{"id":7324,"date":"2016-04-12T12:35:52","date_gmt":"2016-04-12T11:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=7324"},"modified":"2021-04-01T15:23:37","modified_gmt":"2021-04-01T14:23:37","slug":"breaking-leading-professional-orchestra-to-give-up-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2016\/04\/12\/breaking-leading-professional-orchestra-to-give-up-music\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING- Leading Professional Orchestra To Give Up Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2016\/04\/12\/breaking-leading-professional-orchestra-to-give-up-music\/5490277-no-music-sign\/#main\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7326\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-7326\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-744x744.jpg\" alt=\"5490277-no-music-sign\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-744x744.jpg 744w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-420x420.jpg 420w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-90x90.jpg 90w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-1140x1140.jpg 1140w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-570x570.jpg 570w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-380x380.jpg 380w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/5490277-no-music-sign-285x285.jpg 285w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a>A leading professional orchestra has announced they are giving up rehearsing, teaching and performing music to focus on their \u201ccore mission,\u201d it has been announced.<\/p>\n<p>The board and management of the Southlands Sinfonia in Weicester have decided to cancel all future plans for concerts, recordings and music courses to \u201cfocus on what makes this orchestra great- our relationship with the community, our sense of partnership and engagement, and the role we play in developing the local economy. We are going to focus all our energies on changing perceptions of the orchestra, re-imagining the orchestra as a post-musical organization for the 21st Century.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese are difficult times and we have to make hard choices,\u201d said Sinfonia CEO Mortimer Platit\u00fcde . \u201cPutting on concerts takes time and money. Sometimes, the cost of rehearsals has been so great that some of the musicians have actually had to take their own time to practice their parts at home instead of learning them where they should- in the safety of the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"woocommerce \"><ul class=\"products columns-4\">\n<li class=\"product type-product post-6486 status-publish first instock product_cat-cds has-post-thumbnail shipping-taxable purchasable product-type-simple\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/product\/ensemble-epomeo-penderecki-kurtag-schnittke-and-weinberg-string-trios\/\" class=\"woocommerce-LoopProduct-link woocommerce-loop-product__link\"><span class=\"et_shop_image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-300x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-woocommerce_thumbnail size-woocommerce_thumbnail\" alt=\"Ensemble Epomeo- Penderecki, Kurt\u00e1g, Schnittke and Weinberg String Trio&#039;s\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-90x90.jpg 90w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-570x570.jpg 570w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-380x380.jpg 380w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Epomeo-NEW-285x285.jpg 285w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><span class=\"et_overlay\"><\/span><\/span><h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-product__title\">Ensemble Epomeo- Penderecki, Kurt\u00e1g, Schnittke and Weinberg String Trio&#8217;s<\/h2>\n\t<span class=\"price\"><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-amount amount\"><bdi><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-currencySymbol\">&pound;<\/span>12.00<\/bdi><\/span><\/span>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s really important for the future of the SS is the way in which we are perceived in the community. By giving up music, we can focus on developing the community\u2019s perception of what we do for the community we serve with the partners we work in partnership with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Platit\u00fcde cited a string of new strategic goals for the orchestra as they move bravely into a post- music world. \u201cWe want everyone to know how accessible we are. And how friendly. It\u2019s vitally important for everyone in the community who we engage with collaboratively in partnership to know how friendly and accessible we are in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These are exciting times for orchestras like the SS ,says Platit\u00fcde. because orchestras today have so many more tools for spreading the word about how unthreatening and likeable they are. \u201cWe\u2019ve found brightly coloured t-shirts are a great tool for changing perceptions of the orchestra from being a group of people who wear dark colours and long sleeves to being a group of people who wear jeans, trainers and brightly coloured t-shirts. Our research shows us that for every concert we cancel, we can buy a whole new set of brightly coloured t-shirts. One for everyone in the orchestra! By the end of what would have been our season, we will have t-shirts in yellow, red, green, light green, forest green, funky green, blue, bright blue, navy blue (although we try to avoid using these as they are too close to black and may negatively affect people\u2019s perceptions of us), light navy blue, sky blue, teal, dark teal, pink, lavender, salmon and terra cotta. Of course, there\u2019s only so much we can do in one year- enhancing our reputation for being accessible in the community will take many years and a shed load of t-shirts!