Some sad news for Atlanta arts today: the Atlanta Ballet will no longer perform with live music. They have decided not to renew the musicians’ contracts for the 2006-2007 season, so all performances will be done with recorded music. I’m guessing the musician’s union wouldn’t budge, and there just ain’t that much free money for the arts laying around.
It’s kind of a bummer. There’s always that intangible ‘something’ that live music brings. Whether it’s just the little humming and tooting before the show, or appreciating the not-so-simple act of coordinating dancers and musicians–the orchestra adds a lot to the productions. Two productions I really liked, Dracula and Hamlet [music by Philip Glass] wouldn’t have been nearly the same without the live music. It really felt like something special, an Event.
Surely there’s another way? I’ll bet there are some highly-qualified college students and highly qualified amateurs in the Atlanta area that would be glad to play for much lower fees. Heck, I would have played for free when I was doing percussion back in college. Some of my favorite concerts were the dual-department music/ dance productions. Hopefully, the orchestra will have only a brief absence. Or perhaps it will free the ballet to collaborate with other, smaller ensembles. We shall see. I’m still a bit bummed, though.
Mark Larson 