TSO Gala Concert

Nick Webster - TSO Board Member

Nick  Webster's involvement with the Harvard Glee Club as singer, manager and postgraduate manager of a nine week tour to the Far East in 1961 led to study with the famed French pedagogue, Nadia Boulanger, and to a career in orchestra administration which concluded with 15 years as CEO of the New York Philharmonic from 1975 to 1990. He worked closely with Music Directors Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez, Zubin Mehta and Kurt Masur. He also served for five years as General Manager of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra during the Music Directorship of Thomas Schippers.   An independent arts consultant since 1991, his clients have included numerous orchestras, associations and nonprofit institutions. He is a director of the American Composers Orchestra, American Music Center, American Symphony Orchestra League, Center for Creative Resources, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Harvard Glee Club Foundation, New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players and the New Hampshire Music Festival. He and his wife, Sally, a Professor of Art History at Lehman College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, live in New York City on Manhattan's upper West Side.

Nick Webster's comments from the May 2, 2006 reception and concert by the TSO

Thanks Frank. Pleasure to be here – delighted to be invited to say a few words.

I’ve had the privilege of hearing a lot of wonderful music making all over the world and I really look forward to the music that’s just ahead for us. So I’ll be brief. But in advance, I want to add my thanks and a hearty Bravo to these wonderful musicians!

I met Frank a few months ago through the American Symphony Orchestra League, the national service organization for all American Orchestras. I have been a member of its board of directors for more than 30 years and have been involved with its work in helping orchestras help themselves. Frank had called the League for some information and counsel and we ended up on the phone together. We talked about his plan for the new TSO, I met him in New York City and we talked a lot more and then he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. It was an honor to accept his invitation to join TSO board .

I arrived in Tulsa for the first time a few hours ago and I am looking forward to seeing your City, learning about it and its people, meeting my fellow board members and  the musicians and the orchestra’s supporters and friends. This will be a busy and exciting few days for me.

Like any birth, the birth of an orchestra is a miracle; a mysterious and glorious event, but one that also can be painful. A birth engenders all kinds of expectations, hopes and dreams and the growth to maturity requires hard work; it’s a voyage full of perils and pleasures and it always takes a lot of time. Rebirth may be even more difficult. Tulsa has a rare opportunity as a community to begin this voyage of symphonic birth afresh, and to have the wisdom of experience as a guide in the creation of a stronger institution.

The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra was born out of a conviction that in partnership with its community it can bring joy to and enhance the quality of life of its community.

In my work with orchestras as a consultant, as a board member of organizations like the ASOL and as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts I have seen a lot of what is going on around the country. A few cities have seen orchestras fail and you know that pain first hand. Many orchestras are experimenting with imaginative new ways to adapt to the twenty-first century; like informal concert presentation formats, shared artistic leadership and specially targeted marketing schemes for example. The key issues that are being dealt with include community engagement and relevance, artistic excellence, The concert experience, education, technology, governance, and the need for human and material resources. There’s lots of energy being invested and the TSO will be wrestling with all these areas. 

I believe that all this activity is a very positive thing. I sense that we are entering a heady time of exciting, constructive change. We may be seeing the emergence of a new paradigm; we may be on the brink of a second golden age.

 The vision that drives the new Tulsa Symphony Orchestra is to provide music of artistic integrity; to be a meaningful collaborator in all aspects of education and the development of musical arts at all levels; and to be fully supportive of a group of gifted musicians who will bring their artistry to all they do.

What’s happening here is unique; many eyes are upon us. No one has tried to put it all together quite like this before. Few have had the opportunity of rebirth. What’s evolving here will be a model for the new paradigm. The Tulsa Symphony Orchestra may well be the first orchestra in the country, indeed the first substantial performing arts organization of any kind, that seeks to be totally involved with its community and integrally dependent upon the complete involvement of the artists that it supports. This is the concept that lights the fire in my belly.

We are on a difficult journey and we recognize that we will not accomplish our goals overnight. Our aim is high; the only limit is our collective imagination. And we need lots of help.

It is a great privilege to be part of this grand vision. We hope that you will join us.

Thank you very much.