Drowned Out:The Plight and Future of the

American Symphony OrchestraBy Greg Simon

MUS 341

American music endured a series of tumultuous changes in the 20th century. In the course

of 100 years, artists as diverse as Symphony Sid and Britney Spears have risen to the forefront of

the United States music scene, introducing and redefining a cornucopia of new styles and genres.

All of this development, however, has meant a removal of the spotlight from the music world’s

most famous European import: the classical symphony orchestra. Orchestras across the country

are losing money, and that more and more are unable to sustain themselves, including the most

popular ones. The Philadelphia Orchestra, for example, has reported a 5% decline in ticket sales

each season; the Chicago Symphony has fallen to average ticket sales of 80% capacity per

concert (Midgette). This is coming at a time of general anxiety in the music industry as the RIAA

exchanges blows with rampant music piracy and record sales continue to fluctuate.

Some would argue that the advent of digital music and the ever-increasing emphasis on

musical commerce has effectively sounded the death knells of the American symphony. Others

say that classical music is simply becoming esoteric through its own elitism and “high-brow”

outlook. Still others refute the claims of classical music’s demise, citing the success of artists like

Hilary Hahn, Andrea Bocelli and Philip Glass. But what most everyone agrees upon is that the

symphony’s place in the American music industry is changing. As we move further into the

digital age, the concert music world must reevaluate its place, redefine itself in the music market,

and adapt to what has become an increasingly commercial and threatening industry. In this

paper, we will look at what changes the symphony is enduring, what challenges it is facing, and

the way in which it must adapt to avoid being drowned out by the plethora of other music in the

market.

History

At the turn of the century, private performance was still a popular diversion for American

families. Many households owned a piano, which was no longer a luxury for the aristocracy.

Hausmusik, amateur performances in private households, was still popular (Horowitz 397).

However, the invention of the phonograph changed everything. Americans were no longer

required to make their own music, and so Hausmusik quickly fell out of style. Interestingly, the

decline of home performance brought with it an influx of symphonic music in America; by the

end of World War I, the number of symphony orchestras in America had increased from 17 to

270 (397).

As the phonograph gained popularity, classical music broke into the record industry as

well. RCA marketed recordings featuring world-class conductors Arturo Toscanini, Leopold

Stokowski and Serge Koussevitsky; Columbia Records initiated its New York Philharmonic

series of records in 1940. Concurrently, radio provided a plethora of opportunities for symphony

enthusiasts, including live broadcasts by the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and

NBC Symphony (Horowitz 398).

As classical music continued to enjoy this popularity, the public admiration for the

symphony grew, as did the admiration for the symphony’s famous conductors. Soon Toscanini,

Stokowski and Koussevitsky became the “poster children” for the symphony orchestra. In true

popular fashion, the music became subservient to the image. And as the public began to lose the

musicianship it had gained through Hausmusik, music appreciation programs that encouraged

only a minimal understanding of classical music became the new popular radio broadcasts

(Horowitz 400).

While the public continued to lose its ability to listen critically, music continued to lose

accessibility with the rise of the avant-garde and the Second Viennese School. A rift began to

form between devout classical music audiences and less serious listeners. All of this was

happening while popular music fell out of sync with the concert hall; jazz gave way to rock n’

roll, which would give way to other genres. In spite of all this, the symphony orchestra would

retain an audience and continue to thrive through the 1960’s.

But somewhere along the way, classical music began a lapse into esotery. Ticket sales

began to drop, and even the classical record lost its power. Today classical music makes up about

3% of purchased music, and concerts are attracting fewer season ticket holders, although the

number of single tickets sold is still considerable (Kozinn). With musicians playing more

concerts than ever before (Midgette), the American symphony orchestra is being harder and

harder pressed to support itself.

What Happened?

So why did the symphony and its music lose their mass appeal? The classical music

world has never been able to agree on a single answer. Composer John Corigliano argues that

elitism was and is to blame: “When [the public] dislike something, they're told they're idiots.

When they like something, they're told they're idiots and that it was really just pandering… at a

certain point when you're not talking to people and they know you're not talking to them, they go

away” (Corigliano 16). This anti-elitism perspective echoes the sentiments of Aaron Copland

and Leonard Bernstein, who both attempted to educate popular audiences on a deeper level than

music appreciation. Copland did so with his books What to Listen for in Music, Our New Music,

and Music and Imagination (Horowitz 436). Bernstein had his famous Young People’s Concerts

(478).

However, this is just one of many opinions on the matter. Libby Larsen, in a 2004 speech

to Chorus America, blames the recording growing ever more ubiquitous for the lapse in ticket

sales. “We listen in our cars. In our living rooms. In our Walkmans while jogging… we do our

serious listening to music in private spaces, on a multiplicity of personal sound systems” (Larsen

5). As before, this view is not without precedent; Arnold Schoenberg expressed similar alarm as

early as 1930 (Larsen 30).

