Concert visuals garner praise

Orchestras in the United States — including the Utah Symphony — need to update what they're offering audiences in order to survive.

That terse assessment comes from Henry Fogel, president and CEO of the American Symphony Orchestra League. In his opinion, orchestras can't rely on tried and true formulas. A new century demands a fresh outlook.

"But the standard classical symphony orchestra concert doesn't look any different than what Brahms saw," Fogel said.

Fogel arrived in Salt Lake City this week to meet with representatives of Utah Symphony & Opera as part of his outreach efforts to communicate directly with orchestras around the country.

Thursday, Fogel held an informal meeting in Abravanel Hall with members of the media to discuss problems that American orchestras face and to comment on the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera merger and its plans for financial security.

Utah Symphony & Opera is heading in the right direction, according to Fogel. He believes adding a visual element to concerts, as well as commentary from the conductor, is a step in the right direction. "You see more and more orchestras having the conductor explain the music, or talking about why he chose the particular works on a program."

Adding visuals is also a good way to increase interest in a concert. "Even just having the titles of the movements on a screen can help people understand the music, or even where they are in a work."

But this part of a symphony concert needs to be examined more closely, he said. "That's what we're going to be doing at the League. We're going to be observing, collecting data and literally sending people around the country to see what orchestras are doing." ASOL has formed a seven- to eight-member task force whose job it is to travel around the country and examine what organizations are doing.

Having a task force out in the field is in keeping with Fogel's hands-on approach to his position. He was appointed to head ASOL in July 2003. "In the 21 months on the job, I've visited 63 American orchestras, some of them twice — like the Utah Symphony. So I feel I have my finger on the pulse."

Fogel refused to go into details on the validity of the Utah Symphony/Utah Opera merger other than to say, "it's an interesting idea, but the jury is still out whether it's a good idea."

As to US&O's current deficit of around $1.5 million, revealed in a report released by consultant Thomas Morris in February, Fogel said that the organization has apparently already survived its worst period. "It seems to me that it has gone through the worst of it and is moving toward making it (the merger) work."