ARTISTIC FRAMEWORK
INTRODUCTION
The Strategic Framework has the artistic goal of attracting and inspiring people at all levels of familiarity with the art form. The WMS audience spans first-time ticket buyers, new subscribers, and multi-season patrons.
The Artistic Framework is a planning model that guides performance outcomes—a manifesto that provides the principles for developing season content: what we play, why we play it, and when we play it.
In the traditional artistic planning model of our industry, the audience is there to serve the orchestra, rather than the other way around—though this often goes unstated. The adoration and preservation of the art form is the raison d’être. In this model, all other elements of the organization—including the audience and community of support—exist to serve, celebrate and preserve the art form itself.
At WMS, we too believe in the importance of preserving the live classical music performance tradition. However, to us the central purpose of our existence is self-evident: we do not perform in a vacuum, but for people. We do not exist simply to preserve an art form, but to serve a community. Thus, our artistic model places the building of a community of interest, rather than preservation of the art form, at its center. This turns the traditional artistic planning model on its head.
Figure 1: Traditional Artistic Model placing preservation of the art form at its center. In this model, all other elements of the organization—including the audience and community of support—exist to serve and preserve the art form itself.
Figure 2: Patron-oriented artistic model places the audience, and the host community, at the center. Moreover, the different elements of the organization are no longer siloed, but overlap.
MASTERWORKS
The Masterworks audience includes single ticket tryers, who develop into repeat buyers, and then (hopefully) join the ranks of subscriber patrons. The musical content of the program is often the primary motivator for the new audience member, while the overall shared experience—which includes but is not limited to the musical content—becomes increasingly important to seasoned patrons.
The Masterworks series consists of five programs. Given the length of our season, we often refer internally to WMS as a “boutique” orchestra (compared to a “big box” orchestra like the DSO, which does 20). A boutique store features hand-picked, carefully curated items. A boutique hotel is intimate, welcoming and caters to your needs. Both of these descriptions are apt models for the WMS approach.
“A nonprofil cultural institution should be distinguished from a for-profit entertainment company. And one of the ways is in ensuring that economic decisions are made in service of (or within the limits of full consideration of) a clear set of guiding aesthetic and ethical principles or policies for decision making.”
- Diane Ragsdale
MASTERWORKS
Concert Formats: During the 20th century, the prevalent pattern for Masterworks concerts came to include the following elements:
• An overture or relatively short opening work
• A concerto (work featuring a guest soloist accompanied by orchestra)
• A major symphony or symphonic work, usually from the Classical era (1730-1820) or the Romantic era (1820-1900) but also extending into 20th century music
While our season frequently includes concerts following this motif, we have introduced or are developing other defined formats. We try to include variety within each season in order to keep a sense of freshness and spontaneity. The boundaries between these are not rigid; some concerts may combine elements of several formats.
• “Sampler” or “Short Works” concert. These are frequently all-orchestral (no guest artist) and feature a variety of musical periods or styles. Recent examples include “Classical Music for Everyone” and “WMS Around the World.”
• Multimedia / Concept concert. The quintessential recent example is violinist Philippe Quint’s 2023 “Chaplin’s Smile”: narrated, featuring film excerpts, presented without intermission.
• Hybrid concert. Genre-bending first half featuring film or crossover guest artist followed by more traditional symphonic second half.
• Play-and-Talk concert. These focus on a single work and include musical excerpts interspersed by explanatory narrative on the first half, followed by complete performances on the second. Examples include the Chicago Symphony’s “Beyond the Score” series or the Milwaukee Symphony’s “Classical Conversations.”
• Informal Concert. “Beethoven & Blue Jeans” is our primary example, in which the conductor, orchestra and audience are all encouraged to wear jeans.
MASTERWORKS
Season Elements. Within the span of a five-concert Masterworks season, we strive to include as many of the following elements as possible:
• “Name brand” or blockbuster programming that attracts a large single ticket audience. Recent examples: Holst’s The Planets, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue
• Bread-and-butter classical programming that presents the core repertoire and satisfies subscribers, especially during renewal season. Recent examples: Beethoven’s “Pastoral,” Mozart’s “Haffner,” Haydn’s “Surprise” symphonies
• High Romantic era music—what the symphony orchestra was created for! Recent examples: Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, Brahms’s 2nd, Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique
• Under-represented or repertoire-expanding music, including works by women, Black or Latinx composers. Recent examples: W.G. Still’s “Afro-American” Symphony, Marcus Norris’s Glory, Florence Price’s Piano Concerto in G
• “Benchmark” works that stretch and inspire the orchestra artistically and/or expand the audience’s listening palette. Recent examples: Bax’s Phantasy for Viola and Orchestra, Golijov’s Last Round, Copland’s Symphony No. 3
• Guest soloists who inspire the orchestra and audience. These are usually national-profile artists, but periodically feature members of our own orchestra. By far the most popular concerto instruments with audiences are the piano and violin—but we also may present solo cello, guitar, viola, trombone, clarinet and other instruments.
