How Is the National Symphony Orchestra Faring?

With Philip Glass pulling the premiere of his 15^th Symphony, Lincoln, from the National Symphony Orchestra’s schedule and Renée Fleming canceling her May concert with the orchestra just days before, the NSO is suffering multiple blows from DT’s takeover of the Kennedy Center.  Headliner artists (and composer) aren’t the only ones canceling, of course; audiences are scarce as well. 

Gianandrea Noseda, the NSO’s music director since 2017, is sanguine about the turmoil swirling around his orchestra. Having weathered a major administrative upheaval at the Teatro Regio Torino in Italy in 2018, he is following a friend’s advice. “He said not to make speeches, but to be present,” Noseda tells The New York Times. “Your presence speaks. Go to the core of the business of making music. Not talk too much: Do the work.”

But “doing the work” has to be dispiriting when the concert hall is only half full. Attendance is down about 50 percent from the previous season. “We are going to make this work,” Joan Bialek, the chair of the NSO board, optimistically insisted last week. “We need to make sure they [audiences] understand that by not coming… they’re essentially not doing the musicians a favor.”

Unlike the Washington National Opera’s recent exit, no one affiliated with NSO is hinting at leaving the Kennedy Center. Under a 1986 agreement, the orchestra, which gives about 180 performances a year, receives about $10 million toward its $42 million annual budget from The Kennedy Center. Noseda and Bialek both said that there had been no external interference in their programming (although they are required to play the National Anthem before each concert). On the other hand, KC President Richard Grenell insists that all productions be revenue neutral, a high bar to clear when your ticket sales are cratering.

The maestro, firm in his belief that “music can heal wounds,” rejects the notion that continuing to lead the orchestra somehow validates what is happening at The Kennedy Center. “I cannot make everybody happy,” Noseda tells The Times. “I know why I am here—to serve the art, the music and the community…. Someone will always say, ‘Oh, he’s associated with this administration.’ Someone else will say, ‘No, he is free-spirited.’ I am free-spirited.”

Last year Noseda extended his contract until 2031, the NSO’s centennial season. “I’m really trying to stay focused and to underline the value of the music,” he concludes. “Because that is what matters.”

The New York Times

Pictured: NSO Music Director Gianandrea Noseda