Last year, many of us saw a posting regarding the VIM:Tribeca concert series. The organizers, Judd Greenstein and Kimball Gallagher, wanted to put on concert series of mostly new works; the composers were responsible for providing performers. The concerts were to be put on in the Gallerie Icosahedron (I’m deliberately not linking to them, for reasons that will be apparent soon!). The first indication of trouble to us should have been the delays, imposed by the gallery, regarding scheduling and, we found out later, the renting of a piano. The first public sign of trouble was the sudden announcement that the concert series was now to be called the ICO series.
When it was announced that my work had been accepted, I was thrilled. I was to be featured alongside Pamela Stein; I contacted Kathy Supové, who was going to play my new pieces for interactive piano. And, Pam was going to sing the premiere of a piece by Lukas Ligeti. This had all the makings of an exciting event.
On Thursday, we received the following note:
1) CONCERT FEE: all concerts will be subject to a $300 minimum, payable to the gallery in half a week before the concert, with the remainder due at the show. For double-bills, each artist will be responsible for half this figure. In addition to this de facto rental fee, all money over $600 in receipts from the door will continue to be split 50/50. The fee is a guarantee against low turnout – a deposit, essentially. These checks must arrive 1 week before each concert, beginning with the February 14th show, and all checks should be mailed to Gallerie Icosahedron, 27 N Moore St., New York, NY 10013, and made out to Gallerie Icosahedron.
2) TICKET PRICE: the ticket price will now be raised to $20, with no student discounts.
3) REHEARSAL FEE: all artists will have access to the gallery from 5-6:30 on the day of the show. Any other rehearsal times need to be scheduled in advance and will be available at a $40/hr rate.
4) INTERMISSION: there will be NO intermissions of any kind. For double-bills, there will be a brief set change, but even this will be less than a standard intermission.
5) COMPS: there will be no comps, except for press.
6) PIANO: the piano needs to be kept at the back of the gallery, and cannot be moved forward.
And, furthermore, Judd and Kimball were to be removed from the organization of the concerts themselves. Actually, we’d have to individually negotiate elements of the shows, if we wished to continue.
At this point, the series is in disarray. I haven’t kept track, but most of the participants have jumped ship. I’m not sure if I would have done this had these policies been in place beforehand. But, to impose these changes mid-season – mind you, the ICO had a full slate of concerts in the Fall of 2007 – is just infuriating. And, looking at their demands, the one that irks me the most is the policy against comps or student discounts. $20 is a steep fee, particularly when you’re just going to a gallery with folding chairs. $20 would get me into a lot of concert halls in many places (okay, nosebleed seats in some places), and with more comfortable chairs.
I’m aware that costs have risen tremendously in the past few months. But, assuming their gallery would have been open those nights anyway, would the ICO series really have been displacing $300 worth of business? $900, if you count the door costs.
What’s truly disturbing is the Kremlin-style overthrow of the originators of the series. Here you have two people who have done all the work, put a huge amount of time, energy, and, I assume, their own money into this project. It seems to me that the ICO people just want the series to go away, which it seem like it will.
First of all, here is my advice. If anyone is still planning on putting on one of the ICO concerts, please go support them. Go to the gallery, and have a good time. Don’t buy any refreshments if the gallery sells them. As a matter of fact, avoid direct eye contact with any gallery employee. However, if you see any art there you like, write down the name of the artist, and contact them directly when you go home. If you like, wait until their show at the ICO is done. Buy something else from them, but make sure no money goes to the Gallerie Icosahedron.
At one point, I have been told, they complained about the nature of the music being presented. It wasn’t ‘classical’ or ‘conservative’ enough. I didn’t realize that we were under the scrutiny of the new music police, telling us how to write as well as demanding that we pay – oh, and that piano is just there for decoration. I’m sure that their list of demands would eventually include no parallel 5ths or un-resolved dissonances – and, I’m sure, no Max patches.
This is truly a horrible situation for all of us. I understand that concerts do need to be canceled sometimes. Performers get sick or injured, the composer isn’t finished with the piece, sometimes even accidents occur in the performance venue. Yet, this is truly, truly appalling: a concert canceled because of greed and almost maniacal control exerted by the proprietors of the concert space. I am disgusted by their actions.
This morning, someone suggested that we try to find another location. I’m all for that, although I have my doubts that we’d be able to find a decent concert site that would have availability for all the events (which were scheduled on Thursdays). If that can be done, I’d be thrilled. I’d be happy to wait until the Fall. I’d be happy to pay or raise funds for a performance at a good venue. And, I’ll be happy to avoid walking down the street anywhere near the Gallerie Icosahedron.
