Klarinet Archive - Posting 000738.txt from 1997/11

From: Roger Garrett <rgarrett@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: professional wind ensembles
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 13:31:11 -0500

On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, SEAN TALBOT wrote:
> I'll get back to my original question. Is there many paid professional
> wind ensambles out there? If not....why not? If so, why don't they ever
> get much publicity and become house hold names like the major orchestras?

There are a few...

Dallas Symphonic Winds
Tokyo Kosei Wind Ensemble
English Wind Ensemble
and a few others

Most of them are comprised of players who already have symphony jobs and
the group is formed as an add-on. That is, the group by itself does not
generate enough income to pay a musician enough to live on (Toyko is the
exception).

They don't get much publicity because all of the best music available for
the Wind Ensemble and Concert Band medium fits on approximately 75 compact
discs - give or take 25. Simply put, there is not enough good literature
by reputable composers to sustain an audience over repeated years....this
is why people like H. Robert Reynolds at U. Michigan have put so much
energy into commissioning works specifically for band or wind ensemble by
well-known and talented composers.

Beyond the music issue, the last really professional bands were the
Goldman Band and the Sousa Band - and they did, essentially, what many of
the top military bands do today......provide indoor, outdoor and parade
concerts. We have so many good military bands now (complete with benefits
and instruments provided, etc.), that a professional band, funded by
donations and fund raising, could never compete with the military. Even
professional orchestras are failing for similar reasons.

Roger Garrett
Illinois Wesleyan University