Options for the Future of Symphonic Music In Silicon Valley

1
Options for the Future of Symphonic Music In
Silicon Valley

• Presented to the
• Symphonic Music Working Group
• June, 2003

2
Options that have been explored

• Do nothing
• Full-time professional orchestra
• Per-service orchestra
• Touring orchestra
• Second home orchestra
• Orchestra presenting series
• Training orchestras/Orchestra education programs
• Musician-owned orchestra
• Hybrid orchestra organization model
• Full-service multifaceted music provider

3

• Option 1
• Do nothing.

4
Do nothing

• Advantages
• Bad time economically to begin any new venture
  requiring funding
• More funds available to support other cultural
  institutions that are struggling
• Allows time for community to recover from fatigue
  of SJS bankruptcy
• Provides window of time to study other innovative
  ventures around the country

5
Do nothing

• Concerns/Disadvantages
• Old symphony supporters may migrate to other
  activities/organizations making it more difficult
  to start something new in the future
• More difficult for musicians to remain in area
  without work opportunities
• Ends long-standing tradition of a home-town
  symphony in San Jose

6

• Option 2
• Establish a full-time professional symphony
  orchestra based on generally accepted big-city
  models, with salaried players performing a full
  season of concerts.

7
New full-time professional orchestra

• Advantages
• Builds on the long-standing tradition of San Jose
  Symphony
• Can contribute to old fashioned civic pride that
  allows people to say we have a major orchestra
• Utilizes and supports local musicians
• Services former SJS supporters and others who
  desire symphonic concerts on a regular basis

8
New full-time professional orchestra

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• Would require very large capitalization (4 5
  times operating budget) in a community that has
  not shown a willingness to pay for a professional
  symphony
• Large degree of local skepticism may exist given
  the apparent lack of success of this model in the
  past
• Attempts to offer classical music concerts in
  what is already a crowded marketplace
• May not offer the kind of flexibility local
  consumers want in terms of what, when, how, and
  where music is presented based on local and
  national research

9

• Option 3
• Support a per service orchestra in which
  musicians are hired on an as-needed basis and
  programs are designed to meet demand.

10
Per-service orchestra

• Advantages
• Can be demand-driven rather than based on filling
  pre-set number of contracted musician services
• Much lower cost than salaried professional
  orchestra
• Properly designed, can be flexible in where,
  when, and how it provides services
• Can be merged with other models, meeting
  community needs

11
Per-service orchestra

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• May not have caché and prestige of full-time
  orchestra
• May have lower performance/ensemble quality as
  orchestra personnel vary
• Still needs initial capitalization and donors may
  not be attracted to this type of institution
• Structure does not guarantee exciting, vibrant
  institution unless there is dynamic leadership,
  sensitive to community needs
• Does not guarantee desired flexibility if
  restrictive work rules are imposed

12

• Option 4
• Establish an orchestra that has more than one
  home base and/or tours to many locations in
  Silicon Valley.

13
Touring (or multi-city) orchestra

• Advantages
• Research indicates that the public would be more
  likely to support an orchestra that performs
  closer to where they live
• Increases number of concerts that can be offered
  when demand is insufficient in single location
• Provides for a regional identity

14
Touring (or multi-city) orchestra

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• There are not enough adequate venues
• In many SV locations there are already other
  orchestras that would view this as competition
• In other areas of the U.S., the cost of a touring
  group is high and requires either special subsidy
  or large endowment
• Logistics, fund raising, and selling tickets is
  more challenging in multiple locations
• The recent demise of the Florida Philharmonic
  shows how difficult it is to succeed with this
  model

15

• Option 5
• Encourage a distinguished orchestra from outside
  of SV to establish a second home in the Valley.

16
Second Home Orchestra

• Advantages
• Can secure high-profile, artistically fine
  orchestra for community with less effort than
  building one from scratch
• Can be accomplished with no local artistic staff
  and minimal administrative staff
• Overall cost is much lower than establishing
  comparable, locally-based orchestra

17
Second Home Orchestra

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• A major orchestra already uses Silicon Valley as
  a second series home (San Francisco Symphony)
  that currently does not wish to expand presence
• Does not utilize local musician talent or
  infrastructure
• Difficult to attract a top-flight orchestra
  without a great venue and a strong tradition of
  support for orchestras
• More difficult to generate excitement and raise
  money for an orchestra based in another city
• San Jose already has an unhappy experience with
  the second home model (Cleveland/San Jose Ballet)

18

• Option 6
• Develop a touring orchestra series locally,
  presenting outstanding orchestras from elsewhere
  on a regular basis.

