Monday, June 12, 2000
Music and much more
By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — It's not your father's symphony.
In the eight years since James R. Cassidy formed the Northern Kentucky Symphony, the energetic music director has led his fast-growing orchestra down a non-traditional path.
Gone are the lean days of that first season, when the graduate of the University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music wore his coat to bed because he couldn't afford to heat his basement apartment.
But the passion and excitement of those early years continue into the maverick conductor's current 17-hour work days, as he sits in his turn-of-the-century Newport home that doubles as the symphony office, and brainstorms how to introduce newcomers to classical music.
“He has an energy level, a commitment and an enthusiasm that translates into everything the symphony does,” said Rob Craig, a lawyer who recently re-joined the Northern Kentucky Symphony's board of directors. “That enthusiasm and energy helps create a sense of ownership on the part of the audience.”
Several years ago, a Northern Kentucky Symphony audience was literally on its feet for Mr. Cassidy's “Sweatin' To the Symphony” program that combined an aerobics class with a concert.
And for Saturday's initial performance of the symphony's 2000 Concert series in Devou Park, audiences were treated to a Zesty Italian II concert featuring three Kentucky tenors.
“Just as people who do not care for football will sit down and watch the Super Bowl, people who do not care for classical music will sit down and watch the three tenors,” the 41-year-old conductor said. “It's great music that has something everybody can connect with.”
From the day Mr. Cassidy was inspired to form the symphony over a beer with a friend, the former carpenter and educator has followed three tenets in developing musical programs: make them attractive, accessible and affordable.
With the average age of the classical music audience at 60 nationwide, Mr. Cassidy maintains orchestras must constantly explore ways to appeal to younger markets if they are to sur vive.
He said the Northern Kentucky Symphony has broadened its appeal in part by forming seven diverse groups, specializing in everything from ragtime to jazz to musical arrangements from the swing era.
Another lure? Low ticket prices.
Individual subscription tickets sell for $7 to $15.
The four summer concerts and 12 annual educational programs are free, thanks to corporate sponsorships totaling just under $200,000 this season.
And unlike traditional symphonies, a Northern Kentucky concert-goer who wants to dress “in Birkenstock sandals, Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt is just as welcome as one in a coat and tie,” Mr. Cassidy said.
“It's not about great art, and it's not about dead composers,” Mr. Cassidy said of the symphony's mission. “It's about people. I don't need to preach to the 2 percent who regularly attend arts events. I'm more interested in reaching the other 98 percent.”
While some scoffed that Mr. Cassidy would dare form an orchestra just across the river from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the organization appears to have found a niche.
Besides providing employment for a number of Tristate musicians, the Northern Kentucky Symphony complements existing programming by other area orchestras, said John Morris Rus sell, associate conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.
Although appreciative that the symphony has been able to lease Northern Kentucky University's Greaves Concert Hall for many of its performances, Mr. Cassidy sometimes grows weary that many mistakenly see his organization as the NKU symphony, rather than an independent professional group that can boast more than 70 percent of its musicians hold music degrees.
Mr. Cassidy is mapping out a growth plan that includes statewide tours by the symphony's various bands, televised concerts, expanded outreach programs and construction of a mid-sized hall on the I-275 beltway that's wired for everything from concerts to lecture speakers.
On a personal level, the symphony's workaholic founder has struggled for more than three years to schedule a wedding and honeymoon with fiancee Angela Williamson, the symphony's CPA.
But professionally, things couldn't be better.
Since its premiere season, the Northern Kentucky Symphony has seen its annual budget grow from $20,000 to $450,000, and its yearly performances increase ninefold — from four to 36.
In 1996, the American Symphony Orchestra League described the Northern Kentucky Symphony as one of the fastest-growing orchestras in the nation, based on its tenfold budget increase and the fact that it had more than quintupled performances since its initial season.
Lest he get too proud, however, Mr. Cassidy need only recall an early marketing faux pas.
When he decided to mail 3,000 brochures kicking off the symphony's first season, Mr. Cassidy relied on a computerized mailing list provided by a friend employed at the Dayton, Ohio-based, IAMS pet food company.
Soon after the mailing, a recipient called Mr. Cassidy to ask why the symphony brochure was addressed to his dog.
“It turned out we sent our first mailing to dogs and cats all over Northern Kentucky,” he said with a wince. “Somehow, we recovered from that.”
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