he sound of music is something
that we have come to take for granted
in Canada. In our two major central
cities we have world renowned sym-
phony orchestras. Both the Toronto
Symphony and Montreal Symphony
Orchestras are well supported by
their communities.

But, still we are facing, or in some
cases we are in a crisis when it comes
to culture. The Vancouver Sym-
phony folded this past winter. What
is left of it will rise again but, not
without a lot of government support
and money. In Thunder Bay the
symphony is facing a cash crunch
and the same is true for symphonies
right across the country.

Why this crisis, why now and
what can we do?

Culture is a significant
provider of jobs. When a
symphony folds up its tent
and heads down the road
so do a lot of those jobs.

8/LUMBERWORKER/JUNE, 1988

The crisis has been a long time
coming. Almost daily there is more
and more competition for the enter-
tainment dollar. VCRs, pop concerts,
movies, sporting events, television
and a host of other diversions are
competing for those spread thin con-
sumer dollars.

This has in particular hit sympho-
nies hard. For some years there have

EE

A CRISIS
IN CULTURE

been declining audiences and less
corporate support. To some degree
the fault lies with the management
of the symphonies.

In the case of Vancouver, we saw
programming moving further and
further away from anything resem-
bling progressive. As the style and
content of the program became more
entrenched the audience became
more alienated. Eventually, just as
the audience had abandoned the
VSO, the VSO abandoned the
audience.

Once the alienation was complete,
there was but one route to go, rebuild
from the ground up.

But, the VSO example just under-
lines the problem. There has been a
tendency in Canada to ignore our
culture, to relegate it to a minor,
unimportant part of our society.

On the other hand popular culture,
like its name, has the advantage of
having profit motive behind it. It
will always thrive because of that.
There will always be some kid with
stars in his eyes and a guitar in his
hand.

But, the survival of more classical
forms of culture relies more on a
total community commitment. A
change in attitude is what will save
our symphonies.

No longer can we look at sympho-
nies as a luxury, as something high-
brow and for the elite. Symphonies
must reach out to everyone, in every
community, not just those in large
urban settings.

The corporate sector needs to
rethink its commitment to the com-
munity and what form that will take.
Without more corporate support our
orchestras will continue to languish
in the overdraft column. Corpora-

a 99 EEE eee

tions take a lot of profit out of this
country. They have an obligation to
put something back in. Corporate
support of culture is a good start.

Symphonies themselves must
rethink their programming and look
for ways to plug in ordinary people.
Without working men and women as
part of their plans they will be
doomed to yet more time in the
wilderness.

The next time
you're thinking
about a movie
with the kids, or
the amusement
park, think
about the
symphony.

Culture is a significant provider of
jobs. When a symphony folds up its
tent and heads down the road sodoa
lot of those jobs. To allow this to
happen means that not only does the
music stop but, so do hundreds of
paycheques.

Our symphony orchestras are an
integral part of our country. The
next time you're thinking about a
movie with the kids, or the amuse-
ment park, think about the sym-
phony. Expose yourself to art, you
may find you're pleasantly sur-
prised.