Letter to the Charlotte Observer--Symphony Orchestra

The letter presented below was submitted to the Observer on May 10. 2009:

To the Editor:

For citizens of all stripes who work hard to build and sustain a community to be proud of, a community to try to have be, the model if not the envy of other like communities, nothing can poison the water more than citizen attitudes such as expressed in a letter appearing in the Forum today, a letter which in effect "disses" the very notion of a city and its citizenry lending financial support to its symphony orchestra.No symphony orchestra, no opera company, no arts organization of a any kind, anywhere in the world, can be sustained though ticket revenue alone. It has been tried, over and over again, and it just can't be done. Every one of them must rely to some extent on philanthropy, and on the community at large--and not just on those who attend the concerts and visit the museums. The Rolling Stones themselves, mentioned by the writer, understand the economics of what they do and what arts organizations do, and would be the first to reject and laugh at the suggestion that they, or any group like them, be thought of as similar to or a suitable substitute for, a community's symphony orchestra.

Yours truly, Bernie Hargadon