Still others believe that ticket sales are not a problem, but record sales are. One such

person is Laurence Tucker, programming director for the Seattle Symphony. Tucker blames the

record industry itself for its own problems, saying the constant invention of new media and the

subsequent reissuing of old records was a recipe for disaster. “Because of all these re-releases

we’re now competing with ourselves,” says Tucker. But as counterpart to this, he emphasizes his

belief that ticket sales are not in serious trouble. “The live music experience is irreplaceable, and

so we will retain the loyalty of concertgoers” (Tucker).

Today’s Changing Landscape

In the effort to determine which one of these perspectives is correct, it is necessary to

realize how the music world has changed (or stayed the same) since the “Golden Age” of the

symphony orchestra. Music and its audience are completely different from the way they were in

the 1950’s, or even 2000.

As a starting point, the music that is being performed has changed dramatically, even in

the last decade. In general, orchestras are getting more submissions of new works by young

composers; last year the Seattle Symphony received over 200 submissions of new scores,

compared with about half that in 1998 (Tucker). As a counterpart, new works are being

performed more often. Between 2001 and 2006, the number of performances of contemporary

compositions (compositions written in the last 25 years) has gone from 543 (Repertoire 2001) to

1,072 (Repertoire 2006), just about double the number of performances.

It’s possible to blame this increase in new music performances on an effort to attract a

younger audience, and there are other trends that point to that. For example, in addition to

performances of the orchestral masterworks and contemporary music, orchestras are also

performing more film music, and even branching out into video game music. In 2004-2005,

Jason Michael Paul productions launched a highly successful concert tour featuring Nobuo

Uematsu’s music from the Final Fantasy video game series (Uematsu).

The musicians, of course, are being forced to adapt to these new changes in many ways.

With more music to perform and learn, the demand has been for more performances - and

therefore, more rehearsal – each season. In the last five years, the number of orchestra concerts

given each year in the U.S. has risen from 3,432 in 2001 (Repertoire 2001) to 4,316 scheduled in

2006 (Repertoire 2006). The musicians, of course, need to be paid for this extra time; according

to the Seattle Symphony’s 2005 Annual Report, 44% of the symphony’s expenses were for

musician salaries (14).

As the music changes, so do the people who listen. Since the heyday of the orchestra in

the 1930’s, the audience has changed substantially while remaining constant in other areas. In

1937, the audience was relatively young, with single ticket holders having a median age of 33 on

the West Coast and just 27 on the East Coast. Season ticket holders weren’t much older; in Los

Angeles the median age was just 38 (Grant 226). A similar study of single ticket holders in 1965

showed that the audience hadn’t gotten much older; the audience had a median age of 38 (Seltzer

240). However, the gender profile of the audience changed drastically between these two

studies. In 1937, the audiences surveyed were 70% female; by 1965 women only made up 47%

of the audience.

The audience has changed even more since these studies. Women have again become the

majority, making up 57% of the audience. Concertgoers are now older, with a median age of 44.

However, the age 18-34 demographic is still remarkably well represented, with almost 23% of

concertgoers falling within that age range (Survey 19).

In addition, according to statistics, the public has not fallen out of love with classical

music, as many have hypothesized. The 2004 National Endowment for the Arts national survey

showed that 27% of adults listen to classical music regularly, and although that’s about 5% less

than in 1992, it’s still a considerable portion of the population (Survey 58).

Sales of classical music records are experiencing changes in different ways than ticket

sales, but they are still changing. In 2006, classical music made up only 3% of CD sales in the

United States (Kozinn). While that is a somewhat disheartening number, it doesn’t necessarily

mean a decrease in listeners. Concurrently with these decreased album sales, digital music has

given birth to plenty of online classical music services, the most prominent of which is Naxos

Online. Launched in 2003, Naxos Online offers unrestricted access to the Naxos music catalogue

for $15 per month, the price of one new classical CD. And for those who don’t even want to pay

for that, websites like www.archive.org and classicalarchives.com offer free recordings on which

the copyright has expired.

How to Succeed

All of these statistics tell us a few things. Most importantly, they tell us that classical music is not

dead in the water as is often stated. There are still active listeners, patrons and supporters all over

the country. However, the music world is rapidly changing, and although classical music is still

alive it certainly doesn’t have the star power it once had; likely, it never will again. So the

problem becomes not how to reintroduce the symphony orchestra into the public eye, but rather

how to maintain its position of stability in the music industry.

However, this “position of stability” does not mean that orchestras are not in danger.

Plenty of orchestras have collapsed under their own weight, and many a concert music

organization has had to declare bankruptcy. But many orchestras continue to thrive season after

season. What is their strategy?

