I don’t have gobs of data to back up this theory of mine, but I believe things seem to work better around our city when they are initiated by the people most affected by them. In other words, bottom-up versus top-down thinking.
It’s not true 100 percent of the time, but a lot of the time I think it is. I first made this observation years ago when those of us on the Riverbend Music Selection Committee thought creating a stage featuring Latino music would serve the growing community here. It was a good idea that failed miserably because, as we observed later, no one was asking for it. I remember thinking the same thing about the Bessie Smith Performance Hall shortly after it opened. Great idea, great venue, but there really wasn’t a groundswell of demand from the people it was supposedly built for.
During my interview with Bob Bernhardt recently to discuss the fact that he is beginning his 25th year with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera, we talked about the idea behind the pops concerts that have been presented over the years.
They were designed to essentially introduce new fans to the symphony in hopes they would like hearing an orchestra do Beatles or Pink Floyd music so much they would return for a Beethoven symphony. It’s perfectly sound logic and it has been tried by orchestras around the country, but it hasn’t worked, at least not in big numbers.
Barry CourterIt has, however, revealed that there is a segment of the community that likes the pops shows, so the efforts have not been futile. But it was a top-down idea. This is not a knock on the CSO for trying, just an observation.