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Classical problem for music industry

August 30, 2004

Strahle.jpgPressures such as performing round-the-clock have challenged Australian orchestras and do not augur well for a healthy classical music industry, an international expert on the subject will argue at a lecture on Thursday for the University of New England.
Dr Graham Strahle, (pictured) an executive member of the Music Council of Australia, said the added pressure of multi-performing, from presenting symphony concerts through to pop and outdoor concerts, has added to problems facing the industry.
“There is a lot of talk at the moment on whether Classic Music is dead,” Mr Strahle said.
“I have extensively researched this topic by talking directly to, for instance, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, members of the audience and conductors and they have raised some interesting concerns.”
Indeed, his research will support his lecture on Thursday (September 2) at Armidale Town Hall, Is Classical Music Dead?

The Australian classical music industry seems in a healthier shape than in the US, where, Dr Strahle said, many medium-sized orchestras have closed doors and in the UK, where orchestras have faced bankruptcy.
But the Australian Opera industry has not escaped change, with the closure a few years ago of the Victorian State Opera.
“A concern for Australia is the contraction of public money going into the Arts,” Dr Strahle said.
“As well as that, members of the Classical Music industry, from composers and conductors through to players, are very conscious of the need to perform more often, in other words, they have to constantly appeal to a broader audience just to keep [classical music] alive.”
He will argue during his lecture that Classical Music is at a crossroads and the most important part in keeping it healthy remain the practitioners.
Dr Strahle is the author of An Early Music Dictionary: Terms from British Sources 1500-1740 and his background is mainly as a musicologist.
As a performer, he plays the viola de gamba and, as a member of the musical group Broken Violets, has written a music theatre work on the diary of Samuel Pepys. This will be performed next year.
Dr Strahle’s lecture will start at 7.30pm and is free to the public.
For more information phone Lydia Roberts on (02) 6773 2779 or
Dr Strahle on (0407) 319 545.

Posted by Lydia Roberts at August 30, 2004 10:59 AM