ANALYSIS : Classy Struggle for Culture: Proposals for People Power : Performing Arts, Weaned on the Milk of the Public Sector and the Wealthy, Need the Masses to Grow in the Long Run

One of the troubling aspects of “high culture”--symphony music, opera, ballet--is the perception that these performing arts are in some way elitist, a notion that goes down hard in a democracy.

A recent Times poll on use of the Orange County Performing Arts Center indicates that this is not necessarily true, although only 28% of the respondents said they were most interested in high culture, and education was the single greatest predictor of who attends such events.

In any case, the perception remains. In what is at least partially a response, the Center last week launched a third season of performance/discussions by classical musicians. Though half of this year’s “Informally Yours” series will entertain well-heeled supporters of the Center, the other half is being done for “non-traditional and economically and physically disadvantaged” audiences around the county. Locations in the past have included hospitals, senior centers, libraries, even a fire station.

The purpose of these visits, according to Thomas R. Kendrick, the Center’s director, is to “bring the arts out into the community.” John F. Pipia, managing director of Citicorp Real Estate, whose $20,000 grant is underwriting “Informally Yours,” said the grant reflects the firm’s feeling that “the arts are for everyone.”

The elitist rap is largely a function of the manner in which high culture is financed, how the piper--or bassoonist--is paid. The costs of such productions often are astronomical, the axiom being “the more you program, the more you lose,” and in the course of a season, large deficits are created. Big backers assume the right to call the shots, if not the tunes.

Historically, money to support the arts has come from three sources:

- The wealthy. Either from individuals, through patronage or parties, or corporations, through direct sponsorship and advertising. