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Frei, MarcoWhat for?The madness of orchestra touringcategory: Essay published in: das Orchester 03/2010, Page 10 |
The introduction by Frei gives an overview of orchestra touring – the backgrounds, motivations, problems and trends. A phenomenon of the late 19th century, touring blossomed with the development of modern transport. Often it underpinned quasi-diplomatic missions, with orchestras serving as ambassadors of goodwill and national culture. Today, touring is also an important marketing instrument, with certain markets – such as Asia – booming, while others, like the USA, are facing economic problems. Yet touring also has more individual aspects, impacting on the ensemble members as well as their group dynamic: jet lag, the conditions of travel and accommodation all influence mood and performance. It is a potentially stressful time, but also a period of intense personal interactions. Jonathan Nott, chief conductor of the Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie, points out that touring has become crucial to ensure international rankings; yet at the same time, touring has become far more complicated than 20 years ago in terms of planning. Schoos points out similar calculations: while often expensive and logistically complex, touring makes sense for the ensembles in order to establish and maintain a reputation. In addition, spill-over effects make touring interesting for political and business interests of an ensemble's home region. Andreas Schulz, director of the Gewandhaus Leipzig, also emphasises this argument, yet warns that the touring business will see much fiercer competition between a select group of top ensembles and top touring destinations in the future. However, Brinker, in his article, warns against art and orchestras becoming too streamlined under the primacy of branding and corporate interests, using the Sächsische Staatskapelle as a case study. Business tools do have their uses, but ultimately it is the nature of art to be critical and subversive. Ruhnke, in his interview with Luxreisen (Lux Tours), looks at the details of organising orchestra tours. Over the past 30 years, touring has become both, more complex and more standardised. More ensembles than ever are touring, yet negotiations through unofficial channels are hardly possible anymore. It is a business strongly dependent on longstanding experience. Another company, Westtours, also highlights the logistic challenges of touring orchestras – combining tight budgets with the availability of different forms of travel, time limits, the freight load of instruments, or customs and visa directives. Instrument logistics is perhaps one of the most crucial aspects of orchestra touring. In his article, Schoos accompanies a cargo of the Gewandhaus Orchestra from Shanghai to Beijing, under the care of a Senior Trade Lane Manager of logistics giant DHL. The final article looks at the activities of Japanese concert agency Kajimoto, one of the global players in the business. As its managing director points out, the Japanese market has undergone profound changes over the past fifty years. The demand for classical music is high, yet tastes have remained fairly conservative compared to Europe and the current economic crisis raises particular challenges.
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