You Make the Arts Scene Lively
08/02/2010
SYMPHONY NOTES
ARBUS magazine, September-October, 2010
You Make the Arts Scene Lively
By Fabio Mechetti
Music Director and Principal Conductor
Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
Recently, music columnist William Littler of the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily newspaper, attended the final concert of Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra’s 60th anniversary season and wrote: “Jacksonville may not loom large on the musical map, but I encountered here a lively arts scene… Jacksonville offered a timely reminder of how much interesting music-making goes on outside what are traditionally regarded as major music centers.”
It is certainly refreshing and rewarding to receive such words of recognition and encouragement by a leading critic in the classical music scene. It ratifies our belief and our policy to give this community the best possible experience we can put on stage: an aesthetic that is as diverse and rich as offered in any of America’s largest cities.
But it is also true that what goes on in the cultural arena in Jacksonville is largely tuned out by much of the population. It remains a mystery to me that people still perceive that “there is nothing culturally to do in Jacksonville” or that “what we can find in town is not worth attending.” Arts organizations could in part be responsible for this marginalization but I also believe that there is an obvious apathy in our community toward “participating.”
The obstacles I hear over and over: our area’s geographic scope, society’s shifting tastes and on-demand preferences, our country’s financial crisis, more competition for the consumer’s shrinking leisure time and disposable income. Believe me, these factors certainly may contribute to the cause. However I do think that there is an ingrained sense of taking for granted that “the cultural arts will still be there with or without my presence.”
This isn’t only a question that affects the well-being of our organizations (not just cultural… look at the Jaguars, for instance). It transcends our institutions’ concerns for survival. It is about the rewards that people get by being involved in cultural and social activities that contribute directly to the quality of life of our community and our society in general. A full house certainly helps the Jacksonville Symphony financially, but above all it benefits those who are in the audience sharing a unique moment that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.
Those who walk through our doors are the ones who get it. Any one of them can testify to the unparalleled value that is gained by simply being among others enjoying a concert featuring a virtuoso guest artist or a play with a powerful cast. These “participants” contribute not only with their dollars, attention and time, but most importantly with their presence, their enthusiasm and their intent to be part of the experience.
Therefore, as we embark in a new season of cultural events of all sorts in Jacksonville, I urge you, member of this community, to partake in this rich and lively arts scene that our city has to offer. Our cultural organizations will certainly gain from this new attitude, but I guarantee that the greatest beneficiary of all will be you.