|
In the ongoing flaps over sports teams and facilities, a new central library and the like, there remains a somewhat overlooked hole in our community's social and cultural setting. Despite some handwringing on the subject, we still have no active, high-quality, professional symphony orchestra and though somewhat tentative resurrection plans were announced a month or so ago, not a note has been played recently.
Blame the collapse of the San Diego Symphony on whatever you want, but it seems pretty clear the real culprit is a general lack of substantial financing for cultural activities, particularly the orchestra. Symphony orchestras don’t earn their keep through ticket sales. If the house were sold out for every performance, without other funding the orchestra would still go bankrupt. A successful orchestra needs a sizable financial base in contributions, endowments and other similar non-ticket-based support.
I spent a long weekend in Seattle in April. Downtown, near the new Central Library, the new Seattle Art Museum and, on the waterfront, the new Seattle Aquarium, the final construction phase of Symphony Hall, soon to be the home of the Seattle Symphony, is under way. Nearby, the yet-unnamed Seattle Mariners baseball park is rising, it too located downtown.
Seattle, with a substantially smaller metropolitan population than San Diego, has all these things, including a first-rate symphony orchestra. What’s going on here? I realize Seattle has the national headquarters of Boeing, Microsoft, Nordstrom and Starbucks, to name a few. Except, perhaps, for Qualcomm, we have next to nothing in comparison. But, there must be a way.
At dinner a few weeks ago, a friend, Dr. Paul Black, planted an idea that deserves exploration by community leaders fond of live classical music. In describing Naples, Fla., where my daughter, son-in-law and grandson live, I came to the lively cultural infusion provided by the relatively new Collier County Performing Arts Center.
Although the Naples Philharmonic, a community orchestra, presents regular and summer pops seasons there (the latter conducted by the renowned Erich Kunzel), the regional orchestra for South Florida, the Miami-based Florida Philharmonic, performs at the center, too. That's a professional orchestra of national stature playing regular concerts in a community much smaller than San Diego.
Since we don’t seem to have the wherewithal to support an orchestra by ourselves, Paul asked why we couldn’t join with neighboring communities to establish a respected orchestra. Sharing performances in enough places the combined support might render the orchestra financially viable. Good question.
Southern California is blessed with one of the world's finest symphony orchestras, the Los Angeles Philharmonic. But the Philharmonic stopped regular San Diego concerts several years ago. Frankly, I don’t know if it performs frequently at Southern California sites other than its own and, if so, where.
I know, however, there's a community orchestra in Orange County and suspect there might be one in Riverside County, too. What if we combined the assets which could be provided by music-loving residents and businesses in Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties to form a full-time professional orchestra for the entire three-county region?
What I’m suggesting is a regional approach to the performing arts, particularly to symphonic music. The Southern California Symphony could provide concerts in all three counties. The nasty business of financing the orchestra could be spread out over a philanthropic base sufficiently large to pull it off. It wouldn't solve the problem of bricks and mortar, but it would help breathe life into a somewhat moribund local arts scene.
The former San Diego city attorney, John Witt now serves as special counsel with the law firm of Lounsbery Ferguson Altona & Peak.
|
