Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra

For those who still doubt the importance of music and arts education, Ron Bermingham, Director of Artistic Operations, Education and Community Engagement has a suggestion: "I would like to see a mass movement across America in which we all turn off our televisions and radios and have a complete day of silence. Then people would see what the world would be like without music."

Since no one wants a world without music why are arts programs shrinking across the country? "Money. When budgets get tight, the first things to go is funding for the arts," said Bermingham, "Luckily, Symphony Orchestras across America are stepping in to fill those gaps." Through a variety of programs targeting groups from toddlers to the seniors, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra attempts to compensate for the loss of music education programs in public schools, to build an audience base for the future, and to solidify the participants' foundation in serious music.

"Growing up in Baton Rouge, the band programs were really hurting," said Sarah Pyle, a former student at Baton Rouge Magnet High School, who has played flute for the Baton Rouge Youth Orchestras for five years. "For example, the string section does not have a chance to play with the brass and the percussion sections until graduation." If it were not for the Baton Rouge Youth Orchestra, Sarah said, "I wouldn't have had the experience I needed to play pieces by Schubert, Copland, or Elgar," challenging works which impressed the recruiters at Oberlin Conservatory, where this September Sarah will begin studying to be a professional musician.

"Our community outreach programs have been extremely successful," said Bermingham. "Our enrollment has increased from 145 students to 175 over the past five years." Bermingham also points to stories of achievement, such as Sarah's, to measure the programs' successes, but notes that these programs are not only for those who wish to make music their profession. "For many of our students music is an avocation, not a vocation. Even if they never become professional musician, there is an intrinsic value to understanding music as a discipline and an art form, as well as many well documented beneficial side effects to studying the arts and music."

As studies - such as Living the Arts through Language and Learning: A Report on Community-based Youth Organizations, by Shirley Brice Heath - have demonstrated, children who "participate in the arts for at least three hours a day on three days each week through at least one full year are: Four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement; three times more likely to be elected to class office within their schools; four times more likely to participate in a math and science fair; three times more likely to win an award for school attendance; and four times more likely to win an award for writing an essay or poem."

Driven by the overwhelming evidence suggesting the benefits of music education as well as the undeniable lack of funding for the arts in public schools, the Baton Rouge orchestra has created a system of community outreach programs which insure exposure to the art regardless of your age or background. The youngest participants are eligible for the Kindermusik program, a program which originated in Germany. "Kindermusik is designed to foster an interest in music at an early age," said Bermingham. The Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra acts as a conduit, pairing parents with certified musicians of the Baton Rouge Symphony in order to provide a nurturing atmosphere in which "every class is a world of discovery and adventure."
"The Louisiana Youth Orchestra Program is comprised of three separate orchestras divided up by grade level," said David Torns, Music Director/Conductor. Children grades two through five are eligible to join the Louisiana String Ensemble (LSE), which is designed for beginning string players who have had limited orchestral experience. Talented middle school children then become eligible to audition for the Louisiana Junior Youth Orchestra (LJYO): a full orchestra comprised of winds, string, and percussion. Participants in high school and college are eligible to audition for the Louisiana Youth Orchestra (LYO), where they will hone their skills through the standard orchestral repertoire. The LYO, LJYO, and the LSE come together and perform three concerts throughout the year, which are free and open to the public.

In addition to the creation and instruction of youth orchestras and ensembles, the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra is also responsible for the Louisiana Lottery Tunes at Noon series, in which musicians form the orchestra perform in the causal setting of the Main Street Market (downtown) on the second Monday of each month and at various public libraries the following Tuesday. "Tunes at Noon really breaks down the wall between the audience and the musicians," said Bermingham. "The concert hall is a very formal setting, which doesn't provide for intercommunication; however, with this outreach program, it is common for the audience to engage in real conversation with the performers about instruments, music selection, and whatever else they might be curious about."

For those who already have an interest in the symphony, Music Director Timothy Muffitt runs two programs designed to expose the audience to the inner workings of an Orchestra's performance: Concert Conversations and Symphony 101. One hour before each Entergy Masterworks concert at the Downtown River Center, the audience is invited to join a casual conversation with Muffitt, who explains the historical background of the evening's selections as well as giving a glimpse into the process of organizing and producing a performance. For those who are looking for a more in-depth education in what goes into an orchestra's performance, Symphony 101 is a three night course which includes an evening with Muffitt, and a second evening during which you are invited to sit in with the orchestral section of your choosing while they rehearse. On the third evening you are invited to see the finished product: An Entergy Masterworks concert.

Of all the outreach programs the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra has created, Bermingham's favorite is by far the Young People's Discovery Concert Series. "It introduces Orchestra music to 10,000 grammar and middle school kids, over a three day period, once a year." The Discovery Series is much more than a concert, Bermingham explained. "We send out performers to prepare the students, explain some of the instruments they are going to see, and the type of music they will hear." The concerts themselves are also more interactive. "It's a completely different experience than you might expect. The conductor will turn around and talk to the audience, explaining what they just heard or what is about to be played next."
Possibly the most impressive part of the Discovery Series is the Link-Up Concert, a special concert where the children actually perform with the orchestra. "For six months the children of the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall are taught excerpts from the musical selection on their recorders," said Bermingham. "When they come to the Link-Up concert they are ready, and have the chance to play along with professional musicians."

In the upcoming years, Bermingham and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra would like to do two Discovery Concert Series each year and expand the existing programs. However the ever-present obstacle remains: Money. "I think in general that people, corporations, and funding agencies understand the importance of the educational mandate of the symphony," Bermingham said. "But it would be fantastic if more potential donors would come forward and support the educational components by specifically earmarking their donations for educational purposes."

First published in Country Roads Magazine September, 2006

For Further Exploration:

Baton Rouge Symphony
P.O. Box 14209 Baton Rouge, LA 70898
Ph: 225.383.0500
www.brso.org

Ron Bermingham
Ph: 225-383-0500 x.103
www.ronbermingham.com

Americans for the Arts
pubs.artsusa.org