“H-Town” -Steve Layton
More of Seattle disappears in you each day. I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that. 😉
We’re musicians here, but just off the top of my head you’d want to ask a few things:
1) Read this article:
http://www.artcalendar.com/article.asp?ID=145
And see where and how these guys do or don’t fit into that picture.
2) Is the “display” freely offered, or are they also asking for an exhibition fee? Display how many pieces, with who, how often and how long?
3) Purchase ads: how many, how often, and where?
4) “Promote” all by itself is a tremendously vague term. What’s specifically included in their offer?
5) See if you can ask any of the other artists there past or currently, what they think about their own experience. If the gallery’s sincerely interested in you, they should be happy to give you some other artist’s contact info.
I have just been invited to display some of my art at Ico Gallery. All artists donate $2,000 to purchase ads and they will promote your work for a year. Does anyone know if this is typical of art galleries in New York?
The New York scene is thriving, but the best idea is to focus on music domestically, internationally. We’ve all lived in the city at one point or another, but just because I eat at Wo-Hop or ride the R train to Rego Park, or take a trip over to Boerum Hill, well, living in NYC gives you some sort of credibility, and we all think that’s just sad. Nonetheless, the gallery pathos of Icosahedron is pathetic and should be stopped at all costs. Our community can’t bother to be bothered, in my opinion.
Well, the random access music composers’ collective had a program at ico in mid-october. Our complaints were fairly minor: the staff didn’t have change for the box office (even though I wrote 1 week earlier asking if they needed US to bring some); the staff was obnoxious about the “no intermission” policy, even though our concert was no longer than 1:15 in length; the staff didn’t help set up the chairs or help getting the gallery ready for the performance, and a few other picayune things… I assumed all this was just poor logistical planning–that is, not having done a concert before. We had 45 people show up for the concert, and the hall was PACKED. Some of our music was fairly avant garde, some was more tame. Perhaps we were part of the problem in the first place. Too bad. I’m sure that I won’t apply to be on the series again next year.
Well, this has certainly generated a bit of discussion.
First, I need to re-iterate my stance: it’s not the fact that $300 was requested before we set foot in the place, but the manner in which it was handled. There was absolutely no notice on this: look what happened to Corey when he tried to get in! That’s incredibly unprofessional on their part.
Now, I agree with Antonio – an agreement of sorts should have been in writing. I’m sure that Judd and Kimball will do that next time.
Yes, Seth, it’s something that does go on in many arenas. And, had this been the policy from the start, I think some would have taken the risk, and others would have opted out of the program. We all know there are costs involved, and obviously this particular gallery is not there to selflessly promote new music.
I think enough people have already jumped ship. (David Smooke, you may want to check with your performers and find out their status.) I’m sure our collectively raised middle fingers will make us all feel good, but I don’t think the owners of the gallery are going to really care. From what it sounds like, they wanted to ditch the whole series, and now they basically have their wish.
I’m happy to hear that other venues are trying to do the same thing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to reconstruct our concert series next year sometime. I was truly looking forward to my event, and the whole series seemed exciting and innovative.
My percpective as a composer with substantial experience organizing concerts with a now-defunct composers collective, and as an attorney, leads me to the conclusion that one should get a written agreement with a venue at the earliest possible moment in the organizing process . That moment should be before the concerts are advertized. It is also advisable to have agreements with the composers presenting pieces. If I had my way the presenting composers would present written agreements with their performers before they get listed, but I am a professional worrier.
I used to hear complaints that in insisting on written agreements I was being *(!$*%&^&^ lawyer. Perhaps I was, but it can make asserting one’s rights vastly easier. A contract lets everyone know what is expected of them. As an attorney I advise the organizers to go have beeer and forget about it. I take that back. Have 3 or 4 beers.
I’m having a piece done there in April and was wondering why their website doesn’t list ticket prices or any other information about how to actually purchase tickets. I just don’t see why they would bother–it’s not like there’s real money to be made off of us new-music sorts.
You should all come to Baltimore instead.
This isn’t anything especially new, though perhaps it is to you classical-only cats. Bars and clubs all over the city (and in other cities) have been running what are essentially “pay-to-play” nights for bands for… forever. Usually instead of charging an upfront fee they’ll give each band on a bill a bunch of tickets and tell them they can only play if they sell X number of them… meaning if you can’t sluff ’em off on your friends, you’re stuck “buying” the remaining tix yourself. It’s a way for a bar/club to make some extra cash on a weeknight when they normally wouldn’t do much business. It’s not exactly a scam, but a lot of young bands not knowing any better wind up blowing money on these sorts of things – and wind up playing only to their friends, not actually getting any exposure out of the deal.