According to Laurence Tucker, orchestras need to meet three basic objectives for

success: they need to retain the loyalty of their core audience, educate young people so that they

can become members of the core audience, and draw new adults into the core audience (Tucker).

However, determining the proper balance and methods for achieving these objectives is difficult.

A precious few American orchestras have been able to perfect a strategy for attaining their goals,

and it is these orchestras that we must look to for guidance.

The Seattle Symphony

The Seattle Symphony is one such model orchestra. To begin with, it has survived

remarkably long, having celebrated its 100th birthday in 2003. Even after all that time, it is one of

the most financially prosperous symphony orchestras in the country; it has stayed within

$300,000 of its budget target every year since 2000. Of the revenue it brings in, an impressive

55% comes from ticket sales. And it certainly hasn’t languished artistically while achieving its

financial success. The Symphony’s repertoire of the past ten years includes symphonies by

Mahler, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky; as well as premieres of works by John Harbison, Aaron

Jay Kernis and David Diamond (Annual Report).

Under the direction of Gerard Schwarz and its managerial staff, the Seattle Symphony

has become a top-tier musical organization, achieving financial self-sufficiency and stability

without sacrificing artistic integrity. It is the model for what a successful American orchestra can

achieve in the modern music market, and so it is the perfect place to find answers to the question

of how to succeed.

Meeting the Objectives1

So how does the Seattle Symphony achieve the three objectives addressed above? The

first goal it needs to meet is the obvious one of retaining the loyalty of its patrons. This primarily

means that the orchestra needs to program works that this audience wants to hear. To this end,

Laurence Tucker is completely in touch with audience members. He has learned that seasoned

concertgoers and subscribers overwhelmingly want to “hear what they know,” while younger

listeners (who primarily purchase single tickets) are looking for music “relevant to today’s music

world” (Tucker). As a nonprofit educational institution the Seattle Symphony has a responsibility

to expose its audiences to both masterworks of the genre and contemporary, more relevant

works.

Both of these are reflected in the Symphony’s programming. The 2005-2006 concert

season begins with music that will all be familiar to concertgoers: the first two concerts include

Rachmaninoff, Beethoven and Copland. People are hearing works that they know, and are given

the opportunity to subscribe to the coming season. After most of the potential season ticket

buyers have bought subscriptions (usually in the first two concerts), the concerts begin to feature

newer music. This exposes subscription holders to contemporary music, and it also attracts single

ticket audiences who are looking for performances of new music. The season begins including

1 Unless otherwise noted, all information regarding the Seattle Symphony in this section derives from the 2005-2006 concert schedule and 2004-2005 Annual Report (see Works Cited page).

contemporary music (defined as music written in the past 25 years) by its third concert; most of

the new music it features is also recognizable, featuring famous composers like Arvo Pärt and

John Williams. As the season continues, the concerts begin including works by lesser-known

composers; at this point the Symphony has hopefully gained the loyalty of its listeners and can

afford to be more adventurous with its programming.

The second task to be completed is education and attraction of young people. This can be

completed in a variety of ways, including outreach programs, young people’s concerts and music

appreciation series. Seattle’s educational programs include all of these and more. The Seattle

Symphony Foundation sponsors sixteen different outreach projects, reaching out to diverse

groups of young people. Included in these groups are toddlers and their parents, who can attend

DiscoverMusic and Tinytots concerts specifically designed for the youngest of audience

members; and the Young Composers’ Workshop for pre-college composers, offering these young

musicians a chance to study with established composers and hear performances of their works.

Because these programs are well-funded and well-publicized, their attendance is formidable. The

2005-2006 DiscoverMusic concerts attracted 23,000 attendees!

As we saw earlier, the Symphony makes a strong effort to introduce new music to its

audiences. Ten of the 23 concerts in the 2005-2006 subscription season included some

contemporary music. These concerts covered all facets of contemporary music, from traditional

orchestral pieces to works with electronica and more. One concert’s feature was a 30-minute

improvisation by jazz legend Bobby McFerrin. No concerts, however, are only comprised of new

music; patrons still want to hear what they know. This also serves an important purpose, though,

because audiences familiar with the orchestral tradition encounter newer works.

Finally, the orchestra must try to attract new adults and families to its core audience. This

task presents the most obstacles of the three because of the remaining constituency’s diversity.

The target group includes people who hate classical music or are enamored with pop music,

people who like classical music but can’t afford tickets, people who can’t manage a commute to

the performances, and any other group outside the orchestra’s core audience. Of course, this

diversity of targets demands a diversity of methods.

It is surmised that the adults who are “turned off” by classical music dislike the elitism,

the style, the monotony, or some other aspect of the music and culture. The Seattle Symphony’s

response is to incorporate elements that help remedy some of these problems into their concerts.

