+Born in 1949 in Springfield, Massachusetts, THOMAS F. PARKER is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. From 1972 to 1974, he was Special Producer and music director of WTIC-FM in Hartford, Connecticut, winning the prestigious Edwin H. Armstrong Award, administered by the Columbia University School of Journalism. In 1974, he moved to New York City to begin a career in artistic management, and, during the following sixteen years, was associated with Colbert Artists Management, Sheldon Soffer Management, and Shaw Concerts, serving the last firm as Vice President. In the fall of 1990, he established his own firm, Parker Artists.

+ Thomas F. Parker has given workshops and seminars for The Juilliard School, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, Aspen Music School, New England Conservatory, Concert Artists Guild, New England Foundation for the Arts, and Connecticut Commission on the Arts, has been a panelist for Chamber Music America and the First American Classical Guitar Congress, and served on juries for Affiliate Artists, the Third Arturo Toscanini International Competition for conductors in Parma, Italy and New Choreographers On Point. In recognition of his services to Israel’s Campus Orchestra, he was elected in the summer of 1994 a Charter Member of that ensemble’s International Honorary Committee.

+ He has twice been honored by his alma mater: In 1987, he was named the first recipient of the "Distinguished Alumnus in the Arts" award, presented by the Department of Music and Dance; in 1988, in observance of the University of Massachusetts' 125th Anniversary, he was selected as a winner of the "125 Alumni to Watch" award.

Virtuoso duo to grace Duke stage
By: Amy Bugno, Staff Writer
Issue date: 9/29/06 Section: Arts

Tom Parker, of Parker Artists, a music management firm in New York City, knows a good thing when he hears it.

Such was the case when he suggested that two of his signed artists - clarinetist Jon Manasse and pianist Jon Nakamatsu - join forces and collaborate on a musical journey in December 2004.

Nearly two years later, after many rehearsals, performances and even an album recording, the duo will bring a variety of musical stylings to the stage Saturday at Duke University's Reynolds Theater for the second stop on their four-city fall tour.

Parker said the two artists clicked during their very first meeting, amazing an audience in Boston after only three days of rehearsal.

"It was as if they had played together for years and years," he said. "It usually takes quite a while for two different artists to get to the point where they sound like a unified duo instead of two talented people playing together, but they did this immediately.

"Their personalities are like twins," he added. "It's almost as if they knew each other in a past life."

Manasse agrees that he and Nakamatsu collaborate well musically.

"It just seems to get better and better, and it's a great match," he said. "It's just a great experience to share that kind of music-making with someone who you get along with so well."

The tour is the first extended outing Manasse and Nakamatsu have played together.

The two-hour concert will consist of five pieces, including a solo piece for each artist, and the world premiere of John Novacek's "Three Rags," which was written especially for them.

Nakamatsu said he enjoys being the first to play Novacek's latest piece, even though it is a challenge.

"It's difficult but it's really rewarding," he said. "When you're working with a new composer, whose body of works you may not know, it's difficult because there isn't necessarily a tradition of playing that style, so really you're creating it on the spot." But working with a living composer is nice because you can e-mail him questions about the score if you don't understand, which you really can't do with Beethoven," he added, laughing.

Manasse said the first performance of this piece, which took place Tuesday in Charlottesville, Va., was a definite success.

"The audience went nuts over it - as we expected - because the composer is so brilliant," he said. "(Novacek's) pieces are just an enormous amount of fun to play and to listen to, and it's a great feeling to bring something new into the world."

Also included in the program is the first piece the duo ever rehearsed together, Brahms' "Clarinet Sonata in E flat Major, Op. 120 No. 2," which Parker said is equally challenging for both instrumentalists.

"This is a duo recital, which doesn't mean just two people playing together, or one accompanying the other," he said. "The music for both artists is equally demanding and equally important."

Manasse said the two worked together to come up with a set list that would please all types of audience members, and leave them with a happy and light feeling.

"We wanted to create a program that would show a variety of styles, and basically there's something for everyone on this program," he said.

"It would be very difficult for anyone to not enjoy these pieces, regardless of what kind of music they prefer."


