This orchestra wants no conductor: How Kaleidoscope aims to move in different directions
By Rick Schultz
Los Angeles Times, February 13, 2019
Does an orchestra need a conductor? For clarinetist Benjamin Mitchell, founder of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, the answer is a resounding no.
Sometimes a conductor can even create an invisible barrier between the players and their audience, he said.
"The conductor is usually the face of an orchestra", Mitchell said, "but each musician having an equal say in the artistic process brings extra energy to the music".
In Kaleidoscope's five seasons, connecting with the audience has been key, said Mitchell, 38, who didn't want the group to be perceived as stuffy or overly formal – black performance attire notwithstanding. Hence the ensemble's name, which evokes a colorful kids toy while suggesting music's many colors and L.A. as a vibrant, culturally diverse city.
Last season Kaleidoscope performed late-night concerts in downtown L.A. that included a full bar, food trucks, dancing and a post-concert DJ playing electronic music past midnight.
"The idea was to make the concert experience inviting so the audience feels invested and part of what we're doing", Mitchell said.
Three years ago, the ensemble gave free concerts in Whole Foods stores in exchange for food donations for homeless shelters. This season 75% of its concerts are free.
Mitchell said the ensemble sustains itself largely on donations and a pay-what-you-can model. Only 4% of its concerts are ticketed, though that does factor in performances at schools and hospitals. Two other upcoming shows – one at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on Feb. 23 and another at the Musco Center for the Arts at Chapman University in Orange the next afternoon – will be ticketed events with a program consisting of Caroline Shaw's "Entr'acte", Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.3 and Beethoven's Symphony No.5.
The concerts usually run 60 to 90 minutes with no intermission. Aside from the cellists, musicians stand while performing, creating a sense of an orchestra always in motion. Performers have ranged in age from 17 to late 60s.
Mitchell said he was inspired by the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1972 in New York. That ensemble became known for bringing a chamber-like intimacy and detail to orchestral works.
"Many musicians say that chamber music is their first love", Mitchell said. "Not just for the great repertoire, but also for the process. In Kaleidoscope we take that democratic process and apply it to all repertoire, even large pieces like a Mahler symphony."
Kaleidoscope is nominally run by seven musicians who act as artistic directors, but all the musicians potentially have a say in how a score is interpreted and performed. Interpretive decisions, including the shaping of tricky balances or odd shifts in tempo, become a team effort during rehearsals.
For Rachel Fine, the Wallis' executive director, Kaleidoscope is re-imagining what a concert can be while dynamically advocating for young musicians and composers.
"They are lending themselves to a level of collaboration that most orchestras don't have", Fine said.
One of Kaleidoscope's most successful ventures so far has been its call for scores. The artistic team received 2,200 submissions last year from composers in 76 countries. Ten pieces were programmed as part of the ensemble's season.
Mitchell said Kaleidoscope chooses new works carefully because some are "less practical to do without a conductor". Almost three-quarters of Kaleidoscope's programming this season is by living composers.
Irene Kim, one of Kaleidoscope's artistic directors and featured soloist in Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.3, said the group's more democratic approach to larger-scaled orchestral works can pay big dividends.
"The Prokofiev concerto is usually played too fast", Kim said. "He was a master orchestrator, but textures and timbres can get lost. In Kaleidoscope, we let the orchestra players bring out the fascinating peculiarities of their parts."
The collaborative, artistic side of music always comes first.
"To not have any say can be stifling", Mitchell said. "We certainly don't always agree, but the real danger is if someone has a different idea but can't articulate it, because you need to have a conversation."
Sometimes, Mitchell added, a shared vision arises out of necessity.
"Everyone takes equal responsibility for the product. We don't have a conductor to blame."
Source: latimes.com
Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra: About
Vision. We envision a world where our commitment to a collaborative artistic process results in profound orchestral performances that inspire people to pursue cooperation and artistry in their own creative, professional and personal lives.
Mission. Kaleidoscope is a conductorless chamber orchestra dedicated to enriching lives through exhilarating concert experiences, artistic excellence, musician leadership, and connecting with the diverse communities of Los Angeles.
Core Values
• We believe that our collective of musicians has ideas that are worthy of respect and consideration; that each member has a voice worth hearing; that every person, given the chance and tools, can help to create great art.
• We believe that pursuing a democratic process within the orchestra will improve the quality of the performance, fulfill the collective vision of the ensemble, and create a unique experience not found in traditional orchestras.
• We believe in developing an infrastructure that supports, empowers, and values its musicians.
• We believe in bringing our performances and artistic process to audiences who have little or no exposure to symphonic music with the belief that the experience will enrich the lives of both the audience and the performers.
Artistic Intent. We perform orchestral music that speaks profoundly to our community and is both representative of its time and timeless, whether written today or centuries ago. We stretch the boundaries for what is thought possible without a conductor, both by musicians and audiences, to allow us all to grow through the process. We regularly collaborate with living composers because their music represents our time. We design programs that explore less conventional concert experiences and allow audiences to feel more personally connected to music and the musicians who perform it.
Community Engagement and Education. Kaleidoscope is committed to music education for all ages and is happy to offer a "pay what you can" model to eliminate the barrier of a set ticket price. We want everyone in Los Angeles to have the opportunity to experience great classical music in person by a professional orchestra, think about what that experience means, and pay what makes them happy. We also perform many additional free concerts in schools, hospitals, shelters, and other underserved parts of our community.
We recently started a music education program at a title I elementary school in Culver City, providing music instruction to 200 students each week. With additional funding, we are planning to expand this program to other grades and other schools in the future. Not only do we want every child in Los Angeles to love listening to music, we want every child to have the opportunity to read, play, and write music, too.
Source: kco.la
More photos
See also
Yuan-Chen Li: “Wandering Viewpoint”, Concerto for Solo Cello and Two Ensembles – Michael Kaufman, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Samuel Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915 – Maria Valdes, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Leoš Janáček: Mládí (Youth), suite for wind sextet – Members of the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Olivier Messiaen: L'Ascension, 4 meditations for orchestra – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.6 in F major "Pastoral" – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No.1 in D major "Classical" – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No.4 in G major – Janai Brugger, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.7 in A major – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending – William Hagen, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No.39 in E flat major – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Sergei Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.3 in C major – Irene Kim, Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No.5 in C minor – Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra (HD 1080p)
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