Hitting the high-and low-notes

Press, 24 December 1985, Page 12

Hitting the high-and low-notes

BY KAY FORRESTER If Earle Rowell, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s new general manager, was guided solely by financial motives he would close the orchestra down.

“We’re making a loss on every concert, after all,” he

says. But Mr Rowell is not guided by money alone and he believes the contribution of the orchestra to Christchurch’s cultural life is a particularly valuable one. His enthusiasm after just a few days in the job is limitless. No-one made him take on the management of the orchestra when he could have been enjoying retirement after 40 years in broadcasting and entertainment and he is definitely not going to whinge about the problems of the job. To balance the ledger against the wearying task of raising money to keep the orchestra going, there is the enthusiasm and dedication of other workers in the orchestra office.

“When I see people doing 120 hours in unpaid overtime I appreciate working with people who are doing this for the love of music. The problems are still there, of course, but so is the orchestra.” The future of the orchestra is bright, Mr Rowell says. “We will survive and we will progress.”

In the four years he has been away from Christchurch, he has noticed a significant impovement in the orchestra.

“At the last subscription concert (in November) the orchestra did Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5. That was a remarkable performance from a part-time orchestra.”

Mr Rowell is very much aware that the orchestra is made up of part-time players with other jobs. One

area he wants to pursue with the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council is a retainer scheme to pay a core group of players. “The council has come up with a scheme for the Auckland Philharmonia. I would like to see a similar scheme here. That way we can encourage players to stay in Christchurch.”

The orchestra’s leader, Paulene Smith, is due to leave soon for Australia. Earle Rowell says he is disappointed to see her go but understands entirely her decision. “We need to be able to keep people of that calibre. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is still looking for a leader and can’t find one — we are going to have problems, too.” More problems? Mr Rowell jokes that his job is like “running an old ship with a rotten hull — a terrible analogy, I know. But as soon as you plug a leak in the bow someone tells you about the one aft.” The moments of elation he expects from the job — “like watchng the people come into the Town Hall foyer for a concert” — will more than compensate for the hard work, he says. He sees his role as administrator. “It is my job to make sure things are running smoothly and that there is a good level of financial management.” He does not expect to have any direct influence on the orchestra’s repertoire, although he says all areas; of the orchestra are interrelated.

He is both a purist and a realist when it comes to what music will bring in the patrons.

“The orchestra plays classical music. We must accept that there is a small market for our product but still we have to play that music.” What about compromises

to play the music that will put “bums on seats” and money in the bank? "Life is full of compromises .. But there is a limit Earle Rowell is adamant that he does not want to see the deterioration to the lowest common denominator he saw in commercial radio happen with the orchestra. Working for the Broadcasting Corporation in Auckland, he was appalled at the deterioration in standards because of the fierce competition between the 10 Auckland stations. “IZB was my flagship. Now it doesn’t play any unknown music. Every record is researched and its popularity assessed. If it’s a winner it is played. It ceases to be popular and it’s dropped for something else. Now that would be a hateful philosophy to see adopted with the C.S.O. “I know I could lower the orchestra deficit by putting together a programme of Strauss waltzes and Ravel — “Bolero” is popular right now — a sort of Mantovanitype programme, but that would be prostituting ourselves.” He acknowledges the need however, to tailor programmes to a wider audience than the orchestra has

in the past. “More family concerts, more concerts in the park, more taking the orchestra into the community. The orchestra has to concentrate on reaching a wider audience and I think we are achieving that.” The skills he gained in 20 years in broadcasting were mostly recently in management. These he believes are ideally suited to his new job. He is no stranger to the orchestra. As chairman of the Christchurch Civic Music Council from 1979 to 1981 he represented the orchestra’s interests to the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council in the aftermath of the great orchestra debate in Christchurch.

In his new role for the orchestra he expects to have many dealings with the Arts Council The first is the application for next year’s funding. He has usually found the council sympathetic to the problems facing such groups as the orchestra and is mindful of the council’s own funding limits. Most of the orchestra’s funding comes from the council and Christchurch’s local authorities. The Arts Council matches dollar for dollar the amount given by local authorities and Earle Rowell intends to make sure local councils are aware of this in the next budget round. Ticket sales, too, bring some income for the orchestra as does the sponsorship the orchestra has at present. Mr Rowell wants to encourage sponsorship, especially from regional companies. Marketing is perhaps the main area where he plans to focus his attention.

Mr Rowell is only the second general manager of the C.S.O. His predecessor, Chris Brodrick, was the first and was appointed in 1980. The only other applicant then was David Rowell, Earle Rowell’s son.