Northwest Symphony Works Hard To Win Fans With 20Th-Century Music
How do you get audiences to come to concerts of new classical music?
And how do you get them to return?
These questions are central to today's classical music industry, which still is having trouble connecting audiences with music of the 20th century - at a point where the 21st century is about to begin.
Anthony Spain has the answers, a fact that has made the Seattle-based conductor and his Northwest Symphony Orchestra the focus of intense nationwide attention. Spain and his 12-year-old community orchestra not only specialize in 20th-century music, but also in presenting works of Northwest composers. By April, they will have presented 50 such works in their history, quite an achievement when you consider the orchestra does four concerts a year.
This track record has netted the NWSO four awards (three third-place and one first-place) in its category for the programming of contemporary music from ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. The orchestra also has been featured several times on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" series, and was mentioned on the front page of The Wall Street Journal in a story about the nationwide growth of the performing arts.
"We are on the cutting edge of a new idea," says Spain, a tall and craggy 36-year-old with a long mane of blond hair.
"The idea is that our musical culture is now strong enough that you can draw on your own community. That is what we are: an orchestra for this community."
Well, several communities, actually. Spain and many of the players live in Seattle, but they come from all points of the regional compass (several from the Eastside and from communities north of the city), and they perform at the Highline Performing Arts Center, in Burien, near the northwest corner of Sea-Tac Airport. Occasional outreach performances are held elsewhere, often in local churches.
And while the NWSO has made its reputation with works of local composers, works of the masters dominate most of the programs: Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony, the Mozart Requiem, Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet" Suite No. 2, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante and Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 (with soloist George Fiore, who also is chorusmaster of Seattle Opera) are all featured this season.
Finding the right mix of programming has been important to Spain ever since he put together an orchestra 12 years ago, when he was still a graduate student in the University of Washington Music School's doctoral program. At first, the orchestra was a "pickup ensemble" of students and other available freelancers.
"In the last seven or eight years, though, we really have found our mission, to become an orchestra for this community, and our identity has solidified," Spain says.
Spain says his listeners keep coming to concerts because his orchestra has "built up trust" with them. As many as 650 will turn out for the more popular events, such as the annual Valentine's concert; other programs might draw 400 or 300.
"It's amazing the difference in attitude when they know you really care about their understanding a piece of music. We always have some discussions, and we invite the composers to the concerts. I always ask what inspired them, and often it's something local - Chief Seattle, or the mountains, for instance. This also helps the audiences relate to the music.
"You have to understand how difficult it is for the audience to appreciate new music on the first hearing. You can't expect communication to take place every time, but often you'll discover something that speaks to you.
"I often turn to the audience and tell them, `Frankly, this may be difficult to get on the first listening,' or `Some of you may feel like running for the doors.' You admit that fear, right off. It's amazing how much more open the audience is when they get this personal environment, almost like a fireside chat."
Anything that enhances the concert is fine with Spain, including a slide show of mountain scenes that accompanied the performance of "Canadian Mountain Sketches" by Michael Young. Spain capitalizes on the many premieres, telling his audiences they are privileged to be at the first performance: "You are the first people in the world to hear this." The orchestra does frequent audience surveys, and those responses are not ignored. Nor is applause between movements of a symphonic work a no-no. Spain welcomes whatever the audience chooses as a spontaneous expression; he feels free to be spontaneous, too, even picking up the microphone to warble "People Will Say We're in Love" at a recent concert.
Another identity-builder has been the orchestra's first CD, on the Albany label, which drew the attention of National Public Radio and became something of a calling card. A second CD, on the Kich International Classics label, will appear shortly, with more repertoire by Northwest composers (including Alan Hovhaness, Gregory Short and Michael Young).
Spain has been smart about expansion, choosing not to overextend the orchestra. Instead of firing less able players and trying to become professional, with a big infrastructure and a union contract and office staff, Spain has been content to maintain "a community orchestra at a high level of musicianship." The NWSO is getting some modest funding from King County and from the cities of Burien and SeaTac, all of which helps, Spain notes.
"I'd like to develop audiences further, and to make more artistic strides, too," he says, "but I really enjoy the musicians I'm working with. I'm loyal to them and want to bring them along. The sound is very nice - the strings in particular are much improved. I learn along with the orchestra, both musically and psychologically."
Violist Eileen Krohn, who has played in the Northwest Symphony since its founding, says one of the pleasures of playing in the orchestra is getting to know the Northwest composers.
"We as an orchestra have the privilege of getting to know the composers at rehearsals. We have the opportunity to speak with them either as a group on one. In this way, we learn the true vision of the inspiration behind the creation of a piece."
Nobody is running for the exits. There have been no walkouts. Instead, Spain says he's sometimes amazed at the positive response of his audience.
"We were performing Gregory Short's `Chief Seattle,' with narrator, and I was worried that the harmonic language of the score might be too difficult. We had a Native American chief come in and speak beforehand about Chief Seattle. I was absolutely amazed at the audience, many of them saying they were incredibly moved by the music.
"If you create the right atmosphere in the audience, if you perform music of high quality, they'll listen. And they'll be back." ------------------------------- Concert information
The Northwest Symphony Orchestra can be heard at the following concerts: -- "Messiah" sing-along, with Choral Sounds Northwest (Mark Adrian conducting); Glendale Lutheran Church, 3 p.m. Dec. 20. -- "Valentine's Concert," with Samuel Jones' "In Retrospect" and other works (Anthony Spain conducting); 8 p.m. Feb. 13; Highline Performing Arts Center, 401 S. 152nd St., Burien. -- "A Touch of Mozart" (Spain conducting); 8 p.m. March 6; Highline Performing Arts Center (repeated at 3 p.m. March 7, Holy Rosary Church of West Seattle). -- "Celebration Concert," with Jones' "Fanfare and Celebration," Bloch's "Schelomo" and other works (Spain conducting); 8 p.m. April 17; Highline Performing Arts Center.
For tickets and information, call 206-938-5579.