Good news for the aging 1% of the population that cares about classical music, from Bob Keefer in the Eugene Weekly:
… Two and a half years ago, OBF was in in chaos. The University of Oregon, which has run OBF since its beginning in 1970, had suddenly and without clear explanation fired Halls, the charismatic Brit who had been brought in to succeed founding artistic director Helmuth Rilling. After his firing, Halls agreed to silence and a $90,000 payoff from the UO, musicians threatened not to perform, board members quit and audiences found other things to do with their ticket money. …
The resurrection of the festival began when the university brought in a new dean, Sabrina Madison-Cannon, for its School of Music and Dance, and put OBF — which had been an independent organization within the university — under her control.
One of Madison-Cannon’s first moves was to eliminate the job of OBF executive director and lay off Janelle McCoy, who had been instrumental in firing Halls. At the same time, Madison-Cannon called on Saydack to help run a broad search for a new artistic director.
She says she is delighted with the choice the festival now faces.
“We have three amazing individuals, and they all have different sorts of backgrounds,” she says. “We would be lucky to have any of them.”
The audience is aging, and declining, but I would guess not as rapidly as UO enrollment. Also would guess it’s more like 5% locally, judging by KWAX listenership, and other things.
Got any data?
It is just a guesstimate. An audience of roughly 40,000, guessing their listening area has roughly 800,000. Hence 5%. It could well be less or more.
There is little doubt the classical audience is diminishing/aging.
Any ideas what to do about that?
One thing I will say: the Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestra is a splendid endeavor, bestowing great benefits on many people, including this aging music lover!