Tuesday, April 19, 2011

People-Unfriendly

Ah, I see that Houston Early Music (fka Houston Harpsichord Society) has not changed significantly since my days as a participant. This time it's a concert by the Flanders Recorder Quartet, which I would be interested in hearing except for HEM's choice of venue:

FLANDERS RECORDER QUARTET with SOPRANO CECILE KEMPENAERS: The Six Wives of Henry VIII

Trinity Episcopal Church
Houston, TX

...

Kid Friendly: No
Dog Friendly: No
Non-Smoking: No
Wheelchair Accessible: No
That speaks volumes. Historically (so to speak), this org has been interested mostly in presenting good concerts for the enjoyment of wealthy people while treating both musicians and non-wealthy audience members the way I'm sure the people in charge of the org believe they deserve. Picking a wheelchair-inaccessible, smoking-allowed venue (really? a church allows smoking? one hopes this is a misprint) is just par for the course for this org.

What? you say I am biased? Damned right I am biased! Twenty to thirty years ago, I was among the musicians and audience members maltreated. I am not quick to forgive in any case, and I am especially not quick to forgive misbehavior by wealthy people toward the rest of us. I just hope the FRQ has an ironclad contract with them. Things got so bad a few decades back that one famous harpsichordist demanded prepayment to appear on their series. I am willing to bet that at least some of the org's board are the same people now as then. Musicians beware!

2 comments:

  1. We spit on them. You are the artist!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's kind of you, mandt, but do remember this is a personal gripe, and not everyone in Houston feels the same way about HEM. They serve a useful purpose. But a few decades ago they did some things that were just plain offensive.

    E.g., one of the board was heard to say, behind the backs of the now-long-defunct Houston Baroque Ensemble, why should he pay for our season subscription when he could hear the same people play several times a year for free at HEM meetings. Believe me, I took the hint, and stopped even attending meetings.

    Another time, I was their HEM (then HHS) presentation recitalist. The recital was jointly sponsored by University of St. Thomas, where I taught, as a faculty recital. The HHS was so cranky and ungenerous with UST (who among other things donated use of their hall, and paid my accompanists' fees) that I vowed never to place myself in the middle of that kind of fracas again.

    It's not about our being artists; it's about paying people for what they do for a living. I wonder if that guy's plumber works for free.

    ReplyDelete

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