19
Orchestra Presenting Series

• Advantages
• Offers a true variety of excellent orchestras to
  the consumer based on local tastes and demand
• Can utilize existing performance presentation
  organizations rather than having to create a new
  administrative infrastructure
• Can expand or contract activities as needed,
  responding to demand and realities of budget
• Can bring a better quality product than what
  would be home-grown

20
Orchestra Presenting Series

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• Touring orchestras are very expensive, requiring
  large subsidies to supplement ticket sale revenue
• The number of outstanding orchestras that are
  touring to secondary markets like San
  Jose/Silicon Valley has shrunk
• Does not utilize local musician talent and does
  not contribute to local musician infrastructure
• May be difficult to raise money for an artistic
  product that is not Silicon Valley-based

21

• Option 7
• Establish a new organization devoted to
  instrumental and symphonic training, music
  education, or both.

22
Training orchestras/Orchestra education programs

• Advantages
• Research over 5 years has consistently shown
  strong preference for education-oriented arts in
  SV
• Highest rated option in local survey among those
  who had never attended a San Jose Symphony
  concert (new audience)
• Can supplement amount of music education in
  schools which many feel is inadequate
• Could be done for less money than most other
  models though percentage of subsidy may be high.

23
Training orchestras/Orchestra education programs

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• Could be competitive with nine existing youth
  orchestras in SV if it does not define a unique
  niche and program
• Could compete with existing professional musician
  pool if student musicians or young professional
  interns are utilized in the playing forces
• Level of earned income lower than a conventional
  orchestra that can garner more money from ticket
  sales.

24

• Option 8
• Assist local musicians in establishing their own
  orchestra, where they exert control over the
  governance, organizational structure, and
  programming.

25
Musician-owned orchestra

• Advantages
• Provides a guaranteed way to utilize local
  musicians in a local orchestra endeavor
• Gives musicians control over their own destiny
• Precedents exist in other cities that can serve
  as models
• Does not require large initial capitalization
  since musicians are utilizing their own sweat
  equity

26
Musician-owned orchestra

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• No assurance there will be broad-based community
  support for such an endeavor, especially during
  the start-up phase given recent history in SJ
• Many musicians would rather play their
  instruments than run an orchestra
• Many of the best musicians may not feel that the
  lower level of compensation justifies associating
  themselves with the organization
• Not driven by consumer demand but rather by the
  needs of those delivering the product

27

• Option 9
• Support a local arts organization that is willing
  to administer a symphony-related program.

28
Hybrid orchestra organizational model

• Advantages
• Successful models exist elsewhere, including Utah
  (where the Opera and Symphony have now merged
  into a single organization)
• Can provide economies of scale, more effective
  management, increased visibility and clout
• Offers opportunities for artistic collaboration,
  efficient use of musicians, and potential for
  ambitious artistic productions
• Can lead to well balanced program schedule and
  innovative joint strategies for audience
  development

29
Hybrid orchestra organizational model

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• Will be successful only if missions of both
  organizations are complementary and mutually
  supportive
• Host organization must be strong, well managed,
  and well capitalized
• May lead to dilution of clear identity and
  artistic/musical mission
• Trustee and donor loyalty may be more difficult
  to sustain in a merged structure
• May not be well received given recent local
  experiment with Ballet/Symphony organization in
  SJ

30

• Option 10
• Develop a new, entrepreneurial, cultural and
  educational service, offering many musical genres
  live and electronically, utilizing 21st century
  technology to deliver the product to a broad
  range of consumers in a variety of ways.

31
Full-service, multifaceted music provider

• Advantages
• Consistent with the entrepreneurial and
  innovative spirit of SV
• Utilizes SVs advantages as a world technology
  capital to develop new delivery systems and
  performance practices
• Is demand driven, rather than driven by a
  particular organizational model
• Responds to research that shows consumers wanting
  a variety of music in a variety of ways
• Could merge profit and nonprofit activities in a
  single structure including retail operations for
  music-related products and nonprofit classical
  radio
• Offer a model that may revolutionize the
  entertainment industry

32
Full-service, multifaceted music provider

• Concerns / Disadvantages
• The business and organizational models do not
  exist they will have to be invented
• Will take time and money to develop
• Is unproven
• Will need venture capital and/or angel investors
  with a public service and philanthropic payoff
• Will not respond most directly to the desires of
  old SJS patrons or musicians

33
Where to go from here

• Test models with consumers
• Test models with funders/investors locally and
  nationally
• Discuss models with potential local and
  out-of-town providers
• Develop leadership group to champion one or more
  of the models
• Pilot an initiative