Jay Garrick? Wally We-- she moved real fast.
Never mind.
From Music 4 Games, an interview with Nobuo Uematsu:
M4G: In the USA the orchestras are having a terrible time because their subscriber base is quite literally dying and they are unable to fill the vacant subscriptions with a younger audience. Do you see a tangible impact on the revitalization of the orchestra as a result of a younger (gaming) audience?Uemastu-san: I think orchestra music is a wonderful thing, rich in musical expression. Despite that, the younger generation does not choose to support or favor orchestral music compared to other types of music. The situation is the same in Japan. But the responsibility lies with the orchestras - the classical music industry. They should get off their throne of authority and show people of all types and classes the beauty of orchestral music. They should educate others of the joy and wonderful nature of the orchestra in the way they understand. Classical musicians must realize that they are also entertainers before thinking that they are artists. Concerts like this upcoming one in Los Angeles (Dear Friends - music from FINAL FANTASY), I hope, will bring the younger crowd into this environment and in that sense it is a very meaningful event.
The trick of course, and I don't envy anyone trying to pull this one off, is to do something to pull in a new audience that actually succeeds in pulling in a new audience without totally alienating the existing base. Or at least that brings in enough newcomers that the dinos waddling off to thrash and die doesn't impact the bottom line. And no, I don't think it should be about the bottom line, but I live in this society, and don't have a hell of a lot of choice in thinking about things in those terms. Sue me.
What usually happens -- and I'd speculate wildly about Bobby McFerrin's tenure as conductor of the St. Paul Symphony Orchestra, but after talking out of my ass about Marvel's Barbie comic yesterday and getting called on it by Dwayne, will refrain from doing so, or will at least do minimal research before opening my trap -- is that whatever new steps are taken don't manage to impress or interest the people who weren't interested before, but any deviation causes the dinos to become confused and angry.
Thus, the Worst of Both Worlds. Lose the old audience, don't manage to get a new one.
Yep, babbling. Went to the East Current performance last night at the Cultural Center. Wonderful. I could to try to describe it, but I'd fail miserably. They're playing a few more dates in the States -- next one:
East Current
Mar. 20, 2004 8:00 PM
Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall
Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival Committee
& The Japan Foundation Present
East Current: A Fresh Sound of Koto and Shakuhachi
“a musical wind from Japan blows into Seattle”
This duo instrumental concert of Japanese music on the koto and shakuhachi, co-sponsored by the Consulate-General of Japan and the Nippon Kan Heritage Association, will be part of the 2004 Seattle Cherry Blossom Festival. The annual festival began in 1976, when the late Prime Minister Takeo Miki and the Japanese government gave Seattle a gift of one thousand cherry trees to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial. A reception will follow the recital in the Bill and Melinda Gates Lobby.
Ok, why the fuck does Seattle get a Cherry Blossom Festival? We don't get a Cherry Blossom Festival. Which is just as well, I suppose, because a quick glance out the window shows the blossoms'd be covered with a light layer of snow. Erm.
Any road up, a few days later:
Mar. 23 (Tue), 7:00 p.m. at Phoenix ASU's Kerr Cultural Center, 6110 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, (off Rose Lane south of the Borgata) http://www.asukerr.com/home.shtml For ticket & Information: Kerr Box Office, Tel. (480) 596-2660 Ticketmaster, Tel. (480) 784-4444
From CulturalNews.com, which hasn't been updated lately. Um, more details or something at ASU's site, including a nice PDF you can print out and distribute, so the performance there is better attended than the one here. Not that the place was empty, I'd say 3/4 full or more, but the space was not that large. . .
All of which is part of Sesquicentennial of Japan-US Relations, which I hopethe US is doing some stuff for over there, because they're going all-out here, to little attention from what I've seen. And can we not piss them off too? Any more than we usually do?
Edits and photos later, I think. Coffee.
You are such a geek.
--Kynn
The truly scary part is, that's actually a line from an episode of Angel. I laughed while wondering why they put something in the script that only like 0.005% of the population would get. . .