As Martin Sees It. 10/16/09
Let us start at the beginning. The NHMF was a gathering of professional musicians and classical music teacher performers, gathering together with a professional Music Director/Conductor here in the wonderful State of NH. The organizers and managers of the Music Festival worked diligently to prepare a working and living environment suitable to hold a festival here in Central NH that would encourage families of musicians to return year after year to the area. The orchestra played wonderful music from past and present composers, presented in a variety of music venues. The longest standing venue being Plymouth State College Silver Hall and Silver Cultural Arts Center and Gilford Middle School. Venues have been used all over the lakes region and Pemi Valley. The players and conductors have had a long relationship to one another, ever changing over the many years they have been coming here. The family of musicians has had the respect of the audience for 57 years, and the audience is still speaking out in support of the musicians and former conductors, for the age old traditions of the Music Festival, and for the community that has developed over the many years of joining the musicians with the audience.
One of the long standing mission statements for the festival, was to have a permanent home for the festival. Over 5 years ago, the festival acquired the property and buildings of the Red Hill Inn, previously the Belknap College Campus. This acquisition came at a cost to the festival, and donors stepped forward over the last number of years to finally secure the property, and intend to build a concert facility large enough to house a 900 count audience and a large orchestra. This original structure was also to be used as a training center for students interested in playing in orchestras. Year round education in orchestra building was being considered, and funds for the project were being encouraged from the donors to support this large endeavor. The attending musicians for the festival were never invited to the grounds of the Red Hill Inn to see the splendor and magnificence of the buildings and surrounding beautiful landscape.
With millions of dollars necessary for funding a new concert hall, housing for musicians, and year round facilities maintenance, the fund drive never reached the hoped for totals necessary for building all that was planned. The Management and Board of Directors changed the development strategy, and downsized the facilities to build a smaller auditorium, welcoming up to 700 person audience and a smaller stage for still a large orchestra.
Funding and contributions for the festival began to erode with the announcements to continue to build this extravagant concert venue. Many patrons repeatedly talked and wrote to the management of the festival in opposition to the expensive new home of the festival. These same patrons stopped giving their usual contributions to the festival, sometimes giving less, and sometimes giving none at all. The annual fund supposedly is set up to be funding operations for the performances in the summer, housing for the musicians, and education in the school districts locally. Many patrons were not supporting the new venue costs, and stopped supporting the festival all together.
Musically, the traditions of the festival have included musical pieces from present and past composers. Over 17 years ago, Tom Nee presented a wide variety of standard and modern contemporary music. Many of the performances were premiering and playing works from composers invited to the festival. Introducing the festival to the art and current changes in classical music was important to Tom, the audience, and musicians. Paul Polivnick, having arrived 17 years ago as conductor and Music Director, encouraged large pieces of standard, and contemporary classical music as well. He also invited composers to write pieces for the festival and premiered them here for us in NH.
Over the last 17 years, the management got more involved with the music directors choices in classical music, repeating many of the standard pieces over the years. Patrons were mixed on the presentation of pieces they had heard before. Some patrons stopped coming to shows where pieces had been played recently, and these subscribers and donors were yet another loss to the festival annual fund and ticket sales. Modern and contemporary composers were being shied away from, and the music began to be over managed by the new approaches coming from the administration.
Through it all, the musicians continued to play in an Orchestra here at the local venues, creating a sound that was spectacular and full of energy. The musicians in the orchestra were familiar with many patrons in the audience. Over the years passed, the audience and former management teams as well as board members were much more involved and gathered together at events with the musicians. The communities have continued to welcome the musician's and conductor's families into central NH. They have created bonds of friendship and longevity, that have been the building blocks of a connected community environment that surrounds a summer festival.
Education that brings young people to classical music and concerts , that brings promotion of classical music into the school systems of central NH is paramount. Music education exists in our school districts with many talented students and teachers in all our SAU districts. The inclusion of classical music education and performance is lacking in NH schools throughout grades K-12. In working with other non-profit groups that already bring music education and other programs to the local schools, classical music programs would benefit our young adults and children throughout the area.
