music

There's a giant hole in the Minneapolis summer concert calendar this year. And I'm not talking about the city's inability to find a headliner for the Aquatennial Block Party who's even too has-been-y for Taste of Minnesota.

(The Gin Blossoms?! That's the best that big-city Minneapolis can get for its biggest festival of the summer?)

This was supposed to be the weekend of the ninth annual Macy's Day of Music at Orchestra Hall, one of the best live music events and all-around cultural experiences the Twin Cities has -- er, had -- to offer.

The 24-hour festival was nixed by the Minnesota Orchestra because its dedicated backer, Macy's, has been hit especially hard by the economy.

The money invested in Prince's perfume line probably didn't help Macy's, either.

I always called the Day of Music the true Taste of Minnesota, with its fine local food vendors and especially its Mille Lacs-wide array of music. Polka and salsa bands played opposite techno DJs, string quartets, gospel choirs, indie-rock bands, jazz and such incomparable Minnesotans as Charlie Parr.

The Day of Music was also one of the too-few times a year that the Minnesota Orchestra plays for free, when shlubs like me get to pretend we're knowledgeable about classical music. Truth is, most of what I know about Beethoven came from heavy-metal guitar god Yngwie Malmsteen and the "Peanuts" character Schroeder.

Coincidentally or not, the only other times I've seen my world-renowned local orchestra perform were the free concerts it used to offer at the Lake Harriet Bandshell. Those, too, got trimmed off the calendar for lack of financial support.

These are hard times, no question, which is why it's surprising to me that the city of Minneapolis and local companies are still backing such lame shindigs as the Aquatennial party, but they sat by idly and watched the demise of Day of Music -- an event with cultural value that's well attended (around 20,000 last year, probably 10 times what the Gin Blossoms will draw) and that showcases and pays local musicians (the Gin Blossoms are from Arizona).

It's even more surprising to me, though, that about a month before the Day of Music was supposed to happen, plans were announced for a $40 million upgrade to Orchestra Hall.

Funny, I've always thought of Orchestra Hall as already being a gorgeous, ornate venue. But that's coming from someone who usually attends events at places with trough urinals. Some of my hoity-toity co-workers and other arts lovers I know insist, though, Orchestra Hall is terribly outdated and needs serious restructuring, especially in its ill-devised, crammed lobby.

We all agree that, compared with the $125 million that went into the new Guthrie Theater and the $545 million going into Target Field, the way-more-modest cost of the Orchestra Hall renovation is money well spent.

But it seems shortsighted at best -- and crass and elitist at worst -- to be paying any kind of price for cushier seats and a bigger bar area at Orchestra Hall while also cutting out free and diverse programming like the Day of Music.

Currently, the only free concerts on the calendar at Orchestra Hall through next summer are the four Target Free Family concerts (eight performances total). The rest of the orchestra's free gigs are outside Minneapolis-St. Paul, in Winona (twice), Plymouth, Excelsior and even Hudson. Yeah, Wisconsin.

Minneapolis and St. Paul, meanwhile, did not even have a free July 4th orchestra concert last weekend, something they have in most other big cities ranging from Boston to Akron, Ohio. Instead, our orchestra played the "1812 Over-thingie" out at Lake Minnetonka. Even in these troubled times, I'm guessing there aren't a lot of people living near Lake Minnetonka who would have trouble buying a full-price ticket to the orchestra.

The Day of Music cost the Minnesota Orchestra only about $125,000 to put on, plus the hours that staffers dedicate to it (and, I must say, they were always very dedicated to it). Macy's dropped about another $200,000 on it -- which came with the marketing and advertising benefits of a popular event.

A Minnesota Orchestra representative told me the money for the long-term investment in the hall comes from a completely different realm than the short-term costs of the events put on there. "Apples and oranges," she said.

Apples and oranges are still bought with the same kind of money. Putting on the Day of Music was still a drop in the bucket compared with what the renovations will cost.

Let the rich philanthropists putting up most of the renovation money get their cushier seats; that's fine. But at least a small fraction of that money would be better spent on more free or inexpensive programming, as would a good chunk of whatever the state puts up (which has yet to be decided by the Legislature and presidential cand, er, governor).

Without the Day of Music and events like it -- which bring in the young and diverse crowds sorely missing at Orchestra Hall -- those cushier seats might not have anybody in them in decades to come.

chrisr@startribune.com • 612-673-4658