Self-Governing Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Has Broader Lessons to Offer, Says Banking and Civic Leader John Whitehead

	Orpheus Chamber Orchestra gave a gala concert Thursday at the Metropolitan Club.

Orchestras around the country are feeling the pain of the downturn, but Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has an edge: it has operated without a conductor for 35 years.

In the self-governing orchestra, musicians share and rotate leadership roles. For each work, members of the orchestra select the concertmaster and the principal players for each section.

“It’s very fun for us because we’re more involved and more responsible,” said violinist Adela Pena – who’s been playing music since she was 4 years old, and is a founding member of Eroica Trio – at the orchestra’s gala concert Thursday at the Metropolitan Club.

It makes for good music, and a good business model, as esteemed New Yorker John Whitehead can attest.

“An orchestra without a leader where the musicians are listening to each other makes better music,” said Mr. Whitehead, who turned 87 on April 2, and whose past jobs include chairman of Goldman Sachs and of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Listening to each other? Not relying on a leader? Could banks find Orpheus’s model instructive? “Yes, there’s a lesson to be learned there more broadly,” Mr. Whitehead said. For example: “The loyalty of the musicians working for low wages is remarkable,” he said. Alas, we didn’t hear more because his wife hooked his arm and swept him away to get a good seat for the concert, featuring mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves and works by Gluck, Sidney Homer, and Samuel Barber.

But Mrs. Whitehead’s determination at that moment demonstrated another important quality of the orchestra. “We have an extremely loyal group of supporters,” the orchestra’s executive director, Graham Parker, said. “They come every year; they tell us this gala is one of their must-attend events.” The gala also brings in new faces that Mr. Parker cultivates during the year. The event on Thursday had 210 guests and raised $450,000, which is 10% of its annual budget. Trustee Dr. Sarah Leibowitz, a neurobiologist, and her husband Dr. Martin Leibowitz, were the honorees.

The orchestra isn’t counting on loyalty alone when it comes to selling tickets for its performances at Carnegie Hall. To celebrate the world premiere of a Ned Rorem commission for mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, “11 Songs for Season,” at a May 11 performance, the orchestra is offering tickets as low as $25. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra trustee Simon Yates and his partner Kevin Roon are sponsoring the cleverly named “Seats for a Song” promotion, which is available until May 1 at www.seatsforasong.org, a Web site that also includes notes on all the songs.

The orchestra is building the marketing campaign for next season — which starts October 8 with a concert featuring violinist Janine Jansen — around the idea of music as an escape. “We’ll be emphasizing that music is fun, just come and enjoy yourself and feel a part of it and feel connected to it,” Mr. Parker said.

Just at that moment, the musicians began descending the glorious staircase of the Metropolitan Club while playing their instruments, filling the gilded marble room with music. There was joy in those light steps.

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RELATED: Read past reviews of Orpheus by New York critics.

A Stupendous Series Opener By Jay Nordlinger – October 25, 2007 - The New York Sun

A Bonnie Wee Show By Jay Nordlinger – March 30, 2006 - The New York Sun

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