Curation and programming are meant to enhance the overall museum experience for visitors: for each concert, the respective ensembles were asked to choose repertoire that reflect, or create a kind of dialogue with, the artwork that is on display
In an era in which arts organizations of all stripes have by dint of necessity had to become ever more flexible and innovative, some of the most successful programming initiatives have been the introduction of live concert series at various museums across the country. Such events have not just the potential of increasing attendance in inviting museum goers to experience concert performances and getting music lovers into visual arts venues, but can be a real catalyst for artistic exploration and growth as well. Moreover, it's not a new conceit or marketing gimmick to attract new audiences: many of the most artistically and commercially successful such programs have been around for decades. Perhaps most prominent among them is the famed concert series at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, where general manager Hilde Limondjian will be stepping down on June 30th, after 41 years of helming the Met Museum's live programming array of concerts and lectures. Over her incredible tenure, Limondjian presented more than 9,000 events, and helped introduce such then-emerging artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Martha Argerich, Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, Cecilia Bartoli, and the Emerson String Quartet. She established decades-long residencies by the Beaux Arts Trio and the Guarneri String Quartet at the museum; the most recent chamber group to join that august line-up is the Pacifica Quartet.
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The integration of music and visual arts has resulted in exciting programming across the country. In California, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art [LACMA], which began presenting live concerts in 2006, has a strong affinity for new music; past seasons have seen performances by composer Philip Glass, pianist Christopher O'Riley, the Calder Quartet, and eighth blackbird as well as jazz and Latin music shows, while a show on display through mid-August 2010 titled "Myths, Legends, and Cultural Renewal: Wagner's Sources" explores the cultural context the composer drew upon for the Ring cycle and his other operatic works. The Cleveland Museum of Art--which first began presenting music in 1918--maintains a very strong performance calendar, and has hosted performers like Anonymous 4, Bernarda Fink, Trio Mediaeval, John Zorn, Frederic Rzewski,and Alarm Will Sound, as well as a major festival marking the birth centenary of Olivier Messaien. |
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Even venues that might not seem so ripe for such endeavors into classical music are entering this arena: the Rubin Museum of Art, which is dedicated to the art and culture of the Himalayas, recently introduced a Western classical music concert series with performances by the Shanghai Quartet and the Eroica Trio. Even here, the curation and programming are meant to enhance the overall museum experience for visitors: for each concert, the respective ensembles were asked to choose repertoire that reflect, or create a kind of dialogue with, the artwork that is on display at the Rubin.
In response to the exhibition "Remember that You Will Die," an exploration of how death is explored in both Western European and Tibetan Buddhist tradition (and with a projection by video artist Bill Viola), the Eroica Trio presented Shostakovich's Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor, Dvorak's Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor "Dumky", Astor Piazzolla's Oblivion, and Mark O'Connor's My June and Hello I'm Johnny Cash (which are two movements from his Piano Trio No. 1 "Poets and Prophets." The same exhibition, as well as a now closed exhibit entitled "Visions of the Cosmos," a cross-cultural examination of how different traditions view humanity's place and role in the universe, inspired the Shanghai Quartet's program of Beethoven's String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132 "Heileger Dankgesang"; Barber's String Quartet Op. 11 (which includes the famous Adagio for Strings), Bright Sheng's String Quartet No. 4 "Silent Temple"; Turina's The Matador's Prayer, and an arrangement of a Chinese folk Song called "Moon Reflections."
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by Anastasia Tsioulcas
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