Working in the performing arts in San Francisco has given me a big, massive chip on my shoulder about NYC. Certain kinds of work can only happen in “the other city,” including local singers who audition for local companies on the other side of the country to be taken more seriously. I’ve wondered whether this has to do with the concentration of professional services in each market, because there is certainly a substantial amount of talent in the Bay Area.
The irony is that even the most forward-thinking people in our field have some connection to NYC, whether they spend time there regularly, co-opt colleagues’ models from that market, or just keep tabs on what’s coming out of the “bubble.”
One of the biggest stars to rise out of the bubble is the one, the only Nico Muhly. Flamboyant, chatty, and incredibly opinionated, he polarizes his blog readers and twitter followers, and especially the critics. He represents the new generation of musicians, the classically-trained conservatory grads creating all sorts of music, regardless of genre, and drawing inspiration from every aspect of life. Is he a pop musician, or a classical composer? Is he indie-classical, hipster-classical, or just emo? These labels broke down once he scored his first major commission for the stage.
I’m a lot less interested in the polished, shiny, fancy big names than the new talent, the things that fall between the cracks, and the people trying to find new ways to express/give voice to the questions of modern life through new music. I’m all about social media – I love the way it lowers the barriers to spreading the word, and gives artists a way to connect directly with their audiences. Sometimes I like to say that “connecting people is my art.” The changes in our economy, our society, and the constantly-evolving media landscape demand that we find better solutions to the important questions more quickly, and that we push ourselves to a higher level of sophistication. To me, the “indie-classical” (for lack of a better term) musicians I work with are engaged in a pursuit of the search for those answers, with their music and with their business models, product offerings, and audience development strategies. As Phillipa of the Pink Line Project, art is created in response to shared experiences. It’s the creator’s attempt to articulate something personal and intangible – emotions – into something that can be shared by the community.
Nico is one of the artists who has blazed the trail for the projects I work on, and carries the standard for his generation of musicians and their audiences’ shifting values. It’s presenters commissioning works specifically for Nico Muhly, Owen Pallett, Bryce Dessner, and Shara Worden (aka My Brightest Diamond) with David Lang that opens the door for younger talent to make their mark.
I came to appreciate this the hard way – hearing Death Speaks at Stanford Lively Arts last week, I was a little disappointed. These charismatic young performers were great to see on stage, but I found myself wondering about all the other talented musicians who could give them a run for their money, and how this performance represented just the tip of the iceberg of the creative community from which these musicians came. But, I quickly realized, the difference between seeing these performers in Dinkelspiel or Carnegie, and the venues their counterparts typically play represents an important shift in arts administration and performance curation. Administrators interested in bringing in a Millennial audience should take a leaf out of Jenny Bilfield’s book.
