For Delaware Symphony Orchestra, 2023 is year of reflection, outreach and change
I recently watched an episode of the PBS documentary series "Inside the Met," titled "All Things to All People." The series initially began as a project to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2020. But by this second episode, the focus had shifted to how national and global societal events in the tumultuous recent past have reshaped the missions of the Met and arts organizations around the country.
Watching this prompted me to reflect on my three years at the helm of Delaware's sole professional orchestra, the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.
I celebrated my third anniversary with the organization in May, and I look back in disbelief at all that has changed. While my professional background had equipped me with ample industry-specific knowledge, navigating this new landscape, public health and safety issues, upheavals in society, and the urgency for being "all things to all people" was daunting.
For me, there was so much to learn about the DSO's long history, triumphs and setbacks. I knew the obvious issues coming in, but the information surrounding the myriad of familiar relationships between individuals and organizations that make our state and community unique was like a Byzantine riddle. I had to listen — and not react — while drinking from the fire hose of information, passions and emotions.
I quickly realized that an enormous part of my job was triage — calmly and quietly assessing while constantly moving forward to improve the patient — all the while keeping an eye and ear on broader issues and attitudes that needed to be addressed to thrive as a symphony orchestra in a (significantly) quickly changing world.
There were many steps. Living safely and providing employment for our musicians, staff and patrons, while continuing to provide rewarding musical experiences was first. But we also needed to do some significant internal housekeeping while the world swirled around us.
At the DSO, we had to move methodically. To this end, we opened up lines of communication, built trust through transparency, recruited a strong staff to serve the organization and our patrons with positivity and effectiveness, and ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Local 21 of the American Federation of Musicians, to name only a few.
We also had to take a hard look at what we were providing for our community — and be open to change.
These efforts, and many more, have brought the DSO to a vastly different place as we approach our 118th season. We are on solid footing, and we now possess a heightened awareness of our relationship with a changing society and our community.
Our current season offerings reflect this transformation. We've expanded our musical programming and embraced diverse guest artists and conductors to give our classical music community a broader view of our symphonic world.
We are welcoming new audiences and connecting our talented musicians with the wider community with the help of strategic partners. Our commitment to broadening our reach is supported by the Longwood Foundation's generous support, which enables us to explore new avenues for engaging with individuals who haven't traditionally been part of our audience.
In addition, the DSO recently has begun the search for a new music director. After 20 seasons, our own David Amado was named the first music director laureate in the orchestra's 117 years of existence. We are thrilled that David will continue to appear with the orchestra in upcoming years, including opening and closing our 2023-2024 season.
At the same time, we've embarked on a search to identify the next artistic leader of the Delaware Symphony. This two-year process is led by a 15-member search committee composed of members from the board of directors, Musicians of the orchestra, and community leaders. We're reviewing many, many applicants from around the globe and look forward to presenting four candidate finalists to the community during the 2024-2025 season. Our goal is to introduce the new music director of the DSO at the start of the 2025-2026 season.
It may seem distant to talk about the year 2026, but then again, 2023 felt far away when I first arrived.
In those initial months, there were moments when optimism was in short supply, and the challenges appeared insurmountable. However, the sometimes Herculean tasks of the past three years have proven worthwhile.
While the work will never end, we've successfully pushed the ball to the top of the first big hill and are looking for the next summit. It looks good up here these days, and I invite you to join us and enjoy the view!
J.C. Barker is the Chief Executive Officer of the Delaware Symphony Orchestra.
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware Symphony Orchestra gains partners, ups outreach & programming
