The Holidays – Classical Music's Busy Season

by Jason Posnock, Associate Artistic Administrator

December means only one thing for classical musicians: holiday concerts. Whether it’s Messiah, Nutcracker, or a holiday pops show, musicians across the country are busy bringing Christmas cheer to millions of concert-goers. As I write this I have just finished the Asheville Symphony Holiday Pops concert, complete with the ASO chorus and children’s chorus.

We all know the recipe: traditional works such as Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride and A Christmas Festival, a dash of Trepak and Sugar Plum Fairy, throw in a Hanukkah Festival and a carol sing-along and, voilà, a holiday concert. As usual, the Asheville program of fan favorites was enjoyed by all, although in a sign of these difficult times, the audience was 20% smaller than last year's.

Considering the economic climate and knowing that tough times cut deeply into support for the arts, you would think that my friends in the orchestral world would be grateful for the all the work that appears around the holidays. Yet I can't count how many complaints I hear; we all know musicians like to complain, but this is different. It's not just the desire for a better conductor or more space in the pit. It's almost wishing they didn't have to play one more holiday concert—ever.

Keep this in mind: many freelancers make up to a third of their annual income during the holiday weeks. That’s right, one third. However you do the math, that's a significant chunk of work.

How do we approach the holidays with a positive attitude? Let's put the checkbook aside for a moment. The fact is, The Nutcracker and Messiah are great works. I am not Tchaikovsky's biggest fan and Handel is what it is, but these are truly magnificent pieces with gold on every page. The opportunity to play these works in their entirety, which only presents itself at this time of year, should be regarded as a privilege. Whenever I revisit favorites such as Beethoven 9, Brahms 4, or Mozart 39, I always find new moments of beauty, rhythmic and harmonic nuance, or interesting lines in other parts (you may recall that I am a violinist). I do the same thing with these "holiday" classics. Moreover, someone in the audience is hearing these works for the first time. We owe it to the public to give the best possible performance of any work we're playing, at any time. That's the job.

So with all of this in mind, Happy Holidays from from Brevard, North Carolina. We have an exciting year ahead of us, and I look forward to sharing more thoughts here as we head towards the Brevard Music Center's 2009 season.