Race for the Cure

For better or worse, the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra functions like one enormous extended family. People care about each other and pull together to celebrate the good times, but where this makeshift family excels is helping in times of crisis. Because of the great camaraderie amongst the players, when something terrible happens to one the impact ripples through the whole group. People come together and help each other out. This summer the symphony was dealt two blows in a very short period of time. Former KSO violinist Cate Myer died from a recurrence of breast cancer and violinist Lynn Rogers-Carl died from ovarian cancer that spread. Both women were in the prime of their life and both were mothers.

It's not fair.

There are a lot of statistics associated with breast cancer. 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer... 200,000 cases will be diagnosed this year... 40,000 of those 200,000 will die... Every THREE minutes someone is diagnosed... And every 13 minutes someone loses the battle...

But these are simply numbers. A number can shock but a number can't express how it feels not to have your mom there to walk you down the aisle, or how much you miss your best friend, or your shock at hearing the diagnosis. Numbers don't cut it. Breast cancer affects friends, mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers... Take a minute to count how many people you know who have had breast cancer or who have been affected by breast cancer. I was shocked by how many I know.

The KSO has put together a team for this year's Race for the Cure in honor and memory of Cate Myer and Lynn Rogers-Carl. We would be honored to include you in our "family." Come cheer for our runners on race day, and make a donation to help us help others.

Reaching Out

On the Knoxville Symphony's main web page, a calendar at the right of the screen gives you links to information about public performances in a given month. If you looked right now, you would notice that the next highlighted date is October 16th (a FREE performance at the Morrell Rd. Borders!). October 16th is nearly two weeks away, so is the orchestra on fall break?

The answer is a resounding no. Actually, the next two weeks are packed with performances, 22 in all! The KSO is dedicated to bringing music into the community. In fact, 80% of our performances every season take place OUTSIDE our Pops, Masterworks, and Chamber Classics subscription series. Musicians play in area hospitals as part of our award-winning Music and Wellness program and they also bring classical music into area schools and libraries. These performances use small groups of instrumentalists in quartets, duos, and even playing solo.

These performances don't show up on the regular calendar because, as a rule, they aren't open to the general public. (Although, if you happened to be in a hospital lobby during a Music and Wellness performance you would be welcome to sit and listen.) Despite this, these concerts are, in my opinion, some of the most important performances the KSO gives. The sick and worried are comforted. Children who have never seen a stringed instrument in person get to hear one live and ask the musicians questions about music and their life as a musician. It's important work.

If you know of a place that you think the KSO could be reaching in the community you can contact Jennifer Barnett, KSO's Director of Education and Community Partnerships.

Music: The Next Generation

Scientific American Frontiers on PBS is one of my favorite television shows. Recently I caught an episode that featured innovations in music. Children played "Beat Bugs" which are electronic bug-like instruments designed so that people with no formal musical training can pick them up and just play. I was especially excited about a music composition program called Hyperscore that transfers pictures or visual patterns into sound. At the time the show originally aired it was an open-source program. It's still around, but now you have to pay for it.

My search for Hyperscore led me to MIT's Media Lab website. Two research groups there caught my eye: Music, Mind, and Machine and Opera of the Future. There are several projects that look fascinating: MIT scientists are developing tests to identify early Alzheimer's using music, the creation of a "hyperbow" to analyze bow technique of violinists, and a program that completely visualizes the main aspects of music are just a few that caught my eye.

We Need YOU!

Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale announced his proposed budget for 2010 on Tuesday. It's not pretty. Actually, it's downright ugly. This year the symphony received over $43,000 in county funds. Next year we are slated to receive just over $6000. (No. I didn't forget a zero. I wish the problem was that easy to fix.) Our friends at Knoxville Opera and the Knoxville Museum of Art are in worse straits: neither organization will get any funding from the county if Mayor Ragsdale's budget is approved.

Here's the thing: the funds that the symphony receives from the county don't fund our subscription performances. They don't pay for guest artists. They don't go into a general slush fund. The funds that the Knoxville Symphony receives from the county go right back into the community. They pay for things such as free community concerts, sending small ensembles into the schools to expose and teach children about music, bringing children to our Young People's Concerts, sending musicians into area hospitals as part of our award-winning music and wellness program, and our long-term side by side partnership with Austin East High School and other area public schools. These are all programs that directly benefit the community that will have to be severely restricted or even cut out all together without adequate funding from the county.

For the data-minded, here are some numbers. This year:

• 200,000 people were reached through all of the Knoxville Symphony's activities.

• 60,000 were reached through our community outreach and education programs.

• 10,000 children in Knox County were reached through our Young People's Concerts.

• 5,000 children in Knox County had a KSO musician visit their classroom.

• 1,000 preschool children in Knox County were exposed to classical music through the KSO's story time program.

• 2,000 patients at UT hospital took part in the KSO's music and wellness program.

I love to perform, true, but in my opinion the most important work we do as musicians is community outreach. Music is for everyone, not just people who understand Webern or who can afford the best seats in the house. The idea that lack of funding could turn some of these numbers into big fat zeros is absolutely unacceptable.

The budget has not yet been approved by the board, so it's not too late. The board will meet on Monday and will vote on the budget in the next few weeks. If you are a Knox County resident, I urge you to write to your elected officials. Tell them you expect them to support the arts in our community. A trickle of dissent won't change anything. We each need to take responsibility to let the commission know how we feel. Only then can we hope to restore county funding to the arts.

To email Mayor Ragsdale, click here.

For a list of commissioners, districts, and email links, click here.

To email the Knox County Commission, click here.

I thank you in advance for your support.