Snowbird symphony

As the Cleveland Orchestra wraps up its fifth year of residency in Miami, South Florida Classical Review’s David Fleshler notes that the orchestra received more than $8 million from local donors in the first three years of the residency, and wonders whether these visits have siphoned off support for local musical institutions and prevented formation of a Miami orchestra to replace the defunct Florida Philharmonic:

http://southfloridaclassicalreview.com/2011/04/after-five-years-the-cleveland-orchestra’s-miami-residency-remains-both-prized-and-controversial/

A bit of Virginia musical history may be pertinent: Richmond was late in starting a local orchestra. The Richmond Symphony dates from 1957, nearly 30 years after the debuts of the Norfolk (now Virginia) Symphony and National Symphony of Washington. Richmond was a regular stop on tours by the Philadelphia Orchestra and other major U.S. and European ensembles. With a half-dozen or so concerts each season, these performances (led by the likes of Toscanini, Stokowski, Ormandy and Szell) amply satisfied the town’s symphonic appetite, and retarded demand for a hometown orchestra.