Since I help out Via Salzburg with some of their written material – this blog, programme notes, etc. – I’ve been privy to some of the planning required to create the programme for next season. Some of you might think that creating an entire season of music for a chamber orchestra is based mostly on what the musicians want to play. “Surely,” you might say, “Mayumi just decides what she wants to play and then plays it.” Well, yes and no. Here’s how much of it works.

Yes, it does begin with Mayumi deciding which pieces to play. However, these “wants” are mediated by a number of factors. Which musicians are going to be available? If we need a pianist or other instrumentalist, which one do we use? Do we just use someone who doesn’t have a scheduling conflict? Do we have enough resources to play the music we want? Via Salzburg’s musicians have multiple commitments, and our scheduling always takes place in conjunction with the scheduling of all of the other ensembles to which our musicians are committed. For new commissions, are we going to be able to get funding for the composer? If that newly-commissioned work requires additional funding such as animation or electronic instruments, are we able to get funding to support the extra costs involved in that? Then we have to decide which pieces go in which concert and make a unified programme, because we put a lot of thought into each concert instead of simply throwing pieces together willy-nilly. In the end, all of this can be derailed at any moment by the availability of the musicians and their aforementioned scheduling difficulties.

So, once a basic programme has been decided, Mayumi, the manager, and the marketing firm toss about ideas for over-arching themes for the year so that we can have a unified image for the concert year. This involves photography shoots for the new brochure, brainstorming sessions, and a great deal of writing and back-and-forth editing so that we can get the brochure ready for the final concert of the preceding season. Eventually, after all of that, a programme is finally created and made to look as though that were the only possible combination of pieces for the year and that it took no effort on the part of anyone whatsoever.

And that is where we are right now. We are putting the final touches on the little bits like creating titles for the concerts and writing little blurbs to go into the brochure; little things that add up and take up rather a lot of time and energy. The end result, however, is a season of music that we are excited to talk about, present to you, market to the general public, and, most importantly, to play. By the time the music gets to the ears of our wonderful audience, almost as much time and energy has gone into deciding what to play as it has learning to play it. So, you see, Via Salzburg is a labour of love for everyone involved throughout the entire year, even when our instruments are silent and the Glenn Gould hall is empty. Please make sure you come to our final concert so that you can be among the first to see the presentation of our concert season for 2010/11.