VOA标准英语2012--Conductor Courts Diverse Audiences

 

Conductor Courts Diverse Audiences

Morgan believes introducing music to young students is key to attracting more people of color to classical music. He knows firsthand. By the time he reached third grade, knowing he wanted to be a conductor, Morgan started taking piano lessons. His parents nurtured¹ his interest.

"My father was very active in the schools when my sister and I were in public schools in Washington D.C.," Morgan says. "Both of my parents were seeing to it that those schools were as good as those schools could be, including getting a lot of music education through the schools. And if you go to a lot of symphony orchestras, I think most of the people in them started in a public school somewhere."

However, at many public schools today, budget cuts have reduced or eliminated music programs. But it remains² a high priority for Morgan.

Under his leadership, the Oakland East Bay Symphony allocates³ one-third of its budget to music education and brings orchestral music to thousands of children in local schools. When he's not conducting, Morgan devotes much of his spare time visiting schools and talking to students.

"I love dealing⁴ with middle school, high school, and even elementary school musicians whenever I can," he says. "It's just something I have always liked to do. I find it so rewarding to watch the kids learn, watch their faces when they get something right. I just consider it part of my job and do it whenever I can."

Morgan is also working to attract diverse audiences to Oakland's concerts. 

To that end, he has expanded the orchestra’s repertoire⁵ and collaborated⁶ with musicians outside the classical realm, including from the world of jazz, rock, Afro-Cuban and even electronica.

"My idea has always been to play the unusual music next to the standard repertory that orchestras play all the time, not just because of the contrasts and the comparisons you can make between the new and the old, the familiar and the unfamiliar⁷, but also because the audiences for the different kinds of musics will be brought together into the same room to watch concerts. So it's very conscious community building."

Filipino jazz pianist Victor Noriega recently made his Oakland symphony debut⁸, after Morgan commissioned him to compose his first symphonic work for the orchestra. It's part of Morgan's effort to connect with diverse communities. He has programmed concerts featuring musicians and original works from Iran, China, Armenia and the Philippines.

"It's very important to me that we use the Oakland East Bay Symphony to pull this diverse fractious community together, because to me, that's a major public good that a symphony orchestra can do beyond Beethoven, Brahms, and the other people we play all the time."

Morgan's efforts at inclusion and community building are starting to make a difference. Audiences for the Oakland East Bay Symphony are now more ethnically⁹ diverse than those in many other cities. Next season, Morgan is planning programs highlighting musicians from India and the Middle East.

1 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 allocates   

分配，分派( allocate的第三人称单数 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• The state allocates huge funds for the development of aid-agriculture industries. 国家拨出大批资金，发展支农工业。
• The value that then I create value allocates part to discuss. 于是我把价值创造的价值分配分别开来论述。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 repertoire   

n.(准备好演出的)节目，保留剧目；(计算机的)指令表，指令系统， <美>(某个人的)全部技能；清单，指令表

参考例句：

• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。
• He has added considerably to his piano repertoire.他的钢琴演奏曲目大大增加了。

6 collaborated   

合作( collaborate的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• We have collaborated on many projects over the years. 这些年来我们合作搞了许多项目。
• We have collaborated closely with the university on this project. 我们与大学在这个专案上紧密合作。

7 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

8 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

9 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句