Here’s a tip. Yesterday we called the San Francisco Symphony ticket office to see if there were any seats left for the “Maestro of the Movies” concert on Monday, September 16. “I don’t think so,” said the agent, “but I’ll check.” He was back before he left. “No, I’m sorry, that’s completely sold out.”
No matter: from crisis, opportunity. The day before that concert, that Sunday the 15th, at 6 p.m. the Marin Symphony presents a “Waterfront Pops” concert with much of the same music, classic John Williams film scores. Not conducted by John Williams, himself, and no Steven Spielberg. But weight that against a languorous, late afternoon in Lagoon Park at the Marin Center. Blanket and picnic, blue sky and your family around you. ‘Moods’ will not be allowed past the gate.
Now on to news about the Marin Symphony, whose new executive director, Jeff vom Saal, arrived a year ago from Iowa where he lead the Quad City Symphony, and before that several small orchestras in the Middle West. He took his B.A. from the New England Conservatory of Music where he was a trumpet performance major. He has a reputation as a good strategic thinker.
We asked how he sees the programming challenge that bedevils so many orchestras these days, and his own.
“Our intention” he began, “is to provide content that’s fun and accessible while retaining the artistic integrity of the orchestra. I feel sometimes orchestras provide concerts at a high level but at the cost of failing to reach the community in a way that’s meaningful.”
“And so that’s what we’re wrestling with now,” says vom Saal, “finding a balance within a range of concert types from family-friendly to very substantial, meaningful pieces that are challenging for both the orchestra and the audience. Britten's War Requiem comes to mind. That’s a huge undertaking, it involves a lot of people, it’s hard to appreciate, it’s not as melodic as, say, John Williams, but when you get to know it and understand it, the respect you acquire can be life changing….”
Venturing Into the Unknown
He notes that this season is very different from past seasons. “And there are lots of unknowns and risks, financial and otherwise. The only thing we can do is to experiment and if we fail, at least we fail upwards, and don’t repeat a mistake. But I’m optimistic that we’re solving the problems with the right thinking.
“My one concern is the time it takes for the community to give us the feedback we need. And so it may take a few rounds to get it right, a few years to develop a successful new programming style.”
Vom Saal goes on to say part of the management wisdom in a venture like this is to know when to say, no. “To say, ‘you know what, this doesn’t quite resonate.’”
His approach is iterative and so: “We ask a lot of questions: ‘Can we handle this operationally?’ If yes then ‘can we monetize it’? If yes, ‘but what leads us to think people will buy tickets to see this?’ And finally, if there are all green lights to this point, ‘does this really make sense, are we on to something, or are we just kidding ourselves?’ ”
And of course, there’s the other question, how do you know if you’ve answered all these questions honestly and accurately? “In my experience, I know in about four seconds.”
He adds that he gets great, unvarnished feedback from his children, ages 7 and 9.
“Last year we put on a family concert and afterwards I asked them how they liked it? It was good, they said, we should have had cotton candy and people dressed up on stage and more light, and some more excitement. And that was all true.”
“We’re in the experience business finally. We give people experiences and so the details are all important. It’s the willingness of ushers to show you to your seat, the ambiance of the people around you and yes, at a family concert, can you get cotton candy.
“The litmus test of whether you’ve succeeded is in 20 years when the kids here today are deciding whether to take their children to a concert. If that’s to happen, if people are to remember being impacted and their eyes opening to something they hadn’t seen of the world before, we need to be an honest authentic part of their lives.”
If you go: Sunday Sept. 15, 6 p.m., Marin Center, Lagoon Park Grounds, San Rafael. Premium Seating (chairs provided) $50; Adults, General Admission: $30; College; Students, $20; Youth, age 6-17: $10; Children under 6: FREE. More information: