Features: Have Cello Will Travel

The Orchestra even ran into an organized protest when it performed at Overbrook High School. One hundred black students walked out of the morning concert, but it later appeared that their protest had very little to do with the Orchestra’s appearance and more to do with internal seething at the school. Principal Leroy S. Layton said he had met with leaders of the protest and heard from them that they objected to the concert because the Orchestra maintained a racist hiring policy. When Manager Boris Sokoloff offered to meet with students to explain the Orchestra’s side of that dispute, the students switched their story and said they objected to the Orchestra’s appearance there because they hadn’t been consulted, that Layton had arranged it on his own. Faculty members felt it may have had more to do with students’ grumbling about rules regarding the use of rooms and auditoriums for their activities, and that the concerts provided an excuse to walk out showily.

At any rate, the walkout was a first for the Orchestra, and many of the players were upset at this display of disdain. Many had sent children through Overbrook or had graduated _ from the school themselves. Most agreed that it was unfortunate that one or both of the black members of the Orchestra hadn’t been along that day. After all, Renard Edwards, the black violist who joined the ensemble this year, is a graduate of Overbrook High.

Edwards was with the half of the Orchestra that appeared that same morning at Sayre Junior High School, where he received a distinguished alumnus award. His absence and that of the Orchestra’s other black member, Booker T. Rowe, only gave the dissident Overbrook students support for their position on racism in music. Some of the students who heard the morning concert came onstage to say the music held no relevance for them. It was an argument that was difficult for the players to follow. After all, they have performed on five continents and found that where languages failed, music somehow was a bridge for understanding. At Overbrook it wasn’t for a small but noisy minority.

Elsewhere, experiences varied. The part of the Orchestra that played at Vaux Junior High School helped dedicate an auditorium named for Martin Luther King, and came away with a plaque marking the event. Students greeted the musicians with welcoming signs, and listened intently to the program and the student soloist.

Most players called the series of school concerts exhilarating and talked at length with students after the performances. At Overbrook, 40 pupils who had heard the morning concert asked to stay after their school day had ended to hear a second performance and in spite of the protest, the Orchestra members began to talk of its mission to reach young people, to build new audiences.

Missionary zeal is not enough to sustain this kind of concert program, though. The in-school concert idea has prospered in smaller cities because the local orchestras have needed ways of filling the year’s schedule and government and private funds not available for just plain concerts have been for concerts tied in with education.

In Philadelphia. the problem is finding holes in the Orchestra’s schedule where a school concert can be worked in. The whole program was compressed into three days this year and reached between 12,000 and 15,000 listeners. The regularly scheduled student and children’s concerts at the Academy are heard by double that number each season.

Another problem is that to be effective, the program should be frequent and regular, and continuity is costly. Boris Sokoloff, the Orchestra manager, said, "The National Foundation is I project oriented. Sure, we could dream up new projects to attract funds, but what we need is money to maintain a continuing program."

The positive reaction of Orchestra management has strong support from within the city school music staff, which feels that music is being slighted and downgraded in the public schools.

Coming out of the ivory tower and into swirling community issues seems to have been good for everyone. Both players and administrators found they liked the excitement. One violinist said of the experience that it was rather like being a senator back from Washington and finding yourself enjoying campaigning, shaking hands, getting to know the constituency.

The Orchestra obviously still had a lot to learn about how to reach out to its public, but in spite of some initial setbacks, they’ve scented the possibility of a successful campaign and they seem to be committed to seeing it through.