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Cellist Gautier Capuon and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conductor Manfred Honeck embrace after performing together on the orchestra's European tour, Thursday, August 26, 2022, at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany.
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'Baton diplomacy:' How does the Pittsburgh Symphony's European tour drum up international business?

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

'Baton diplomacy:' How does the Pittsburgh Symphony's European tour drum up international business?

The reputational benefits of having a 'world class' orchestra at home can extend beyond the concert hall

There are plenty of kinds of diplomacy — cultural, public, educational, and cyber, to name a few.

In the classical music world, there’s “baton diplomacy,” when music becomes a tool of cultural ambassadorship, such as when an American orchestra tours another country. Often, in addition to whizzing scales and arpeggios in glamorous concert halls and post-concert champagne receptions that fill tour schedules, there are backroom meetings between diplomats and business leaders.

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Orchestral tours are, in other words, an excuse and opportunity to bring people together over a shared interest in music and culture. This is one of the two primary reasons American orchestras still tour internationally, a tradition that is drawing increasing scrutiny for its expense and its carbon impact around the world.

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That’s why when the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra disembarks on its 2024 European junket on Sunday — which mostly takes place in Germany — they won’t be going alone. They’ll have representatives from the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, leaders from the Pittsburgh Chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce and more to meet with German business leaders to explore potential collaborations and partnerships that could bring new business or forge stronger cultural connections between Pittsburgh and international businesses.

The Pittsburgh Symphony's farewell concert in Pittsburgh, held ahead of its departure for its 2024 European tour on Sunday, featured music by Rachmaninoff and Mahler.
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That’s the hope, at least.

The other point of touring is that it is a recruitment tool for top conducting talent and musicians. It is seen as a “must” for a major orchestra, according to classical stakeholders, including the Pittsburgh Symphony’s Austrian music director Manfred Honeck.

“Touring is in my contract — we must do this,” he said.

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It’s no coincidence that the orchestra’s first stop is in Mozart’s birth city of Salzburg, Austria, home of one of the most prestigious classical music festivals in the world. This year, as two years ago, the Pittsburgh Symphony was the only American orchestra to be invited, which symphony leaders see as a high honor.

The remaining stops include: Grafenegg, Austria; Merano, Italy; Dortmund, Germany; Dusseldorf, Germany; Hamburg, Germany; Cologne, Germany; Wiesdbaden, Germany, and a final stop in Vienna, Austria, another sacred city for classical music where composers like Beethoven and Brahms and Haydn lived at various points in their lives.

International overtures

There is a great deal of prestige in a European tour, as each appearance is by invitation only.

The Pittsburgh Symphony tours Europe every other year and is rumored though not confirmed to begin some domestic touring again during the off-years. (In 2025, the orchestra may visit New York City.)

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This year’s tour will cost the orchestra $2.6 million. It is supported to the tune of about $800,000 by an endowment from the Hillman Foundation earmarked especially for touring. The orchestra also receives a fee for its appearances in each city, typically $100,000-$150,000, and also receives some state assistance and donations from individuals who support touring.

The organization as a whole relies primarily on donations to fund its budget. Ticket sales and public funding are smaller pieces of the puzzle.

Invitations to more prestigious festivals — like Saltzburg’s — are a mark of international respect for the orchestra’s playing, which has long commanded that international respect.

“The concerts are all almost completely sold out,” said Melia Tourangeau, the symphony’s president and CEO.

“It’s tough to explain how wild the international community is for this orchestra.”

The orchestra is also currently a contender for Gramophone magazine’s worldwide “orchestra of the year” award and has been receiving positive press worldwide for its latest recording of Bruckner’s seventh symphony, available on Spotify.

When an orchestra tours, it is considered a cultural ambassador for its region. According to Mr. Honeck, Pittsburgh’s orchestra represents the Steel City with charisma and daring:

“The musicians go to the edge and with everything that I ask, artistically speaking,” he said. “Whatever the music needs, they give their all. This is a part of the DNA of Pittsburgh as a city, a part of our baton diplomacy.”

