No Vivaldi in the Garage: a Requiem for Classical Music in North America.(Book Review)

by Sheldon Morgenstern. Northeastern University Press (360 Huntington Ave., 416CP, Boston, MA 02115), 2001. 208 pp., $26.95.

Musicians and artists throughout history have relied on the generosity of benefactors for financial support. Whether they are wealthy monarchs or government agencies, the benefactors' viewpoints often conflict with the artist's view. In No Vivaldi in the Garage, Sheldon Morgenstern offers an account of his personal experiences as an arts administrator battling government arts agencies and private boards of directors.

From the early 1960s until 1997, Morgenstern served as the artistic director of the Eastern Music Festival, a summer music program affiliated with Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Morgenstern focuses on the administrative aspects of his career more work as a conductor and educator. There are a few stories about the gratification of ongoing contact with former students who have had successful careers and contacts with great musicians who performed at the Eastern Music Festival. These stories are overshadowed, though, by the disappointment and bitterness that lingers after frustrating political battles. Unfortunately, Morgenstern offers very little constructive advice for those currently involved in advocacy for arts education. Rather, he cautions young musicians to beware of the dangers of political roadblocks in building a career.

The book's intriguing title aptly depicts its negative tone. The title is a quote from the television sitcom Taxi in which one of the taxi drivers plays some Vivaldi duets for flute with his sister while passing the time in the taxi garage. An unlikely setting for classical music? The disgruntled dispatcher Louie, played by Danny DeVito, hates classical music and announces over the loudspeaker, "No Vivaldi in ...