It was the concert heard around New York City. Or rather, not heard.

Last week, the New York Philharmonic stopped in the middle of a concert because a cell phone went off during the performance. The phone ringing wasn’t the only story, but the audience reaction: the fellow concertgoers began to heckle the cell-phone-ringer-attendee.  It was a big enough deal that even the New York Times had a story on it. 

Talk about a bad day for everyone involved.

But this incident got me thinking about concert etiquette, and not just silencing cell phones or avoiding unwrapping cough drops in the middle of Beethoven, but some larger issues as well. 

The first time I donated to the arts, it was through my university. DePauw had a really amazing music school and visual arts programs, so it seemed fairly obvious to me to earmark the small donation for use by the arts. 

Obvious might be the wrong word here, because I was also the only one of my friends who, even for my limited involvement with the arts, had actually allocated the donation.  I still find, my friends and I take advantage of free classical concerts, lectures or outreach, and don’t ever follow-up with a monetary donation or in-kind support.  So what gives?

This seems to me like a fairly big challenge, and also an incredibly important one for all art and culture institutions, because donor bases for the arts are aging.  My generation is going to be even more important to hook as donors now, rather than later.

One can hardly blame Dr. Allan Dennis and the Midwest Young Artists for featuring prominent alumni in soloist roles in their concert programs. Given the willingness of these artists (stemming from fond memories, no doubt) and the number of top-flight musicians to finish their program, it can’t require much cajoling to convince first-rate virtuosos to grace the stage with MYA’s Symphony Orchestra as expert accompanists.
Their concert Saturday at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston featured one of their more acclaimed graduates, violinist Jeremy Black, in the Tchaikovsky Concerto in D Major. After a formative period with MYA in the group’s early years, the Evanston native continued his studies at Case Western Reserve, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and the University of Michigan. He is now a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony and is renowned locally as the concertmaster of the Grant Park Symphony.

A new study (http://www.chorusamerica.org/about_choralsinging.cfm) has research to support that participation in a chorus - regardless of age - yields much more than artistic benefits alone. Citing improved academic performance for students as well as higher volunteer rates, better leadership skills, greater philanthropic involvement and increased patronage of the other arts, the study's implicit conclusion is that musical skills are directly translatable into everyday, non-musical life.