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4 seasons not on orchestra's program
The Cleveland Orchestra Miami Residency rehearses in the Knight Concert Hall of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.
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Marisela Sager, assistant principal flute, works with students in Florida
Tom Freer worked with 13 percussion students in Florida
TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: The Cleveland Orchestra opens its winter season tonight ... in Miami. It's not just a routine stop on tour. And the orchestra isn't just fleeing Cleveland's wicked weather, either. Even though it is 13 degrees there with the wind chill today. The group's trying to escape the city's frozen economy. Marketplace's Dan Grech reports from Miami.
DAN GRECH: The Cleveland Orchestra borrowed its big idea from Florida snowbirds. It winters in Miami.
[Music: Shostakovich Symphony No. 7]
For three weeks each year, the orchestra performs sold-out concerts, holds master classes and partners with local arts organizations.
It also created a nonprofit to fund raise for the Miami program, something no orchestra has tried before.
Gary Hanson is the Cleveland Orchestra's executive director.
GARY HANSON: This is the first instance of an American symphony orchestra creating an annual subscription program and community service presence in another city.
The Miami residency, in its third year, generates $4 million a year. That's nearly 10 percent of the orchestra's annual budget. This all started in 2003. Miami was building a state-of-the-art concert hall when its resident orchestra, the Florida Philharmonic, folded. Enter Daniel Lewis, a Cleveland native and former insurance executive living in Miami.
DANIEL LEWIS: I called the executive director of the Cleveland Orchestra at the time, and asked him if they moved orchestras like they move baseball franchises. He said, 'You're crazy. But maybe there's an opportunity to do something.
While the Cleveland Orchestra thrives in Miami, other local groups are struggling. The Miami City Ballet is in debt, and the Florida Grand Opera had to shorten its season, so the orchestra is lending a hand. Tonight, it teams up with the ballet on Stravinksy's Symphony in Three Movements. Afterwards, they'll co-host a thousand-dollar-a-plate dinner on the concert hall stage.
In Miami, I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.
I love to see the Cleveland Orchestra come and play in Florida for a couple of concerts.
I do not love to see them taking over the Ballet from local musicians and use South Florida, in financial trouble by itself, as a way to increase their own revenues. Certainly there are other ways they could proceed. This cannot be called HELPING out.
I was stunned to see in an article that Dan Lewis had set up meetings with Cleveland officials to talk about doing the opera in South Florida… Since it was deemed too costly and time consuming, the Ballet was chosen… one week after the grant between the Miami City Ballet and Cleveland was announced the local orchestra was let go…
Does the (Cleveland) orchestra know how much harm it actually does to South Florida’s musical climate. I was a member of the Florida Philharmonic when Dan Lewis was there as chairman of the board. The Florida Philharmonic did not need to go under… (and there are rumors)
There are many members of this orchestra still around…they have to play gigs to make a living. If now Cleveland takes this work as well…not much good is being done, is there?
I love to see the Cleveland Orchestra come and play in Florida for a couple of concerts.
I do not love to see them taking over the Ballet from local musicians and use South Florida, in financial trouble by itself, as a way to increase their own revenues. Certainly there are other ways they could proceed. I was stunned to see in an article that Dan Lewis had set up meetings with Cleveland officials to talk about doing the opera in South Florida… Since it was deemed too costly and time consuming, the Ballet was chosen… one week after the grant between the Miami City Ballet and Cleveland was announced the orchestra was let go…
Does the (Cleveland) orchestra know how much harm it actually does to South Florida’s musical climate. I was a member of the Florida Philharmonic when Dan Lewis was there as chairman of the board. The Florida Philharmonic did not need to go under…
There are many members of this orchestra still around…they have to play gigs to make a living. If now Cleveland starts to take this work as well…not much good is being done, is there?
It also bears mentioning that Dan Lewis, in addition to being a Cleveland native and former insurance executive, was the Chairman of the Board of the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra and led the charge to its bankruptcy. Timing is everything.
While any concert goer recognizes the stature of the Cleveland Orchestra, it should be noted that they are not "lending a hand" at all. They are creatively trying to survive since funding is not sufficient in Cleveland. The Cleveland people are actively fund raising in Miami to pay for what is called a "residency." This puts them in direct competition with the mentioned ballet and opera companies, as well as other arts organizations in Miami. Even the cited program with the ballet is being funded by a matching grant from a Miami foundation while the ballet company actually had to layoff its orchestra and the opera company shortened its season. Local money should first fund these local groups and also create a major level symphony in Miami, as we used to have.