Promotion of the festival in all forms of media, school programs, public relations, and community events has long been lacking in the eyes of the concert audience.
The magic that has been created over the years between the conductor, musicians, audience, chorus, and the community is the kind of excitement that our current management is seeking. This collaborative model has long been in use here in the festival, with the closeness of the musicians working and living together in an environment carefully designed to create the opportunity to bring the musicians and their families together, allowing them the professional space to create a developing style of Classical Music for all of us to hear. Much has been learned from this process over the many years this festival has been in existence. Music Education specialists should be studying the process here at work over the many years, as how to develop a working music festival that includes families, friends, musicians, audiences, community, and the management, board of directors, and administration.
Change has been happening all along with this festival, and the controversies abound at the present moment. Many times, smaller steps and less radical moves by the current administration, yield more acceptable results to the public. The musicians, audience, and management are all fighting for what they think will make for this festival a viable future. The musicians have created a family that has taken stage as our festival orchestra, and has been growing and changing over the many years they have been coming here. The audience is looking to the past and future of the festival, to align themselves with a path that seems to fit a healthy direction. The management is moving forward to create a new collaborative model that would introduce new musicians and students to the orchestra and chamber concerts, and build a new concert venue costing large sums of money. The news continues to bring all sides of the story forward. The changes over the many years have brought on dismay and confusion from past board members, with the audience, with the community, families and friends of the festival, and with the musicians. The current management model continues to disrupt the patronage and faith in the festival's direction. The mission statement needs to take a new direction based on the public outcry, in that a non-profit organization should consider the public's input to be very important in seeing the festival into the future, serving the residents, community, and visitors to central NH.
Musicians poll has been presented
10/01/09 SOON (Save Our Orchestra Now) Response to the latest negotiations
concerning the NHMF.
The orchestra has been asked for their approval of the new agreement "Personnel Policy".
October Autumn, Cold nights arrive, and the Management opts for approval of a proposal, characteristically different from the previous agreement at the festival season finale. Management had announced agreement with the Musicians Committee to the 2010 season for a full orchestra returning to the stage. In the Festival’s attempt to prepare a roster of musicians from this last years orchestra, to join in with musicians trained in colaborative artistic expression models, along with gifted students, the current orchestra musicians have overwhelmingly disapproved of the new "Personnel Policy" agreement.
The issue of funding the 2010 season musicians has been stated by the Festival Management as critical. Donors and Patrons contributions have been declining over the last five years, and the future of the NHMF is seriously in trouble. Radical decisions on the part of the Festival’s Management over the last five years has caused many patrons and donors to withdraw their pledges and support, questioning the legitimacy and direction of the entire organization.
Change is always hard to cope with in any situation, and the changes announced in the recent past have received little support. Respect for the traditions and community surrounding the NHMF has been seriously lacking. The time is now for the original course of action to be reapplied to the directions of the NHMF. The Performance and Education programs that were created and implemented over the many years, has brought to the communities of NH the art of classical music, with a connection to an ever growing family of musicians that has evolved over the last 57 years in a festival atmosphere. The students, residents, and vacationers have enjoyed the musicians talents as well as their friendship over many years. Currently, many supporters, subscribers and patrons are as concerned as the musicians are with the approval of the NHMF’s handling of the Orchestra model.
Citing a new artistic direction has drawn controversy through out the enthusiastic audience of the NHMF. The passion and loyalty our musicians and their families have shown us over the many years in NH, has been a gift that has shown us the magic and wonder of the musical world being shared across the country and beyond. This latest round of negotiations between the festival musicians and the management of the NHMF, shows the growing lack of confidence in the ability of the NHMF management to secure a future that shows respect and admiration for the incredible quality of music and festive atmosphere surrounding our communities here in NH. Our voices are being heard, the momentum has been garnering support over the last five years to affect a change in the direction of the festival, and we are speaking out in an ever increasing mode of recreating the festival’s magic.
Executive Committee member, Martin Kimbell 10/01/09
You may respond to people@soonerthanlater.org