Buffeted by spiraling costs and falling ticket sales, frustrated by shifting urban demographics and paralyzed by a lack of innovative artistic vision, the nation's 1,600 symphonies today face the greatest challenge ever to their existence.
Long considered indispensable indicators of a community's sophistication, orchestras are in danger of becoming cultural dinosaurs. Some are already extinct: within the past decade, major ensembles have collapsed in cities as disparate as Oakland, California; New Orleans; Denver and Birmingham, Alabama. Endowments have been tapped and seasons shortened; crowd-pleasing pops concerts have been added and community-outreach programs established. And yet the slide continues. Gathering last month...
