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RALLY AT THE PARAMOUNT THEATER
Let the world know about the Oakland Ballet's decision to perform the NUTCRACKER to tape.

Monday, December 19, 2005
12:30pm―2:00pm
(prior to the 2:00pm matinee performance)

            

A Child looks on as the Live Music Task Force Brass Quintet plays excerpts from the Nutcracker at the rally outside of the Paramount Theater.

The Brass quintet plays for the camera.

   
Live Music Task Force Founder David Schoenbrun
is interviewed by ABC 7's Willie Monroe.

          
KTVU Channel 2's Gasia Mikaelian gets the story for the 6:00 News.

Live music and live music supporters greeted patrons as they entered the theater.


The Live Music Task Force Banner deserves a picture.
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PRESS RELEASE

The Grinch That Stole Live Music

An empty pit.

That’s what children will find when they scamper down the aisle to see the musicians and their instruments during the Oakland Ballet’s Nutcracker. Until recently, the Oakland Ballet advertised they would perform the holiday classic accompanied by the Oakland East Bay Symphony. However, the company has now decided that the Sugar Plum Fairy will dance to tape, depriving their audiences of a valuable live music, cultural, and educational experience.

Ticket prices have not been reduced as a result of this decision.

A rally by the Live Music Task Force will take place on Monday, December 19, from 12:30pm to 2:00pm, at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, prior to the 2:00pm matinee performance of the Oakland Ballet’s Nutcracker.

The Live Music Task Force, is a San Francisco Bay Area coalition of music business professionals, civic leaders, celebrities, and concerned citizens, who have joined forces to call attention to the enormous decline in the number and visibility of live musical performances; and to educate both consumers and producers about the limitations and consequences of replacing live musicians with technological facsimiles and recordings. The Live Music Task Force champions support for live music as a cultural and educational influence, as a worthwhile medium of entertainment, and as an integral part of public events and celebrations.

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OAKLAND TRIBUNE
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

 

December 21, 2005

Dear Editor,

 

The Live Music Task Force held a rally prior to the Oakland Ballet’s December 19th performance of its Nutcracker at the Paramount Theater to let patrons and the community know that the performances were being danced to a tape recording, not live music.  What’s the difference between a live orchestra, and a tape of an orchestra?  Simply put, it’s like the difference between hugging your child, and hugging a life size doll of your child. 

 

Ballet, like all cultural experiences, is about human expression--take the people away and you begin a dangerous erosion of the culture.  When we see a dancer dance, a singer sing, or a musician playing their instrument, we become active participants. Without live music, how can our kids walk down to the pit and see the musicians, ask them, “What’s the name of that instrument?” or feel the excitement build in the hall as the orchestra warms up?  A live orchestra lives and breathes with the dancers – a phenomenon that is not lost on the audience.  Ballet without live music is second-rate.

 

We believe the Oakland Ballet has people problems, not money problems. The Executive Director of the Oakland Ballet said in a recent interview that after ten minutes he couldn’t tell if there was a live orchestra or not.  Ask yourself if this is the sort of cultural leadership we need and deserve.

 

Sincerely,

 

Alex Walsh

Live Music Task Force Coordinator