On
performance in the past year that stick out to me is the Southwest Minnesota
Orchestra’s Christmas concert. The SMO performs a variety of holiday themed
music for an audience and the concert is followed by a reception where the
audience can interact with members of the orchestra. The main purpose of the
concert is encouraging donations to the SMO. In this regard, the concert is a
great success. Funds donated at the concert exceed all other charitable giving
(minus grants from the area arts council and an endowment the orchestra holds).
The music performed
was a mixture of full and string orchestra pieces. Most selections were shorter
in length and were familiar to the audience. Pieces like “Sleigh Ride” by Leroy
Anderson were programmed because of their familiarity with the audience more
than their aesthetic interest. With the goal of the program being the
encouragement of donations, easier selections that sound good and are pleasing
to the ear were included. Selections were mainly those classical or orchestral works
that might be heard on the Christmas radio station and fit more into the pop
and mainstream category though they were orchestral works. None of the
selections were inappropriate for the social situation; all pieces were
orchestra in nature and fit the Christmas theme. Audience members were
listening to the music, but only a cursory listening was needed. Rather than
the close listening and delayed gratification needed for great orchestral
works, the selections were easy to follow with a minimum of effort.
The SMO is a 40 member ensemble with
additional “ringers” hired to fill in the ranks. The orchestra wore “concert
black” with a few exceptions. The men wore suits rather than tuxedos and some festive
green and red were included into the uniform color palate. Musicians sat with
the exception of the basses. There was no amplification of instruments, except
for an electric bass for a Trans-Siberian Orchestra arrangement. Members of the
orchestra acknowledged the audience by standing at the end of the concert and
soloists stood and bowed. Orchestral traditions were included such as tuning
practices and the entrance of the concert master and conductor. There was a
little relaxation of the typical orchestra traditions. The conductor spoke to
the audience between selections in an informal manner and a select member of
the audience played the “whip” in “Sleigh Ride.”
The audience
was about 300 people and generally older with some families in attendance. The
SES of the audience was mainly upper and upper middle class. There were some
exceptions, but the audience clearly belonged to higher social strata. Many of
the exceptions were families of students in the school strings program. Though
they were lower SES, they did have particular reasons to be interested in a
concert of this type because of their, or their student’s, interest in string
music. There was no admission price so there was no particular reason why the
overall SES of the audience had to be higher. Instead, the main reason for a
higher SES of the overall audience is due to their culture and the social
connection between orchestral music and higher SES. There also seemed to be a
bit of ethnocentrism as the majority of the audience was Caucasian.
The concert
included a printed program with songs and soloists listed as well as short bios
of the conductor and principal string players. The audience members mostly
dressed up for the event, but in a more “dress casual” way rather than suits
and ties. There was no eating and drinking during the performance, but the
reception following the concert had desserts and drinks available for free. The
audience was attentively listening to the orchestra throughout the concert
though not in a thoroughly engaged manner as would be necessary for more
complex orchestral music.
This concert was a good example of an orchestral
fundraiser. The orchestra played pleasing music appropriate for the holidays
and not too complex as to require close listening. The normal orchestral
traditions were evident with some points of levity. The overall goal of the performance
was to raise funds for the ensemble and it did so very well. Audience members
were mostly of a higher SES and likely had funds available for donation. Though
some students and their families who were lower SES did come to the concert and
there was no ticket price, most of the audience was higher SES likely due to
their socialization and ethnocentrism
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