The Effects of a Major Disaster on the Musical Life
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MUSI 462: ADVANCED WORLD MUSIC THE EFFECTS OF A MAJOR DISASTER ON THE MUSICAL LIFE OF A CITY By: Andrew Moore Student No. 63984601 Paper submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of Bachelor of Music with Honours University of Canterbury October, 2011. Supervisor: Elaine Dobson TABLE OF CONTENTS Page no. Introduction Chapter 1 The Earthquakes. 1 Chapter 2 The Loss of Performance Venues. 6 2.1 City venues after 4 September, 2010. 7 2.1.1 City venues after 22 February, 2011. 11 2.2 Suburban venues. 14 Chapter 3 Alternative Venues: The Financial Effects. 20 Chapter 4 The National Scene: The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra 23 4.1 September, 2010- February 2011. 24 4.2 After February, 2011. 24 Chapter 5 The Christchurch Orchestral Scene: Rehearsal Spaces and Other Logistical Difficulties: 28 5.1.1 Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, 4 September, 2010. 28 5.1.2 Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, 22 February, 2011. 28 5.2 Risingholme Orchestra. 30 5.3 Garden City Symphony Orchestra. 32 5.4 Canterbury Philharmonia Amateur Symphony Orchestra. 33 5.5 Orchestra of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. 33 5.6 University of Canterbury Gamelan. 34 Chapter 6 The Christchurch School of Music and its Associated 37 Organisations (including the Christchurch Youth Orchestra). 6.1 Christchurch School of Music. 37 6.2 Christchurch Youth Orchestra. 40 Chapter 7 Orchestras in Schools. 43 7.1 Chisnallwood Intermediate School. 43 7.2 Cathedral Grammar School. 47 7.3 Aranui High School. 50 7.4 St Bede's College. 52 Chapter 8 Disruption to Concert Schedules and the Financial Implications. 56 8.1 NZSO. 56 8.2 cso. 57 Chapter 9 The Choral Scene. 61 9.1 Christchurch City Choir. 61 9.1.1 Impact on Venues. 61 9.1.2 Disruptions to Concert Schedules after September, 2010. 62 9.1.3 Disruptions to Concert Schedules after February, 2011. 63 9.1.4 Administration. 65 9.1.5 Choir Library. 66 9.2 ChristChurch Cathedral Choir. 67 9.2.1 4 September, 2010. 68 9.2.2 22 February, 2011. 70 9.2.3 Difficulties Surrounding Rehearsals. 71 9.2.4 Logistical Difficulties. 72 9.3 Cecilian Singers. 73 9.4 Jubilate Singers. 76 9.5 Choir of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. 79 9.5.1 Sunday Morning after September, 2010. 79 9.5.2 Sunday Morning after February, 2011. 80 9.5.3 Other Logistical Difficulties. 81 9.6 South Brighton Choral Society. 82 9.6.1 After September, 2010. 82 9.6.2 After February, 2011. 83 9.6.3 After June, 2011. 84 Chapter 10 Personal Aftershocks: How the Earthquakes Have Affected the People Involved. 85 10.1 Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. 86 10.2 Risingholme Orchestra. 87 10.3 Christchurch City Choir. 88 10.4 ChristChurch Cathedral Choir. 89 10.5 Cecilian Singers. 90 10.6 Jubilate Singers. 91 10.7 Choir and Orchestra of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. 91 10.8 South Brighton Choral Society. 92 Chapter 11 The Recovery: Concerts Intended to Raise the Musical Spirits of Christchurch. 93 11.1 Christchurch Sings. 93 11.2 Fundraising Concert Involving Placido Domingo. 94 11.3 New Developments: The Christchurch Pops Choir. 96 Summary and Conclusion 97 Bibliography 102 INTRODUCTION Whenever a major disaster strikes a populated area, the first thoughts of people who have been affected will, naturally, turn to survival. All else becomes insignificant. The personal safety of those nearest and dearest, of families, friends, colleagues, and even of perfect strangers, is all that matters in those first few days. However, once the immediate concerns have been taken care of- casualties laid to rest, injured persons treated, and material needs addressed -and people realise that they have survived whatever catastrophe has befallen them, thoughts turn more towards the restoration of normality. Familiar routines become important. They allow people a sense of security, something to hold onto. Many factors will impinge on a town's ability to recover, not least the ability of those in positions of authority to inspire people to take responsibility for their own recovery, and to co-ordinate the community's response. Much will also depend on the socio-economic structure of the affected community. By nature, New Zealanders are a self-reliant people. If something needs to be done, they will set to and deal with a situation. It must be acknowledged that not all nations are so fortunate in this regard. The city of Christchurch, New Zealand (population around 348,400) 1 has experienced at least 33 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0 and over in nearly 14 months since 4 September, 20102 and, in this paper I shall endeavour to show how one particular