US Aspen Festival の混迷

アメリカ・コロラド州の伝統ある Aspen Festival がMore Twists and Turns で迷走しているようです． 

事の直接のキッカケは，第1に，the corporation of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, made up mostly of the board of trustees and the faculty, rendered a vote of no confidence in the festival’s president and chief executive, Alan Fletcher, in April,　にあります．

その不信任が次には簡単に覆されたのです．on Monday, at a special meeting of the board. For one, Mr. LeBuhn （then the board chairman) was voted out after a year in office and immediately stepped down. For another, Mr. Fletcher had his contract extended for two years, through September 2012. と情勢が逆転したのです．

It was merely the latest in a series of dizzying swings of fortune for Mr. Fletcher. He was fired by the executive committee of the board last October and rehired by the full board in November.
という逆転がまた繰りかえされたのです．

肝心のFestival を脇に置いて権力闘争が続いている状況です．Aspen, one of the most important teaching festivals in the country, and Mr. Fletcher’s main antagonists seem to be members of the faculty. Mr. Fletcher has dealt with the 61-year-old festival’s specific needs, including serious maintenance problems on an aging campus, and the general economic malaise partly by scaling down the program. The season this summer has been cut back from nine weeks to eight; the number of students has been reduced, as has the size of the faculty, with 11 jobs lost after strenuous negotiations.

そして，After the simmering contention of last fall, matters came to a full boil in April when David Zinman, the music director, resigned, strongly criticizing Mr. Fletcher for the faculty cuts.

Mike Murray, the former vice chairman, who on Monday was named acting chairman. So a group of 18 trustees called the special meeting of the full board to address the situation.

Mr. Fletcher acknowledged that he had fences to mend but said that he hoped to develop support based on the fact that all parties “love the organization.” He is continuing the search for a new music director, and the festival season opens on July 1.

“We need to be very careful as we get through this season,” Mr. Murray said. “That’s a hope.”　
という表現は，現状の厳しさを現わしていると思われます．

小澤征爾が Tanglewood ひいてはBoston Symphony を追われるキッカケになったのは，Tanglewood の Teaching programe の有名 faculties が次々と去ったことにあったことが思い起こされます．

日本でもそうですが，どこでも音楽産業の見難さは目に余るモノがあります．

 

 

Even More Twists and Turns for Aspen Festival

By JAMES R. OESTREICH         Published: June 8, 2010 

When the corporation of the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado, made up mostly of the board of trustees and the faculty, rendered a vote of no confidence in the festival’s president and chief executive, Alan Fletcher, in April, Rob LeBuhn, then the board chairman, said, “We will only know what the practical effects are later.”

Some of those effects became clearer on Monday, at a special meeting of the board. For one, Mr. LeBuhn was voted out after a year in office and immediately stepped down. For another, Mr. Fletcher had his contract extended for two years, through September 2012.

It was merely the latest in a series of dizzying swings of fortune for Mr. Fletcher. He was fired by the executive committee of the board last October and rehired by the full board in November.

“I hope this is a climactic step,” Mr. Fletcher said from Aspen on Tuesday. “It seems to be one. The board has always supported me. It is a curiosity that we have two governing organs, the board and the corporation.”

But the board has the power to hire and fire, and the corporation’s April vote had no binding effect. “It was a ceremonial vote,” Mr. Fletcher said, “not an active vote.”

Still, it is clear that fault lines run deep at Aspen, one of the most important teaching festivals in the country, and Mr. Fletcher’s main antagonists seem to be members of the faculty. Mr. Fletcher has dealt with the 61-year-old festival’s specific needs, including serious maintenance problems on an aging campus, and the general economic malaise partly by scaling down the program. The season this summer has been cut back from nine weeks to eight; the number of students has been reduced, as has the size of the faculty, with 11 jobs lost after strenuous negotiations.

After the simmering contention of last fall, matters came to a full boil in April when David Zinman, the music director, resigned, strongly criticizing Mr. Fletcher for the faculty cuts.

Many board members seem to have felt that Mr. Fletcher was being castigated for steps that they found reasonable. “There were people who felt that Alan, despite his strengths and weaknesses, was not getting adequate support from the board,” said Mike Murray, the former vice chairman, who on Monday was named acting chairman. So a group of 18 trustees called the special meeting of the full board to address the situation.

Mr. Fletcher acknowledged that he had fences to mend but said that he hoped to develop support based on the fact that all parties “love the organization.” He is continuing the search for a new music director, and the festival season opens on July 1.

“We need to be very careful as we get through this season,” Mr. Murray said. “That’s a hope.”