\u201d Platit\u00fcde was non-committal when pressed about whether the orchestra would be investing in matching jeans for the musicians. &#8220;There&#8217;s a lot we still have to learn about the shape of the 21st Century Orchestra. We know that trainers are perceived as being more accessible than dress shoes, but are they really the most accessible? Perhaps we&#8217;ll be the first UK orchestra to wear crocs in our concerts! Oops, did I say &#8220;concerts?&#8221; Can you correct that to &#8220;family friendly music-free events&#8221;?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The SS will also be changing the focus of its vaunted youth programmes. &#8220;The SS Youth will no longer be a youth orchestra- instead they will be a project. We&#8217;ve found that trying to teach 60 teenagers to play the last movement of Sibelius 2 in a few days makes it very hard to innovate and deliver social impacts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Social media will also be a major focus for the SS as they look to the future. \u201cWe all know that there is nothing more important for a modern orchestra than our social media presence. However, our research shows that of our current 1578 Facebook friends, over twelve hundred of them all seem to work on the same click farm in Egypt. The rest seem to be freelance musicians scrounging for work, the orchestra&#8217;s librarian and the volunteer who used to run the parents\u2019 group for what was our youth orchestra. We can do better without music.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7325\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2016\/04\/12\/breaking-leading-professional-orchestra-to-give-up-music\/no-music\/#main\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-7325\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7325\" class=\"wp-image-7325\" src=\"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/No-music.jpg\" alt=\"No music\" width=\"400\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/No-music.jpg 534w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/No-music-420x486.jpg 420w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-7325\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Southlands Sinfonia: \u00a0Better Without Music!<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cBy focusing on our key mission, we can use all of our contact time with our musicians to focus on proving to the community how friendly we are. Our musicians are our most powerful advocates for the organization, but many of them are deeply troubled and depressed people. Several are clearly anti-social. It sometimes takes up to 500 exposures to get a picture of one of them smiling with a cute child at a children\u2019s concert. By doing away with music at those events, we can spend the entire event time making sure we\u2019re capturing the wonderful relationship that exists between our musicians and local young people for our social media channels.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Platit\u00fcde says the future of the SS is the future of orchestras everywhere. \u201cI\u2019m just so excited about what this orchestra can do without music!\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"woocommerce \"><ul class=\"products columns-4\">\n<li class=\"product type-product post-6325 status-publish first instock product_cat-cds has-post-thumbnail shipping-taxable purchasable product-type-simple\">\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/product\/hans-gal-symphony-no-2-robert-schumann-symphony-no-4\/\" class=\"woocommerce-LoopProduct-link woocommerce-loop-product__link\"><span class=\"et_shop_image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Bobby-and-Hans-vol-3-300x300.png\" class=\"attachment-woocommerce_thumbnail size-woocommerce_thumbnail\" alt=\"Hans G\u00e1l- Symphony no. 2, Robert Schumann- Symphony no. 4\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Bobby-and-Hans-vol-3-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Bobby-and-Hans-vol-3-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><span class=\"et_overlay\"><\/span><\/span><h2 class=\"woocommerce-loop-product__title\">Hans G\u00e1l- Symphony no. 2, Robert Schumann- Symphony no. 4<\/h2>\n\t<span class=\"price\"><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-amount amount\"><bdi><span class=\"woocommerce-Price-currencySymbol\">&pound;<\/span>12.00<\/bdi><\/span><\/span>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2016\/04\/12\/breaking-leading-professional-orchestra-to-give-up-music\/\" send=\"false\" layout=\"box_count\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"true\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A leading professional orchestra has announced they are giving up rehearsing, teaching and performing music to focus on their \u201ccore mission,\u201d it has been announced. The board and management of the Southlands Sinfonia in Weicester have decided to cancel all future plans for concerts, recordings and music courses to \u201cfocus on what makes this orchestra [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7325,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1085,1118],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-opion-life-as-a-performing-musician","category-not-quite-the-news","category-satire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7324"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9501,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7324\/revisions\/9501"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}