The Arts: Suing For Non-Support

Each year the MIT symphony orchestra receives between $7,000 and $10,000 from the MIT administration. The orchestra travels to various parts of the U.S. and Canada at least once every academic year. And occasionally, as it did three years ago, the MIT orchestra receives a special grant from the University to make a European tour. Their concerts in Cambridge are free to all members of the University.

The Yale undergraduate orchestra receives between $5,000-$6,000 from their music department every year. The student group rehearses and performs in Woolsey Hall and is not charged for the use of this space. The Yale group also takes a tour each year. Recent highlights include concerts in Carnegie Hall and a performance in Washington, D.C.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, HRO, receives no financial support from the University or the Music Department. In fact the orchestra pays approximately $800 to the University each year. The HRO, as well as the Band, and the Bach Society, is charged for the use of Sanders Theatre.

In addition, the HRO pays piano rental (close to $350) when a pianist performs with the orchestra because Harvard does not own a piano for use in Sanders. During the past year, HRO and the Bach Society have paid over $2000 in piano rental.

As noted in an ARTS SPECTRUM article this fall, Harvard's non-support for the arts is not simply financial. Rehearsals for the orchestra are conducted on the cramped stage in Paine Hall. 88 members just can't comfortably fit onto this stage built for chamber groups. The orchestra can't rehearse regularly in Sanders since the University rents the hall at every opportunity. Although serious consideration had been given to the use of a sound shell in Memorial Hall last May, the HRO is still rehearsing in Paine Hall and has prepared two more concerts in those cramped quarters.

The result of Harvard's non-support for the orchestra is quite clear: competition is fostered in the place of cooperation. With ticket sales as the orchestra's major source of revenue, the HRO is forced into open competition with the Bach Society and other music groups on campus.

Close to $500 of the HRO's small budget is spent each year on publicity. These funds would be much better spent on acquiring new pieces for the orchestra's library. In response to the financial crunch, both the HRO and Bach Society increased their ticket prices this year, with the regrettable effect of reducing the number of students who choose to afford the concerts. One can only note that the MIT orchestra's free concerts nearly always draw over 2000 listeners.

The intensity of competition is even greater when one counts the other artistic activities of the college community, such as Harvard-supported drama. On December 5, 1975, for instance, five college dramatic productions and two concerts were offered to the public at Harvard alone. Undoubtedly this diversity of offerings greatly enhances the Harvard experience--however it also detracts from any group's ability to be self-supporting.

While the HRO is left to struggle with red tape, unnecessary costs, and inadequate rehearsal space, the University has begun to solicit and accept more undergraduate musicians each year. These students, looking for a credited outlet for their talent, find the opportunities severely limited. Music 180 is the only course offering performance for credit. However, admission into this seminar is drastically limited. The University is simply not responsible if it encourages musicians to enter Harvard and then provides only one performance course. The rising level of musician dissatisfaction was clearly demonstrated by the petition delivered to President Bok last month.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra is one major outlet for students' creative energies. But with no outright credit offered by the Faculty, it becomes difficult for many students to justify the time spent in orchestra rehearsal. It is possible for students to take Music 91r with Dr. Yannatos. However, the specific studies of this course are only secondary to the real learning that takes place on stage during the five hours of rehearsal time each week and the extra hours spent by each musician practicing on his own. Some University officials think of the orchestra as a "extracurricular" activity and liken it to sports or drama when justifying lack of credit. It is hard to understand how students can receive credit for photography and other art work if this criteria is truly valid. (And it is interesting that University officials don't compare the orchestra to sports or drama when the question of financial support comes up.)

Once again elitism is being promoted in this citadel of elites. While the efforts of 80-100 musicians go unnoticed, a few outstanding individuals can receive credit for performance in Music 180. Undoubtedly the University takes a great deal of pride in the attention given to "Harvard's" stars when they perform in Boston or New York. The well-rounded image of Harvard is protected and promoted by those musicians wooed to Cambridge by the advent of Music 180. Thus, the exclusive study of individual and small ensemble performance receives credit, but the Orchestra, well, involves too many people. There is something curiously revealing in the University's attitude toward the value of coordinating the efforts of 90 musicians into a unified whole. Individualism is promoted at the expense of community experience.

The potential benefits of financial and academic support for the HRO are great. The satisfaction of students would be greatly enhanced by a strong undergraduate orchestra. Yearly tours would provide some outstanding performance experiences and serve to draw more musicians to Harvard. Free concerts would virtually guarantee a full concert hall and open new programming possibilities. Credit for orchestral performance would satisfy the needs of a much broader segment of the undergraduate population.

In addition it could have a positive effect on careerism at Harvard. As academic pressure mounts, the first thing students sacrifice are the extracurricular activities. Students will be more likely to design better balanced course programs for themselves if credit were available for playing in the HRO. Rather than turning to the library and to oneself an orchestral musician is forced to look beyond his immediate concerns and pressures, to establish relations with the entire ensemble.

Freed of the constant battle to balance the budget, the HRO would be in a much better position to offer a diverse range of performances to the public. Supported with credit the orchestra would better serve the needs of students at Harvard. It is my hope that Harvard's non-support is coming to an end. I would much rather direct attention to the real business and pleasure of the HRO--the performance of great music.

Weston C. Loegering '77 is the outgoing president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra.