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Doublereed Archive - Posting 000032.txt from 2003/08

From: "James Jeter" <jyjeter@-----.com>
Subj: [DR-L] The continuing saga...
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 2003 08:52:16 -0400

More press on the virtual orchestra threat to live musicians:

Small opera company at center of stage music debate

By JUSTIN GLANVILLE
The Associated Press
8/5/03 5:21 PM

NEW YORK (AP) -- Five minutes before rehearsal begins on his latest opera,
Jay Meetze is on his cell phone, his voice a mix of exhaustion and
desperation.

"Trust me -- your career will not be affected by this," he tells a singer
convinced she'll be blacklisted if she appears in Meetze's production of
Mozart's "Magic Flute," which is using computerized music instead of a live
orchestra.

The singer is not persuaded. She drops out just five nights before the
show's one-night-only performance. It's only the latest road bump for
Meetze, whose tiny Opera Company of Brooklyn is at the center of a debate
over the future of stage music.

The controversy began several weeks ago, when word got out that Meetze's
Aug. 9 production at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn,
which is meant to showcase new singing talent, would use a computerized
system that simulates live musicians.

Last week, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, representing
New York City instrumentalists, called for an e-mail blitz to protest the
production. Meetze, OCB's founder and principal conductor, has received
about 400 e-mails so far.

The union also convinced opera stars Deborah Voigt and Marilyn Horne to
resign from OCB's board last week. So far, actors' and singers' unions have
not taken a position, and only the one singer has dropped out of Meetze's
show, which will go on as scheduled.

"We don't think that operas can be done credibly with technology in this
way," said Bill Moriarity, president of Local 802. "We're concerned that
technology is being used to replace people. We think that's the intention of
this technology."

Virtual orchestras have been a point of contention since a four-day strike
in March by Broadway musicians, who were angered by theater producers'
proposal to reduce the minimum number of players in orchestras.

To keep shows afloat, producers planned to use virtual orchestras. That
never happened because actors' and technicians' unions eventually joined the
strike, forcing most Broadway shows to shutter completely.

Part of the dispute surrounding OCB's production is the source of the
technology being used. It's designed by RealTime Music Solutions, a company
hired during the Broadway strike to program scores for "Les Miserables" and
"Thoroughly Modern Millie."

Moriarity says he became suspicious of the OCB production after seeing a
press release that seemed to trumpet RealTime's involvement. He later
learned RealTime was donating its services to the show -- a significant
contribution, considering it costs between $50,000 and $80,000 to program a
musical score for a virtual orchestra, Meetze said.

"The more we look into it, the more we're convinced it's a product
demonstration for the virtual orchestra," Moriarity said.

But Meetze says OCB's partnership with RealTime is the result of
happenstance. It began last year, he says, when he was shopping for a new
theater for OCB. When he saw the College of Technology's just renovated
theater, he fell in love with the space.

A professor at the college, David B. Smith, turned out to be a RealTime
partner. Smith not only offered to donate the 200-seat theater space, but
also to program the virtual orchestra for Meetze's next production.

Meetze says he couldn't refuse. The two-year-old, financially strapped opera
company has been using solo pianists as accompaniment in its other nine
productions, and he says the virtual orchestra offered a richer sound.

Smith, too, says the OCB performance isn't intended as a demonstration.
"We've demoed this system to all the major producers," he says. "If virtual
orchestras were a threat to acoustic musicians, this production is not going
to make it more so."

Smith denies that virtual orchestras will crowd out live musicians. He sees
his system being used mostly where live orchestras wouldn't be an option,
such as off-off-Broadway shows and touring productions.

But Moriarity isn't convinced. The Broadway contract dispute "proved they're
out to replace us," he said. "People looking only at the bottom line will
look at (virtual orchestras) as a substitute."

The technology is impressive. RealTime's system for OCB uses 27 speakers
placed at the sides of the stage, each one projecting a different bank of
instruments: violins, flutes, percussion.

A "symphonist" uses a keyboard and computer monitor to keep the music
flowing in time with the singers and to cue sound effects.

"For the uneducated ear, a lot of people will be fooled," Meetze said.

"But there's nothing like a live orchestral sound," he added. "I hope
there's a huge change in the way arts funding happens in this country, so we
can afford more live orchestras."

On the Net:

Opera Company of Brooklyn: http://www.operabrooklyn.com

American Federation of Musicians, Local 802: http://www.local802afm.org

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