People who prefer popular styles of music or have a misconception of the orchestra as elitist are

invited to attend concerts featuring popular artists. The 2005-2006 season featured vocalist

Vanessa Williams, violinist Joshua Bell, and jazz artist Bobby McFerrin. These three artists may

attract “part-time” classical listeners, jazz aficionados, and those more into popular music. These

artists are accompanied by the Symphony, and the Symphony has its own portion of the concert

as well. So by purchasing tickets to see a non-classical artist, adults who don’t usually visit the

Symphony are a “captive audience” to its particular style of music.

Reaching those people who can’t fit the Symphony into their budget demands a different

strategy. Naturally, any endeavor to reach underprivileged communities will not result in

dramatically increased ticket sales. The Seattle Symphony therefore, approaches this

constituency with a community service project. Entitled Artistic and Cultural Community

Engagement with the Seattle Symphony (ACCESS), this project provides free concerts to

families in underprivileged areas. ACCESS concerts will often feature student soloists from the

area, giving the community a personal investment in the concert. While this project may not

substantially affect ticket revenue, it is a valuable community service, and ensures awareness of

the Symphony in case members of these communities ever improve their financial situation.

Learning from the Seattle Symphony

What we are to take away from this, then, is how to sustain a symphony orchestra in a

metropolitan area like Seattle. We can reduce the above to a few key strategies which are vital to

any symphony’s success:

1. Diversify programming. As audiences change and their tastes become more and more

diverse, the music presented must follow suit. It is not enough to offer only programs

of the classical and romantic masterworks; conversely, it is not enough to devote the

organization to modern music. Having a variety of composers, time periods and styles

keeps all of the music fresh and exciting and makes sure that concerts and the

orchestra have a broad base of supporters.

2. Establish strong outreach programs. With the myriad of musical offerings in today’s

market, artistic directors cannot expect to find ample support without advertising.

General community outreach and young people’s education programs are two

necessities. By increasing the awareness of the symphony in the community, the

orchestra can maximize its audience; and education makes symphonic music

accessible to future ticket-buyers, which is particularly important as music education

disappears from more and more schools. The more active the participation of

youngsters and the community at large, the better the organization’s chances for

longevity.

3. Don’t be afraid to include crossover artists in programs. While it may seem to be

“selling out,” the truth is that this practice opens the symphony to a group of listeners

that may otherwise be totally unapproachable. By inviting these people into the

concert hall, the orchestra dispels the myth of classical elitism and proves itself to be

capable of more than just Mozart and Wagner. In addition, as mentioned earlier, this

group will be a “captive audience” to whatever other repertoire the ensemble decides

to share that evening and may be sufficiently impressed to continue buying tickets.

There is much to learn from the Seattle Symphony beyond these three suggestions.

Perhaps the most important idea to grasp is that a well planned, properly managed symphony

orchestra in America has the chance not only to survive, but to thrive. In fact, considering the

prosperity of Seattle, American symphonies may be in a better position than ever. There are still

those that call the present day the sunset for American orchestras, and there likely will be for a

long time. However, American symphonies have not yet been drowned out in the cacophony of

American music. If they can find ways to speak loudly and in new ways, these orchestras’ voices

will never be totally quieted.

WORKS CITED

2002 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. Washington, D.C.: National Endowment for the

Arts, 2004.

2004-2005 Annual Report. Seattle: Seattle Symphony, 2005.

Corigliano, John and Frank J. Oteri. “John Corigliano at Home.” New Music Box 9 December

2004.

Grant, Margaret and Herman Hettinger. America’s Symphony Orchestras, and How They are

Supported. New York: W.W. Morton, 1940.

Horowitz, Joseph. Classical Music in America: A History of its Rise and Fall. New York: W.W.

Norton, 2005.

Kozinn, Allan. “Check the Numbers: Rumors of Classical Music's Demise Are Dead Wrong.”

New York Times 28 May 2006: B6.

Larsen, Libby. The Concert Hall that Fell Asleep and Woke Up As a Car Radio. Keynote

address, Chorus America Annual Conference: 10 June 2004.

Midgette, Anne. “Decline in Listeners Worries Orchestras.” New York Times 25 June 2005: B7.

Orchestra Repertoire Report. New York, American Symphony Orchestra League, 2001-2006.

Seltzer, George. The Professional Symphony Orchestra in the United States. Metuchen:

Scarecrow Press, 1975.

Tucker, Laurence and Greg Simon. “An Interview With Laurence Tucker.” Manuscript

20 November 2006.

Uematsu’s Music. Square Enix Software.

<http://www.square-enix-usa.com/uematsu/concert/dear_friends.html>