The Orchestration of Civil Society: Community and Conscience in Symphony Orchestras

This article explores the symphony orchestra's potential to contribute to the making of civil society. It highlights orchestral attempts to reach new communities through repertoire choices, outreach projects, interactive digital technologies, and initiatives addressing poverty and environmentalism. Metaphors of the 'orchestra as society', which have been shaped by notions of social relations, are outlined to provide a platform for considering the institution as a social agent in the contemporary world. The social conscience of symphony orchestras is illustrated with ethnographic case studies mainly from the British context: the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra's tribute concerts for the qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and the 'Rafi Resurrected' recordings, the London Symphony Orchestra Gamelan community project and the Philharmonia Orchestra's digital project, 'Re-Rite'. Orchestral advocacy and the quest for contemporary social relevance stand in contrast to pessimistic views in the late twentieth century on the future of the orchestra as a musical institution. Key concerns are the symphony orchestra as a socio-political actor, orchestral interaction as a mode of civic collaboration and orchestral participatory projects.