Re: the current situation with VIM, they’re trying to be both renter and presenter. Sorry, can’t be both. Either you book the shows and pay the artists yourself, or you just rent the space and it’s hands-off, there’s really no middle ground.
I’d call their bluff – tell ’em to go f*ck themselves, you’ll find another space. They can’t change the rules midway through the game. Seeing as how on any of those given nights they probably wouldn’t be doing any business at all, it’d be worth their while to have something there. If enough people jump ship, it’ll teach them a lesson.
Honestly, for $300 you could outright rent a space somewhere else, then you can keep the entire door and set the prices however you like.
Heck, I’ll cut you a deal – you can use my apartment for $250…
sorry for misreading you, Steve.
Yo, have y’all ever considered Philadelphia? It’s more of a schlep than the NY boroughs, but prices are cheaper, and there are some great spaces down here. I’ve had my eye on one arts place next to the Betsy Ross House in Old City for some time as a potential space for new music concerts and am just trying to get my act together to explore it further. Wouldn’t it be great to have more new music here as well?
Regardless, there are other places to put on concerts besides mecca (aka NYC). Even H-town (the Rothko Chapel is just one example). Just a thought.
“…there’s still some resistance on the part of the press to travel to an outer-borough to review performances.”
This unfortunately is correct. The dancers I work with share this same frustration.
Steve, I’ve been in NYC for 10 years now and I can assure you that a lot of great “new music” music is happening in ALL of the boroughs outside of Manhattan – Queens, Long Island City, Harlem – and definitely in the club scene throughout Brooklyn (Williamsburg, Park Slope).
Your 95% figure might unfortunately be based upon the same dozen or so people you read about on music blogs like this one over and over again (Ivy League degrees, based in Brooklyn, etc) There is, thankfully, a much broader and diverse network of creative musicians connecting all of the boroughs and many people are producing their own shows outside of Manhattan.
All that said, I am sorry about the series. It was on my radar…
Sorry, no hostility there, Corey. Down here it’s “all us H-town composers”. 🙂
Steve, We’ve always looked to Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx for spaces. What I meant to say was, perhaps we should stop looking for venues in Manhattan altogether. Manhattan is a *central* location for people who live in all boroughs, so it’s better in that regard. Plus, there’s still some resistance on the part of the press to travel to an outer-borough to review performances. Things are more spread out in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, which makes it harder to get from one place to another, but trust me, we haven’t been ignoring the outer boroughs.
Incidentally, you could stand to lose the aggressive tone toward “all of you ‘NYC’ composers.” I don’t understand why you’re so hostile.
Corey wrote: But it’s looking more and more likely that musicians and composers in NYC should look outside of Manhattan for new spaces.
Forgive the hopeless outsider/rube point of view… but why the hell hasn’t that looking been going on long before? Seems to me that about 95% of all you “NYC” composers/performers are in Brooklyn anyhow. Why make everyone drag their butts all the way downtown? Is it just to hope to grab a nibble from the sweet elite? Brooklyn could watch Manhattan sink into the sea, and it would still be one of the largest U.S. cities. Why not make it all happen there?
Well, damn. That really blows. Thanks for exposing the bastards. One has to wonder why they are so hostile. But more important, best wishes finding a better venue soon and going onto greater success!
I was at the ICO Series concert last Thursday which featured Two Sides Sounding performing my Condoleezza Rice songs. The second half of the concert featured Sam Sadigursky and friends. The performances were excellent, and I had a good time. I was not aware of the changes being imposed by the venue.
The advertised ticket price was $15/$10 students. When I arrived, I was given a hard time about the fact that I wanted a comp ticket, but I was also told that the (suddenly higher) $20 price of admission was a “suggested donation” and if I didn’t want to pay, I didn’t have to. The gallery personnel/staff were aloof and one person in particular was unkind to me.
As an aside, I believe there aren’t enough seats to accommodate much more than $600 worth of ticket sales. I’d say that there were no more than 30 seats.
Preserving the integrity of the series and the artists presented on the series is infinitely more important than keeping this venue, especially if the gallery staff/owners/managers are as insincere about their support for new music as their business practices would indicate. Also, the venue does not have a PA system for amplified music.
Dixon Place and HERE Arts Center are two presenters in NYC who are in the process of building and opening new performance venues downtown. They might be open to co-presenting a regular concert series of new music, especially one with the curatorial vision of what was formerly known as VIM: Tribeca. But it’s looking more and more likely that musicians and composers in NYC should look outside of Manhattan for new spaces.