On Sep 24, 10:30*am, PeterL wrote:
On Sep 24, 5:19*am, Gumby wrote:



On Sep 24, 6:42*am, Icono Clast wrote:

On Sep 23, 11:05*pm, TXZZ wrote:

On Sep 24, 8:39*am, Motorblade wrote:
Do you realize that this makes Austin fraudulent, and that most cities
couldn't be as much of a cultural fraud if they tried?

With a reported six hundred music venues, it couldn't possibly be as
you say.

If quantity is what equals value to you, then I suppose you may have a
point. *If it's quality you want, I have heard better jazz/folk
musicians in NYC subway stations.

TXZZ may be making his point crudely and obnoxiously but he's right.
There is not one top shelf arts organization in Austin. *Houston has
the Grand Opera and the Alley Theater, DFW has the Kimble. That's
about it for the national stage.

Then again, Austin is considerably smaller than both those cities so
the talent pool is smaller as well. *(I guess San Antonio has no
excuse) *The real shame is that a state the size and population of TX
has so little to contribute to the national arts community. *At the
very least one of the major cities should have a top shelf "A"
orchestra.

Houston Grand Opera is top shelf as you said, so is the Dallas Fort
Worth Symphony.

DFWS is B level. It's not bad but it's not Cleveland, Chicago, New
York, etc. *

Maybe classical music is not something Texans are
interested in.

There is a HUGE amount of people interested in classical music in TX!
Just look at all the top notch facilities that have been erected in
the past few years. I think it all has to do with TX "inbreeding."
The propensity for Texans to feel that anything in TX is better than
anywhere else has kept their standards set at mediocre. The borders
are big and not too many people get to visit great centers of culture.