Do we take the National Symphony Orchestra for granted? Anyone who witnessed the reaction of a packed National Concert Hall last week to the band's electrifying performance, under the baton of outgoing principal conductor Kasper de Roo, of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in the opening concert of the orchestra golden jubilee season would have to answer that question in the negative.
A symphony concert every Friday night, however, is a luxury most city dwellers don't even dwell upon. But what if the NSOI visited the NCH only twice a year, which is the quota of symphony concerts currently on offer to those who live in certain other cities in this State?
I know, I know, it's an unfair comparison, and it excludes the RTE Concert Orchestra and the youth orchestras and various other touring ensembles. Nevertheless, if you live in Galway or Waterford two NSOI concerts a year is your lot - which makes the twice-yearly orchestral tours, sponsored by The Irish Times and RTE, very special occasions indeed for music-lovers in those cities.
Eric Sweeney is chairman of the Symphony Club of Waterford, which is run from the music department of Waterford Institute of Technology. "The club started 10 years ago when it promoted one concert by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra," he says. "Now we promote seven concerts a year. We have a membership of 300, and our audiences at the moment are averaging about 500 - which we have built up ourselves from just over half that number."
Audiences for the Waterford concerts are drawn, says Eric Sweeney, not just from the city but from the counties around - Wexford, Tipperary, Carlow and Cork. So how important does he feel it is for music in Ireland to have the NSOI tour outside Dublin? "I think it's vitally important," he says. "We've proved that there are audiences outside Dublin for orchestral concerts, and we have a very healthy mix of ages and types of people who come to the concerts - they're not seen as a middle-class thing at all. Of course we get great support from the music students at the college, so there is always a good number of young people," he adds.
Sally Coyle of Music for Galway also emphasises the importance of live music for long-term audience building. "There's no comparison between recordings and the buzz of 90 musicians warming up," she says. "We want to spread that buzz around, and we work hard to extend our audience into different areas - we particularly encourage school groups to come, for instance, because quite apart from the music and the professionalism of the musicians, just watching them on tour is amazing - they're just such a smart operation, and nothing could explain how well the whole thing works except to be there."
To this end Music for Galway runs a "Young Friends" programme which ensures that at least two teenagers are involved in the organisation of each music event. "They see the hard work that goes into every single concert, and meet the musicians," explains Sally Coyle. "The point is to make going to concerts a little bit cool for teenagers."
The NSOI has played in Galway every year but one since Music for Galway was founded in 1981. "We often ask ourselves if it's worth it - and then you see the audience coming out on a high, and you know the answer," says Sally Coyle. "I don't know how to say this without sounding effusive, but our audiences are so grateful for the consistently high standard of the orchestra. That's something which we hear a lot, after concerts. There may be a feeling abroad that because it's our NSOI we take it for granted. We don't."
The Irish Times/NSOI tour begins at the National Concert Hall on Friday, November 21st, and moves to Galway (November 25th), Limerick (26th), Cork on (27th) and Waterford (28th). Kasper de Roo will conduct the overture to Rossini's The Barber Of Seville, Chopin's second piano concerto with Miceal O'Rourke as soloist, Brian Boydell's Masai Mara and Mendelssohn's Symphony No 4.
NSOI Principal Horn Lesley Bishop plays in the NCH on Friday