Guest Artists. We choose soloists who are excellent performers and musicians; inspire the orchestra to reach new artistic heights; are personable, friendly and outgoing; and who often have some non-traditional aspect to their artistry that extends the boundaries of “classical.” Examples include violinist Tessa Lark’s bluegrass fiddling and pianist Aldo López Gavilán’s penchant for improvisation. We also look for those who will inspire students and younger generation listeners through personality and availability for community engagement. Within a season plan, we seek a balance of gender and ethnic diversity
The most successful of our soloists become core guest artists: an extension of our WMS family who we bring back every three to five years. (This is an unofficial, internal designation only.) Examples: pianists Aldo LopezGavilan and Charlie Albright; violinists Tessa Lark and Chee-Yun.
MASTERWORKS
Choral Works. While recent national polls reveal a low demand for choral music among symphony audiences, our experience suggests that it depends on the work. For example, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Orff’s Carmina Burana and Handel’s Messiah are all hugely popular. And choral music often generates its own single ticket audience, in the form of friends and family members of the choristers themselves. That said, we don’t regularly program choral music on the Masterworks series due to the limited length of the series and the lack of a strong, large choral group locally that we can readily engage.
Series Outline. Below is a sample Masterworks outline, based on the annual time frame we currently observe. The descriptions summarize the objective and strategy behind each program. This should be regarded as illustrative, not proscriptive.
“To what ends do we offer programs? Whom do we wish to serve? What impact do we want to have with out programs? What is inbounds and out-of-bounds in terms of aethetics? What is our appetite for risk-taking? This level of policy creates a bridge between board and staff... establishing the basic parameters of an arts organization’s public programming.”
- Alan Brown
CONCERT APPROX. TIMELINE
Masterworks I November
Masterworks II Late January
Masterworks III Late Feb/Early March
DESCRIPTION
“Name brand” works or composers. Here we go all out to attract a large single ticket audience while also satisfying subscribers. Often features late Romantic works and an augmented (big) ensemble. Usually also includes a guest artist, likely either piano or violin.
“Bread and butter” classical program planned to coincide with the launch of the subscription renewal campaign. The emphasis is on pleasing subscribers and inspiring them to renew. A small- to medium-sized orchestra balances cost of larger ensembles featured early and late in season. The program may be allorchestral or with a concerto soloist. Less familiar work may be included if paired with known, accessible fare.
Also keeping renewal season and ensemble size in mind, may feature a mix of classical or early-Romantic programming. Sometimes all-orchestral (i.e. no soloist), using a short-works or concept/multimedia format.
Masterworks IV April
Masterworks V Early to Mid-May
This will likely feature a larger but still not “huge” ensemble and a guest artist.
Here we go all out to finish the season with a roofraising concert that will send the audience and the musicians out the door floating. This will likely feature a big ensemble performing a “benchmark” work and a guest artist that will inspire the musicians and captivate the audience.
POPS
For decades within the industry, pops was regarded as tangential and introductory to the main masterworks. The idea was that people would be attracted to the familiarity and informality of the pops genre; once we had them in the hall, we would convert them to the “real” symphony. Though crossover does occur, today pops audiences are seen as distinct from masterworks. At WMS, we regard pops as part of our artistic footprint, legitimate in its own right. Although we facilitate crossover between series, we try to avoid sending any message that would misconstrue pops as an afterthought.
The Pops audience tends to be largely program-driven—in contrast to Block attenders, who are almost entirely experience-driven; and Masterworks patrons, who are both. While we may label them as “the Pops audience,” they don’t necessarily think of themselves that way (many younger listeners don’t even know the term). To them, when they go to a Pops concert they are attending the symphony—and we should encourage that perception!
At WMS, we have contemporized our pops programming to appeal to the widest audience possible, in both age and ethnicity. Recent examples include the tributes to The Beatles, John Williams and Aretha Franklin. We rarely self-curate, instead engaging “trunk” shows developed by an artist management firm.
Several years ago, we instigated the practice of opening the season with a Pops program with broad appeal and high single ticket potential—usually followed the next day by the annual Gala with a related theme. This gives the opening weekend a festive, community-wide feel.
THE BLOCK
Intimacy and proximity to the artists are integral to The Block experience. Many of the artists engaged to perform at the 115-seat venue could fill a larger house. The Block is neither a concert nor a recital hall, but a live listening room for predominantly acoustic performances that are “with” the audience rather than “for” them.
