City Orchestras Citichat 17 December 1999

CITICHAT 43/99 -17 December 1999


City Orchestras

Apologies for our lousy numbering system, I've just realised that we sent out two Citichats numbered 41 and I'm aware of other duplications during the year.

New Year's Resolution: Get Citichat Numbering Sytem under control!

There was a blunt letter on the state of the city in the media this week. It was from someone who had come into the city to attend a Carol concert at the City Hall and was appalled by the state of pavements and roads, rubbish, hawkers and vagrants. He is right but obviously doesn't know of the huge efforts and commitment from public and private sectors to resolve the situation, nor of the real progress that has been made particularly during 1999. That isn't his fault, it is ours in that our communication, like my numbering of Citichats, is at fault! At a Workshop of the Johannesburg Inner City Business Coalition (JICBC) a week or so ago, marketing and communication were highlighted as an area that needs a major effort and will be one of our priorities for next year. However, the letter reminded me that the National Symphony Orchestra no longer uses the City Hall as its base for a wide variety of reasons that need to be addressed and which do not all relate to the issues raised by the correspondent.



That, in turn, reminded me of a debate which we need to enter sooner rather than later in regard to the National Symphony Orchestra, whose home, for a variety of reasons, I believe should be at the City Hall but whose financial sustainability is under severe threat. That debate has been raging in Cape Town in regard to their Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. But the debate is far broader than the sustainability of symphony orchestras as can be seen from the dichotomy of responses to the Cape Town issue as highlighted in the following extracts from recent Cape Town media reports.. The Cape Town City Council chairperson was reported in the Cape Times as stating "The council has funded the orchestra to the tune of over R41 million since 1986. This is a high cost and perhaps a contradiction for a city where the majority of the population live in poverty." The chairperson of the orchestra Board was reported as having made this comment in regard to pledges of about R500 000 from corporate and private donors; "These people can see that Cape Town would lose more than its symphony orchestra, which is the kernel of musical life in the city. Not being able to support the Philharmonic will send out a message of incompetence, of a city unable to offer one of the cornerstones of civilisation." Ron Harrod, director of an Athlone-based music education and training body called Prompt.: "If you gave me R1 million a month, I could produce at least 10 CDs a month at the South African level. Or I could produce one or two world-class CDs……..the figures show that an investment in the contemporary music industry has the potential to create 100 000 jobs in South Africa. Around the world, contemporary music is second only to the computer industry for job creation, which is crucial in this country." Letter to the Cape Times; "The purpose of having a classical orchestra and other higher art forms in this country is not to enter the "global marketplace"….this isn’t about economics. Their purpose is to lift the spirits and enrich the lives of those who care to listen to it, in the same way that people get inspired by other musical forms from jazz to kwaito." Pointing out that the orchestra is today paying the price for historically neglecting local talent another letter states: " At no time in the last five years, has the CTPO performed the works of Abdullah Ibrahim. His transposed work was performed in conjunction with the European Union's Youth String orchestra for the recording of 'African Suite'. The CTPO has never deigned to collaborate with horn legends such as Robbie Jansen, Winston Mankunku, Ezra Ngcukana and the late Basil "Manenberg" Coetzee, all from this city. ………the CTPO has also never performed the "classical" piece 'Concierto De Aranjuez' with one of the world's most talented guitarists, Neefa van der Schyff…….the common denominator here is that these world renowned artists are all black and from disadvantaged areas. The dearth of attempts at collaborative efforts from a privileged institution such as the CTPO can only point to a lack of real will to transcend the barriers of race and culture."

From my knowledge of the NSO, significant and very real efforts have been made to "transcend the barriers of race and culture" with a large number of noteworthy successes. Yet the NSO, like the CTPO, is engaged in a struggle to survive. The cultural desires and expressions of the vast majority of our population, faced with extreme poverty, unemployment and lack of shelter, will undoubtedly not include live 'classical' music but surely it must be part of the multiplicity of art forms available to our multi-cultural society. If so, then such organisations must adapt from any rigidity they might previously have had so that they include the widest possible audience and participation.

One of the comparative advantages of cities is that they are hubs of culture, entertainment and the arts. We must get the NSO, as a responsive body to the cultural needs of all the diverse peoples that it serves, back into the City Hall! Regards,