Orchestra Nova Gets it Right - Critic Gets it Wrong The experience described by the hundreds of guests at St. Paul’s Cathedral  Friday night and Qualcomm Hall Saturday night after Orchestra Nova’s season opener, Mozart’s Very Best, was certainly the antithesis of the experience Jim Chute describes in his article Entering the Nova Experiences Proves A Painful Experience.  While Mr. Chute is entitled to his own opinion and should be free to criticize as he sees fit, we feel that Friday’s review went beyond the scope of good journalism and was overtly malicious.  On Friday, there were standing ovations from the audience as artistic director and conductor Jung-Ho Pak and the musicians left the stage to greet the cheering fans. There were raves and smiles about the performance from the guests as they left the venue.  In fact, after each of the three concerts last weekend our staff received a flood of positive emails and phone calls.  But Mr. Chute did not comment on the audience’s reaction to the concert, and perhaps this is the heart of the matter. In missing that element of the show, he missed the point of our organization. We are ultimately focused on the experience of our concert-goers, because our mission is to generate and retain enthusiasm for classical music. If we were able to pack the house, as we were able to on Friday, and get people of all ages and backgrounds to attend, as we did on Friday, and our guests enjoyed the experience, as they told us they did on Friday, then we have done our job. We can’t be everything to everyone and we apologize if Mr. Chute had expectations that were not met by the performance on Friday night. But we aim to supplant expectations and present something innovative and unique. Our concert experience is not meant to be interactive during the performance – we don’t expect the audience to raise their hands and ask Maestro Pak, while he is conducting, why the musicians are standing when they play. But they are invited to ask these questions at Q & A sessions after the concerts, such as at Qualcomm on Saturday during the Q & A session with Maestro Pak and clarinetist Frank Renk. Before the concert, during intermission and after the concert is the interactive portion, when Jung-Ho and the musicians go out into the audience to greet guests. Another key part of the Nova experience are the talks given by Jung-Ho to the audience before, between and after pieces to explain them in further detail, using visuals and musical demonstrations to create a less intimidating and more accessible classical music experience that can be enjoyed by everyone, from first-time attendees to seasoned musicians. I would hope that a critic at the largest publication in San Diego would be open-minded enough to appreciate what we are trying to achieve both with our marketing efforts and our entire concert experience. In a world where interest in classical music is waning, Orchestra Nova is making the effort to modernize and entice new audiences. We invite criticism that is fair, criticism that suggests ways in which we need to improve and criticism that judges our results against our mission. But save your harsh headlines for BP or a slimy politician – we deserve better than that.  Classical music deserves better than that. When trashing an entire organization based on a subjective opinion of the art they are producing, one would do well to remember all of the other people, programs and funding that are affected by what they write. Orchestra Nova supports music education programs in schools throughout San Diego. Without these programs, many of the children in these schools would not be exposed to classical music because most music and arts programs at the elementary school level have been eliminated in San Diego County due to state budget cuts. Fortunately, we know our generous and visionary supporters will take this review with a spoonful of salt. Back to the Blog: http://orchestranova.blogspot.com/2010/10/novas-very-best-you-be-judge.html