As one of the three pillars of the West Michigan Symphony’s community footprint, The Block broadens organizational reach with programming that is distinct from the Frauenthal series. As noted above, program content is the initial driver that attracts many people to the Masterworks—and to the Pops almost exclusively. By contrast, The Block is virtually all about the experience: the ambiance and communal setting and the proximity to the artists. In many cases, we don’t announce the music in advance. Nor do we provide any kind of printed playbill, leaving it to the artists to announce program content from the stage.
The main series of 10-12 concerts is held between September and May. The genre focus is threefold: jazz, classical and “curious.”
Jazz at The Block. The jazz artists come from a variety of sources. We identify them through connections with other guest artists, including our Mainstage Pops; regional aficionados like Blue Lake radio’s Lazaro Vega; established jazz programs at Midwest music conservatories; or from perusing the lineups of the club scenes in Chicago and southeast Michigan. Aesthetically, we focus on traditional, straight-ahead jazz, although this may include new music composed by the guest artists themselves. While the envelope may be stretched at times, we do not knowingly program avante-garde or free jazz.
WMS Unplugged. We borrowed the title from pop music, where it refers to acoustic concerts performed by an artist who is customarily electrified. In our case, it refers to solo or small group performances by artists normally associated with full symphony. (As with the word pops, we avoid the term chamber music in external marketing.)
Concerto soloists from the Masterworks series provide the pillars for WMS Unplugged. Their symphonic performance on Friday night is followed the next evening with an intimate program at The Block. Pianists usually provide their own self-contained program. Violinists, other string or wind players may perform alone or (more often) with accompaniment. Given that the artist is already in town for their engagement with the full WMS, this provides The Block with a caliber of soloists not normally presented in such a small venue.
Most seasons of WMS Unplugged also feature our own orchestra musicians. Every season, members of WMS are encouraged to submit proposals, and these are entirely self-curated. We evaluate program ideas based on anticipated quality and suitability for The Block’s audience. As in the case of Jazz at The Block, we may present music unfamiliar to our audience, but normally this will not extend to the “fringe” of a genre.
THE BLOCK
Curious. The Block’s tagline is for the musically curious. This refers not only to the jazz and classical content but also to hard-to-classify programs presented every season that especially exemplify that description. Recent examples include the fingerstyle guitarist Yasmin Williams, contemporary pianist BLKBOK, harp guitarist Muriel Anderson, and the ambient music of Dixon’s Violin.
As noted above, The Block extends WMS’s artistic footprint well beyond the Masterworks and Pops of our Mainstage Series. Most performances do have a connection that traces back to live orchestral music and the classical tradition. Pianist Billy Taylor called jazz “America’s classical music,” and the two genres, so aesthetically different, are yet closely related. The roots of jazz span spirituals, songs and hymns, dance and ragtime—evolving in tension with and proximity to the European classical tradition. Great jazz artists like Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Nina Simone and George Gershwin either crossed over into the orchestral/ classical realm or listed it among their primary influences. 20th century classical composers—including Ravel, Copland, Stravinsky and Bernstein—incorporated jazz into their compositional language. In the United States especially, the two are strangely but inseparably linked.
Collaborations with other performing arts organizations or concert producers are considered on a partnership or rental basis, allowing expansion beyond the regular Block season (and the artistic expertise of the WMS staff). Examples include the Third Coast Trombone Retreat, held annually in June; and the Grand Valley Chamber Series, held in early spring.
What we don’t program. The acoustics of The Block place clear limitations around programming. Jazz groups exceeding the size of a quintet do not lend themselves well to the acoustics; nor do amplified rock, hip-hop or DJ music.
Local artists who perform regularly in other West Michigan venues, especially the admission free, are normally not considered. We do not consider the singer-songwriter genre as part of our mission. Nor do we normally program folk or ethnic music.
While return engagements of artists are considered based on a premier performance, these are limited and normally no sooner than two seasons following a performance, unless the artist is returning as part of a different group or combo.
ARTISTIC VIBRANCY PROTOCOL
In our program and orchestra developmental planning, we strive for:
• Clarity on desired programming outcomes at the board level (i.e., what is the organization hoping to achieve by offering programs?)
• Regular debate as to how to balance the commitment to artistic ideals with community relevance (i.e. mission-critical projects vs. single ticket-friendly programming)
• Constant striving for artistic excellence in performance and production
• Consideration of impact on audience (i.e., content relative to the music literacy of audience)
• Engagement with other arts and non-arts organizations (and their constituents) through programming partnerships
• A demonstrable commitment to continuous improvement on the part of artists and artistic staff, including receptivity to critical feedback on programming and artistry
• An inclusive and consultative program planning process
• A full pipeline of new programming ideas matched to constituencies and resources
• Policies and capital for managing artistic risk
• Innovation in the preservation and development of the art form
• Development of artists of all skill levels
Adopted from the Australia Cultural Council 2009