ORIGINAL LETTER OF MAY 14, 2003
SUBMITTED TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
(edited for length and published May 19, 2003)

To the Editor,

As an artists manager for 29 years, I was deeply saddened to read of the latest crop of American symphony orchestra failures and crises ["As Funds Disappear, So Do Orchestras"], rumors of which my colleagues and I hear on a weekly basis.

Over the years, I have often seen deservedly rising musician wages, bloated front office staffs and salaries, and sky-rocketing guest "star" artists fees all contribute to the bottom line problem, which has different set of causative variables in every locality.

As every orchestra, large and small, has tried to determine what "community outreach" should mean in its community, one bedrock element is often overlooked: The reason a symphony orchestra exists is so that live performances of a wide variety of music written specifically for its artistic forces can be presented to an interested public. It demeans the entire organization to try to sell more tickets, based solely on popular classical repertoire or guest artists. If the symphony orchestra, in and of itself, is not considered an important and attractive local entity, inspiring support and attendance, then it will wither and become ever more irrelevant to its community's needs.

Any organization's first responsibility is to perpetuate its own existence. But, if its offerings are not highly regarded in, and sought after by, its community, all efforts to prop up its financial underpinnings will ultimately be wasted. For American orchestras the beginning of a solution lies in returning to a basic concept: Perform the most meaningful music - old and new - at the highest level of artistic achievement possible. Otherwise, it is all PR.

Thomas F. Parker

WHERE ARE THE YOUNG CONDUCTORS?
EVERYWHERE - JUST LOOK AROUND!
+
By Thomas F. Parker
August 1, 2001
+
+On June 24, 2001, The New York Times published a heartening article on the work of the National Conducting Institute and its collaboration with the American Symphony Orchestra League's Orchestra Leadership Academy. Implicit in the "story behind the story" is the idea that there is a dearth of talented and well trained young American conductors. This is a refrain I have been hearing for most of my quarter century in New York City's classical music business, first as an artist's representative, later as a manager. I do not believe it to be true.

+In my view, we are now in the midst of a Golden Age of young American conducting talent. The reasons are multiple and varied, but include everything from the artists' early experiences as members of better and better youth orchestras to an expansion over the past generation of the number and quality of conducting teachers and mentors, as well as more and more orchestras (regardless of size or budget) to be conducted. And these young conducting artists are incredibly self-motivated: While an instrumentalist or vocalist can always refine technique or expand repertoire in his or her studio, a conductor needs a podium for growth; so it is no longer surprising to note how many young conductors's resumes reveal that they have founded chamber orchestras or new music ensembles, creating for themselves the opportunities to learn and hone their craft from actual rehearsal and performance experiences.

+Why (should they have to do this)?

+For many years now, the arts business has been more about celebrity than artistry. We all know this, but we prefer not to mention it. More and more frequently, orchestras' artistic decisions (at least the ones that directly interface with the public) are relentlessly driven by marketing decisions. Colleagues my age and older can remember the days when a new season of programs, soloists and guest conductors was drawn up, approved and turned over to the orchestra's promotional department to be "sold." If there were any doubts by the "marketers" that there would be a problem in successfully promoting and selling this season, they would be replaced with those who could do the job. Now, we function solidly in an age when the music director will be told to revise plans because, as the season - or a given program - is constituted, it just will not sell.

+The "what" of what will not sell is usually one or more of three components: repertoire, conductor, soloist. Too often, this results in the quick fix of falling back on standard repertoire and engaging guest conductors or soloists who are household names and instantly recognizable. This does a grave disservice to two types of music-lovers - the loyal supporters of the orchestra, who attend concerts with frequency and devotion, and the potential first-time ticket buyer, who may not know Beethoven from Bartok or a superstar personality from a debut artist, but could favorably react to on-going promotion of and by the local orchestra as a purveyor of events both culturally stimulating and socially exciting. But it does even more harm to those artists of the younger generation, eager to share with a music-loving public what they can offer as developing masters of a body of repertoire, old and new. (And I have not even touched on how the reliance on established "names" impacts budgets and development imperatives!)

