Washington Post: Why Does the (US) Midwest Love Orchestras So Much?

[j winter]

Interesting read if you enjoy statistics, though I'm not sure that the argument really goes anywhere...  Any current or former midwesterners on the forum?

https://wapo.st/3TTJUHv

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

The German-Scandinavian-Slavic connection does make a lot of sense to me, at least in regard to the historical roots. The founder and first conductor of the Chicago Symphony, Theodore Thomas, was a German immigrant. These immigrant communities often had musical organizations that fed into the orchestras and the audiences for them.

Interesting to note that the Minnesota Orchestra was founded about the same time as the Philadelphia Orchestra (1903 and 1900 respectively), even though Philadelphia is a much bigger and older city.

Anecdotally, we did a "culture weekend" in Cleveland end of September, so I finally got to hear the orchestra in Severance Hall (doing Mahler 2). Not only was it a great performance, but the hall was full with people of all ages. Cleveland has been losing population for decades, so it was nice to see that.