By: Jenny Bilfield

Jenny Bilfield — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:52:28 +0000

the recent exchange about genre was interesting to me, vis a vis presenter programs, and i wanted to weigh in. stanford lively arts (of which i am artistic and executive director)– both before i arrived here and certainly since then — has avoided the ‘series’ approach, as we’ve found that our audiences have a more independent ‘do it yourself’ investment in the cultural choices they make. while we do definitely have devoted chamber music listeners/buyers, i find people routinely cross-pollinating their selections when they subscribe. from my many years managing composers (and especially so when i worked at Boosey & Hawkes) i also, by instinct, resist ‘categorizing’ groups, but rather try to embrace the fullness of their imaginations and programs. for example, the calder quartet and gloria cheng came to our series the other day and performed works by shostakovich, rouse, and schnitke. chamber music, contemporary music — both. they’re darn great chamber musicians, and the program was dark and rigorous and deeply affecting. certainly on our website we can cut across genres and have a group, like calder, represented in several categories when searched. in our printed materials, we go chronologically, and have other ways for people to drill down to the featured contemporary work or chamber music. we’ve held this line in part because many of our artists use a wide palette for their work and — frankly — if they’re trying to break boundaries or simply just harness the tools they need (genres cast to the wind!), then we should support that by resisting choosing one category or the other. dave douglas and bill morrison created a work for us last year — was it ‘new music’, was in jazz, was it film?…yes. all of the above. i’d rather challenge ‘us’ to talk about the work. not easy…but a good discipline, i think. and thankfully we have a marketing department that flexes to the needs at hand!

By: Edna Landau

Edna Landau — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 16:42:36 +0000

Thanks so much, Tony, for taking the time to write and for your encouragement of both my efforts and Lev’s wonderful musicmaking. We hope that other presenters will take your comments to heart.

By: Tony Payne

Tony Payne — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:01:53 +0000

Both the question and the answer contain wise counsel for us all. I identify with Lev’s frustration, and I deeply appreciate Edna’s positive assessment of circumstances that could easily be exegeted otherwise. I prefer to take Edna’s positive reading of the situation and embrace the excitement and innovation that is being summoned forth by artists, presenters and audience alike. I think Ben Cameron is right to quote Adrienne Rich, “where we are the maps are behind by years.” We are now re-drawing the maps, but this is not for the faint of heart. In the mean time, Lev, make music in all the ways you can, at every time that you can, for all the people that you can.

Comments on: Here’s My Program—Where Do I Fit?

By: Jenny Bilfield

By: Edna Landau

By: Tony Payne