+All of this to say that most of our orchestras (regardless of size or historic cultural importance and influence) seek out music directors who will "sell" the organizations' products: Concerts, whether the high-profile public masterworks and Pops programs or the lesser-known educational packages to school systems, chamber music concerts by orchestra members, or regional run-out performances. This leaves precious few slots in any season's schedule to offer worthy young artists debuts and re-engagements. It also means that so much of the available time of any orchestra's artistic administration is committed to a formulaic approach to programming that it can be virtually impossible to bring new conducting talent to the serious attention of those making the decisions. When it works best, respected artist management or representation is able to cut through the deluge of unsolicited suggestions, presskits and recordings and secure consideration of particular artists. And, while I join my manager-colleagues in welcoming all appropriate invitations for our artists' employment, I know from personal experience that a solid "maybe, he/she is interesting" from a major orchestra is potentially just as important to an artist's long-term career as a signed contract for any engagement from a smaller orchestra. But back to my original assertion that we are living in a Golden Age of young American conducting talent. ( Let me preface the following remarks by emphasizing that the situations and experiences I describe are not unique to conductors under my representation; indeed, I know both artists and managers at other firms who have first-hand knowledge of the same phenomena.) My firm now represents 13 conductors, all in the age range of 35 to 48. As several of these artists have been with me for over five years, I can confidently assert that they all qualified as "young American conducting talent" when we first associated. As their guest conducting and music director opportunities grew, they proved themselves deserving of the professional attention. Some became music directors of orchestras that were either in the doldrums or poised for explosive growth. In each case, the conductors fulfilled their expanded rolls as music directors - off as well as on the podium! - resulting in more energized orchestras that played better-prepared and more exciting performances. These attracted larger audiences and positive reviews which, in turn, drew more donors and, often, the interest of community leaders to provide the orchestra with better facilities. This sequence results in a higher-quality pool of musicians auditioning for the orchestras....getting us back to even better-prepared and performed concerts that continue this upward spiral of excellence. But, even with the documentation of the conductors' input into these exciting developments, the national business imposes a glass ceiling, making it virtually certain that they do not rise to primary positions with the majors. Many of my conductors do frequently work as guest conductors with the major orchestras, usually leading children's, Pops or parks concerts. And, even though their work is admired by both the musicians and administrations of these orchestras AND are invited back for additional programs, they are rarely offered the holy grail of a set of subscription concerts. Again: Why? Hint: celebrity vs. artistry.

+Think also of Music Director Search Committees: When is the last time anyone heard that one of these committees had not received enough interesting and qualified submissions? Typically, orchestras receive 150-200 applications for every announced search. The conductors on my list are often among the finalists for several searches each season. When my office has been fortunate enough to have had more than one finalist conductor in a search, I have actually received phone calls from committee chairpersons, asking if I would rank one higher than another, because his or her committee was having a difficult time making a decision. While I always decline the chance to influence the committee against any of my conductors, I do take the opportunity to remind them that having a surfeit of acceptable talent is a blessing, a good thing - really!

+Besides being numerous and qualified, the young American conductors of today are excited, committed and dedicated, when it comes to the extra-podium elements of music directorships. Most of the ones I know are ready to pack their bags, scores, recordings and concert clothes and move to cities whose orchestras would welcome them as music directors. They can't wait to stand in front of Rotary and Lions audiences, visit schools, radio/television stations and newspaper offices, testify before municipal and state committees on funding for the arts and education, and help with the orchestra's fund-raising activities - as well as staying alert for possible new auditioners for the orchestra, studying repertoire for up-coming programs, investigating scores and tapes of new New Music, planning for commissions, being aware of rising talent for soloists, programming new seasons or series and generally being Booster-in-Chief for the orchestra. All, I might add, in addition to rehearsing and leading concerts!

+The young American conductors I have been describing so enthusiastically also leave their marks in another significant way. In working from a "non-celebrity" base, their orchestras are the immediate and enduring beneficiaries of their locally focused talent and energy. Artistic excellence, community enrichment and fond memories of exciting nights at The Symphony add up to a pretty stunning legacy.

+With all of the purveyers of doom and gloom for the classical music business often attracting the lion's share of media coverage, I think we all should be excited about the existence of such a large pool of young American conducting talent, ready, willing and able to serve and lead.
Just give them the chance!

© 2001 by Thomas F. Parker