Tag Archive for 'audience'

Excitement and Nervousness

Published
by
dtclarinet
on July 11, 2008
in Behind the Scenes, Musician's Life and Off the Record
. 1 Comment

I am excited to be performing some concerts today, Friday July 11, and tomorrow, July 12. Yet I am also unusually nervous and anxious. Why should I be? I know the music I am about to play and have performed those pieces dozens of times. But this feels different.

There is so much riding on the upcoming concerts for me as an orchestral musician who has been in the orchestra since 1989. The mood and perception of the crowd could make or break one of our last hopes for showing that we don’t need the board and management with their defeatist attitudes to survive and continue to play music for our beloved audiences.

Isn’t it strange that the public’s opinion has been ignored by board and management? Should that not be their goal? Especially in a democratic country? Yet, they are getting away with it, and the Columbus community needs to show them they are wrong with their attendance.

Suppose the audience is small for the huge Vets Hall? It will look so embarrassing for all of us. And the board will have their confirmation to continue as they have.

So I’m nervous for YOU, too! I want us, musicians and audience, to band together in a new kind of solidarity between two traditionally separated parts of the live music making experience.

I want to play my best for you. And I hope you want to be the BEST possible audience we could ever have. Show us how you really feel. We’ll feel it. You’ll feel it. The board will also feel it and fear it.

David

Letter from a symphony supporter

Published
by
dtclarinet
on May 13, 2008
in Our Supporters
. 0 Comments

Many thanks for the informative email’s. I have copied them and already spread them out for others to see the TRUTH. There is so much misinformation out there.

My husband and I have a long history with the CSO as devoted audience and I particularly am reminded of past years that hold an extra twinge for me. I studied piano with Jean Whallon prior to her death and when her widower, Evan Whallon conducted the Elijah” as her memorial I was fortunate enough to be one of the three he asked to write a short eulogy for the program centerfold. There was a small group of us that counted ourselves his friends who knew the cowardly conduct of the Board when Evan was asked to step down (not retire) after giving 26 years of his life to the symphony. He always stayed with me when he again was in town for a performance so I learned some of his favorite musicians. The young woodwind group from Eastman counted among some of the best of them. Who will ever forget the memorial concert for Evan. I sat with his sisters and watched as they were transformed again by some of his favorites.

After Evan’s death I joined a Woman’s Association Unit, Worthington Sonata, to honor his memory. He always felt that the Women’s groups had been largely instrumental in the growth of the CSO. So now we come to this heart rending time when Mark and Wendy Morton are already lost to us. Just a couple of years ago, Mark brought his wonderful instrument to fill a house in Worthington with it’s rich sound for a Sonata unit meeting. He seemed so happy to share with us. With no fee!

For what it is worth from here, it seems that the best way to proceed would be to allow the entire Board and Administrative staff to quit or fizzle out and then to reform/restart our symphony with a more balanced and just way or handling the administrative life of the symphony. I’m sure it is more complex and difficult than I make it sound but would this way of going be worth examining?

A symphony lover and supporter, Mary Casto Nitschke and Charles Nitschke