While on tour, the music the orchestra will play includes: Mahler’s first and fifth symphonies, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto, John Adams’ “Short Ride in a Fast Machine,” which the PSO commissioned and premiered in 1986, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, and Bruch’s first violin concerto.

Next year in Dortmund

Does the symphony’s playing ability really make a difference in terms of potential international business relationships?

“Oh, it makes a huge difference,” said Matt Smith, chief growth officer of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. (Mr. Smith will not be traveling with the orchestra, but the conference is sending a representative.)

“Part of what's so special and important about being able to go with this particular orchestra, out of other great American orchestras, is its current reputation for excellence,” he continued. “And I think maybe Europeans value cultural institutions in a different way than Americans — that our city prioritizes supporting an orchestra of this caliber really speaks to the quality of the city itself.”

In terms of potential business connections, the orchestra and its partners are concentrating their efforts on the Dortmund, which officials say shares some post-industrial characteristics with the Steel City. 

The orchestra’s most recent tour in 2022 has yielded some partnerships already. An AI summit took place in Dortmund in September with participation by representatives from Carnegie Mellon University. Pittsburgh and Dortmund have also signed a memorandum of understanding that focuses on climate technologies and economy and administration exchanges, which the symphony said could mark a step toward official sister city relationship. Such agreements promote both cultural and commercial ties.

(Pittsburgh currently has a sister city relationship with more than a dozen cities around the world ranging from Sheffield, England, to Zagreb, Croatia.)

The symphony is planning a significant reception in Dortmund around its concert there and another smaller reception in Dusseldorf. In Dortmund, the plan is to emphasize its artificial intelligence and tech opportunities and explore possible additional collaborations.

Return on investment

Promoting cultural ties sounds promising, but it’s difficult to measure the concrete return on investment of a symphony tour.

“The reason the conference exists is to both bring in investment, whether that's foreign direct investment in this case, or business attraction from outside of the region,” Mr. Smith said, explaining that the symphony is an asset that, like the sports franchises, helps him make the pitch to a wide variety of business and economic leaders.

“It’s a really important part of the whole package, here.”

One way to measure the amount of activity between Pittsburgh and an international city is to track flights. The symphony claims partial credit for helping establish a direct flight to Paris in 2009. Ms. Tourangeau said that Pittsburgh International Airport may be considering reestablishing its direct flight from Pittsburgh to Frankfurt, Germany, which was discontinued during the pandemic.

(When asked, the airport did not confirm or deny its interest in reestablishing that direct flight. “We continue to talk with carriers about additional nonstop service to Europe from Pittsburgh for the future,” a spokesperson said in an email.)

There are multiple studies and papers, including one from the Harvard Kennedy School published in 2016, arguing that direct flights are a key indicator of economic interconnectedness.

As Pittsburgh continues to evolve beyond its industrial roots and the pandemic, stakeholders see the symphony as an integral part of the city’s brand.

“I would say to people, we are a major league city in every way,” Mr. Smith said. “Not only because we have professional hockey, football and baseball here, but also because we have performing arts organizations like the Pittsburgh Symphony.”

Jeremy Reynolds: jreynolds@post-gazette.com. His work at the Post-Gazette is supported in part by a grant from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Getty Foundation and Rubin Institute.

First Published: August 18, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: August 19, 2024, 10:15 a.m.

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Cellist Gautier Capuon and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conductor Manfred Honeck embrace after performing together on the orchestra's European tour, Thursday, August 26, 2022, at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
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Audience members clap some standing, during a performance of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on their European tour, Thursday, August 26, 2022, at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Audience members look on as Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra conductor Manfred Honeck directs the orchestra during a concert on their European tour, Thursday, August 26, 2022, at the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg, Germany.  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
Manfred Honeck conducts the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the first concert of the orchestra's 2022 international tour, on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022.  (Julie Goetz / Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
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