THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501200081
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MARK MOBLEY
LENGTH: Long : 123 lines
IT'S BEEN a heady week for the arts in Hampton Roads. The world premiere of ``Simon Bolivar'' and the local debut of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's ``American Concerto'' have made the area feel more cosmopolitan.
But such events are rare. I am dismayed by the local state of the arts - in the audience, on the stages and in the boardrooms. My sadness comes from attending great performances with maybe 50 other people. It comes from seeing few people my own age (30) or younger at Chrysler Hall for the Symphony.
In this time of graying audiences and precarious funding, the venerable Feldman Chamber Music Society is remaking itself.
The group was founded almost 50 years ago as a string quartet. Today the society presents five Chrysler Museum performances by visiting groups each season. The programs are repeated by a companion organization, the Williamsburg Chamber Music Society.
On Jan. 12, the Feldman board held a retreat in Smithfield to discuss options for the future. They invited me to speak.
In my previous dealings with arts groups I have stopped short of telling them what to do. Yet I am also an arts activist - not in terms of lobbying George Allen for funds, like that's going to do any good - but in a broader way. My working notion is that more people would like the performing arts if only someone led them in.
I believe small, regional groups have a freedom to experiment that major institutions either will not or cannot seize. While other groups struggle for survival, the Feldman has a recognized name in the community, an endowment and loyal subscribers.
What I urged the Feldman to do is reconsider its history and then move forward with bold initiatives that build on its legacy. A RESIDENCY
In 1947, local music educator I.E. ``Izzy'' Feldman founded a string quartet that bore his name, and it became a valuable local resource. Today, Hampton Roads has many creditable performing groups: An orchestra with a large chorus, an opera company, a chamber chorus, an early-music group. It does not have a string quartet that plays here regularly and undertakes community outreach.
And while the Feldman Chamber Music Society has presented a number of fine groups in recent seasons, it has presented just as many that led me to leave at intermission.
I propose establishing every second or third season as a partial residency for a single group, preferably but not necessarily a string quartet.
Here's how it would work. In 1996-97, let's say, the Feldman books five groups with the understanding that they are candidates for an entire series of engagements in 1997-98. When each group comes to town, the board interviews them about programming, outreach, education and even marketing. At the end of the season, the board selects the group it feels is the best fit.
The quartet - or whatever ensemble is selected - then plays the entire Feldman season. Having a semi-resident quartet would serve a number of purposes. A group that plays here more than once has more flexibility in programming, and there are whole areas of repertoire underrepresented here. Have Haydn's ``Seven Last Words of Christ'' ever been heard here? There's a cable network in town that might broadcast that worldwide.
The group might record for WHRO - or even have a regular program. It could play Elgar's Introduction and Allegro or Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia with the Virginia Symphony. It could provide incidental music to a Virginia Stage Company production. It could give children's concerts. It could support the schools' string programs. A COMPETITION
The second proposal is more expensive and a lot more labor-intensive. But it could also put the area on the map.
I propose a chamber music competition in which at least 20 percent of the score comes from a lecture-demonstration.
Izzy Feldman's career was about fostering young talent. Imagine a string quartet competition in which one round is held before college or high-school students and the players talk to them. The winners of the Feldman String Quartet Competition would not only be excellent musicians. They'd also feel at home before specialty audiences of all kinds - urban or rural, young or elderly, aficionados or neophytes.
I do not believe in dumbing down the arts. But I do believe in developing spokespeople for the arts. This competition would be a way to bring young talent into Hampton Roads. It would also be a great story - the media love contests. A FESTIVAL
This is perhaps the least likely of my proposals. But it's also one of my favorites.
I remember being horrified when I heard, some years ago, that a local organization was offered the King's Singers for a date in the summer. The local administrator told the King's Singers' manager, ``We don't wear our arts hats in the summer.''
To an extent, that remains true today. There are next to no concerts and most of the Virginia Symphony members take off for summer festivals.
I am aware of emerging plans for a major spring or summer festival in Hampton Roads, one that could start as early as 1996. But I'm concerned with something smaller, more doable, that would benefit local musicians and develop new markets for chamber music in the mid-Atlantic.
I propose a chamber-music festival that would be rehearsed in Hampton Roads and performed on the Outer Banks and on the Eastern Shore.
Virginia Symphony musicians would rehearse three or more programs and then take them to upscale resort communities within driving distance. The funding would work in much the same way as the Feldman/Williamsburg alliance does, with Outer Banks and Chincoteague funders sharing responsibility for fund raising.
These proposals - a residency, a competition and a festival - are three that could generate maximum musical enjoyment and local, regional and even national exposure without tremendous outlays of cash. They are sexy projects that could interest corporations and government agencies. DATEBOOK
The Australian String Quartet, music of Bartok, Mozart and Ravel. 8 p.m. Monday at the Chrysler Museum Theater, Norfolk, and 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Williamsburg Regional Library. Tickets in Norfolk: $14, $5 for students/music professionals. 498-9396. Tickets in Williamsburg: $10, $5 for students. (804) 229-0241.
``Simon Bolivar.'' Virginia Opera's world premiere production of Thea Musgrave's opera at 2:30 p.m. today, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, 8 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. next Sunday. Harrison Opera House, 160 Virginia Beach Blvd., Norfolk. 623-1223.
Virginia Symphony Brass Quintet. 7 p.m. Tuesday at Chesapeake Central Library, 298 Cedar Road. 547-6591.
by CNB