aspect of city's cultural life, that of classical music, has been able to recover from the setback. Far from 1 Statistics, New Zealand, as quoted on the Christchurch City Council web site. 2 Geonet, New Zealand, downloaded 25 October, 2011. being an elitist art, music is a universal language. It is practised, in one form or another, the whole world over, and so by using the Christchurch experience as an example, I hope to point the way forward for other communities, world-wide, who may face a similar situation at some point in the future.3 The enormity of this project is such that I have had to restrict this essay to the orchestral and choral areas. Other specialist fields, such as ballet, opera, chamber music, solo recitals (instrumental or vocal}, and the work of private music teachers, will be covered independently. It is also envisaged that the jazz and popular music scene will be the subject of a separate study. Fortunately, the media have provided excellent coverage of all aspects of the earthquakes and how they have affected the city. Not a day has gone past in which some quake-related topic- be it a report of further damage, a progress report on recovery efforts, or some item of personal interest- has not appeared in the first few pages of The Press, Christchurch's daily newspaper. Extensive use has been made of these newspaper reports in the preparation of this essay and, where necessary, these have been acknowledged. 3 A similar tragedy occurred, in Turkey, on 24 October, 2011. It will be interesting to see how that country copes in the months to come. 1 CHAPTER 1: THE EARTHQUAKES The city of Christchurch, New Zealand, has always been home to a thriving musical life. When our founding fathers settled in this part of the country, a mere 160 years ago, they brought with them something of the tradition of choral and instrumental music that they had become accustomed to in the towns of the Mother Country. Having left the hustle and bustle of life in Industrial Revolution England, where musical activities were often the only recreational pastime that people were able to enjoy, it was only to be expected that they would try to replicate the more pleasurable aspects of that life here in New Zealand. And so the whole range of musical activity, from the professional choir of the Cathedral Church1 to simple music in the schools, took hold on the Christchurch community. Instrumental music, too, quickly established itself, and a number of orchestras were formed for the enjoyment of the players as well as the public. Some of these orchestras were semi-professional,2 while most were groups of enthusiastic amateurs. Thus, the standard of musical performance in Christchurch had risen to the point where the city could justifiably claim to be one of the leading musical centres in New Zealand. But Oh! How that has changed in recent months. A major earthquake, measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale, struck Christchurch at around 4.35am on Saturday, 4 September, 2010. 1 The Choir of the Anglican Cathedral is fully professional. The boy choristers receive their education at the Cathedral School in return for their services, and there is money set aside in the Cathedral Statutes for the payment of honoraria to the gentlemen of the choir. I have served in both capacities. 2 Just as is the case today, there was funding provided through the Broadcasting budget for the establishment of regional orchestras. I am old enough to remember the Radio 3YA Orchestra in Christchurch in the 1940s and 1950s. 2 Many areas of the city, especially the eastern suburbs and the Central Business District suffered considerable damage. The infrastructure of the city was severely damaged, with services such as roading, power, water and sewerage, literally torn asunder. Any events that may have been planned for that Saturday, and the days that followed, were automatically cancelled. Who, among the population of Christchurch, would have considered going out? It was unthinkable. The whole city was in a state of shock. As an immediate first-step, the central city was sealed off and all access to the area was prohibited in order to minimise the risk of personal injury, especially as there were many strong aftershocks in the days that followed.3 Some of the worst-affected buildings, that were considered to be dangerous, were demolished at that stage.4 The 3 Martin van Beynen, ‘After the Quake’ in The Big Quake: Canterbury, September 4, 2010 (Christchurch: The Press, 2010), p. 36. 4 Ibid. 3 general cordon was relaxed the next day, once a cursory assessment had been made, although certain areas remained fenced-off for longer. The musical life of Christchurch was just beginning to pick itself up when the city was hit by another major earthquake at 12.51pm on Tuesday, 22 February, 2011.