Musical chemistry

MARK SWED is correct in saying that retaining a symphony audience is about chemistry and making a resonant connection [“Time to Get on the Stick,” Aug. 14].

For the last two years, I have been attending marvelous sold-out concerts of the California Philharmonic at Disney Hall, Ambassador Auditorium and the Festival on the Green at the arboretum, where tickets sell out to upward of 5,000. At each of these events thousands of listeners laugh, cry and applaud maestro Victor Vener and his wonderful orchestra. So I believe that not only I but thousands of others here in Southern California have personally witnessed this “chemistry and making a resonant connection” Swed speaks of. And many of those thousands have been witnessing this for up to 10 years now!

Vener offers a wonderful mix of classics and contemporary music with relevant and often humorous history and education offered before each piece.

NANCY KIRKPATRICK

Pasadena

*

I certainly concur with Trevor O’Donnell [Letters, Aug. 21] in response to Mark Swed’s article on America’s top symphony orchestras. Marketing is key. Georg Solti’s ability to sell the Chicago Symphony to that city and to the world was every bit as important as his qualifications as a conductor, which made this body of musicians so famous and successful. For every great orchestra there is a great support organization of marketing professionals who connect the talent to its audience.

HAL TRUSCHKE

San Diego