever means are available to the widest possible viewership. Politicians don't inherently care about the performing arts; they care about voters and until we have a large segment of the voting populace demanding a commitment from their leaders to provide them with a thriving cultural scene, they aren't going to change policy. That large voting populace won't become our advocates if they don't know we exist. Amazingly (since I still consider myself a bit of a luddite) I was one of the few individuals in my various groups to advocate a whole-hearted embrace of the new technologies (YouTube, blogs, MySpace pages, Facebook, etc.) in order to reach the widest possible audience. Here's where the so deeply embedded "ivory tower" mentality reared its ugly head. "Well, that's hardly the best venue to show what we do" said one indignant "high-art" practitioner. "And don't you think that seeing your company on YouTube will mean that people won't buy a ticket to see the real thing" said another. I won't burden you with the rather lengthy response I gave to both of them, but I'd love to know where my readers fall on all these things.
Anyway, I must dash to finish packing for my trip to
Opera Theatre of St. Louis this afternoon. I'll be seeing the entire season in 3 days as well as taking in a masterclass by Christine Brewer, enjoying a "tent" dinner and an opening night reception for
Troilus and Cressida, as well as trying to glean even more information from Charles McKay, James Robinson, and Timothy O'Leary on the operations and best practices of this truly extraordinary American company. However, I could not in good conscience leave without posting to this blog. One of the other wonderful moments at NPAC was a session entitled "The Online Salon Movement" moderated by my dear friend and colleague Monica Reinagel which included a panelist named Drew McManus who was a student in my arranging class at Towson University too many years ago to mention. What a small world! So, out of respect and affection for Monica and Drew, I'm doing due diligence on my blog. Hey, I even posted a comment on
another blogger's post yesterday. Guess there's hope for me yet.
See you at the opera! - John Bowen
Labels: blogging, conventions, opera companies
