Chicago National Conference 2018

Jackie Riddle-Jackson preparing for the Roundtable presentation at League of American Orchestra Conference in Chicago

Meeting with orchestra representatives from throughout the country

Jackie Riddle-Jackson with conference presenter Vijay Grupta

Roundtable presentation

Arriving in Chicago with luggage sent to Florida

"Hooray" The luggage with all the presentation materials arrives in time.

Report of the League of American Orchestra Conference 2018

By Jackie Jackson

The Key Note address was given by Vijay Gupta, it was transformative and absolutely soul stirring. Vijay began by playing a piece for us (unaccompanied solo Violin) that he had arranged himself, a medley of both classical and modern pieces he loved that intertwined and created a message to those listening.

Vijay's personal story also gave us pause, while being a child prodigy his parents wanted him to be a doctor, so he actually studied science and graduated from college when he was 17 years old.  As a violinist in the LA Philharmonic he was the youngest to be accepted when he auditioned and still is. Vijay talked about being lucky enough to have privilege and he loves music, he was very pushed to achieve and he started the Street Symphony to find restoration in his life.

Currently he is most well known for his accomplishments in establishing a community program called the "Street Symphony". His motivation for this project was not from the LA Phil (though they are supporters of this venture) , his motivation stems from what he saw as a need for others to find restoration in their lives, using music to provide that he says there is always a divide between musicians and the management.

He posed a question to those in attendance “How do we shift our concert hall to be a place of convening rather than just a place of performance?”  He suggests being intentional with where we place resources and where dollars are best used,  emphasize building a social capital because a concert performance is not just a “gig”.  A part of the power of music is that it is sanctuary both for those performing and listening and he recommends taking out in the community where needed.

Questions to consider for OSU: 

*What is our core mission?

*How do we create not just arts engagement, but also civic engagement?

*We are obligated to be a voice to show up and have radical intimacy.  Are we doing enough and    being collaborative to involve other groups with the OSU.   

*Is it better to go deep than it is to go wide?  Are we doing and being enough?

Other conference presentations:

One of the best presentations in the volunteers section was for the Chicago Symphony where they found a need for older, disabled persons and under-privileged persons to come to a symphony rehearsal in the afternoon.  One man said to a person that played in the orchestra, “Who would want to come and sit by me?” He felt that he wanted to support the symphony but could not afford it.  The person in charge of the guild devised a plan to create a set of volunteers and hosts that would help those in need to come to the final dress rehearsal of the orchestra on the day of their performances free of charge thus eliminating the cost concerns.  This is organized several times during the season and the cost is zero dollars….. The guild arranges volunteers to bring people to the dress rehearsal and help them with walkers, canes, and wheel chairs. They have about fifteen hundred people attend each time that they do this, so you can imagine the commitment of the volunteers. That people would volunteer their time to organize this was impressive as it is a huge act of service.

The issue that was pounded into all those attending the conference was the need to embrace diversity and  to be helpful to those around us.  It is no longer good enough to just meet and play good music, although that is what we should be doing as well, but musicians and orchestras also need to have a social mission.  Many groups from across the nation spoke and created dialogues about it.

Chicago Symphony Concert

Watching the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was truly a dream,  Ricardo Muti a truly gifted and inspired conductor was spellbinding, as together the Chicago Symphony and Yo Yo Ma performed a night of Russian Artists.  The music was extremely difficulty and not for the faint of heart.  Yo-Yo Ma was exceptional and as he closed the conference by speaking, he also mentioned the importance of having a social agenda, and a connection with the community - a theme that was very evident with many of the musicians, that orchestras and musicians need to have purposeful movement in that direction.

Link to League videos from Conference: https://americanorchestras.org/conferences-meetings/conference-2018-1.html

Favorite art from the Chicago Institute of Art with musical themes curated by Rebekah Hughes, OSU Manager