What does it take for an orchestra to keep moving forward in the 21st-century? In a recent article, Boston Globe critic Jeremy Eichler emphasizes the need to look outward.
Performing arts organizations don’t tend to idle in neutral — they either move forward or backward…. many forward-thinking orchestras have begun reexamining their broader missions. More groups are recognizing that the ceaseless pursuit of ensemble virtuosity alone simply does not constitute a governing artistic agenda. They have been angling outward in thoughtful ways to engage a public far beyond specialists and subscribers.
…The orchestra must [strive] to carve an essential place for this art form in a fractured 21st-century landscape, to link a bunkered concert hall with the cultural and intellectual life of the society at large, and to entice the audience of the future not through pandering or gimmicks but through concerts that demand to be heard. Read the full article.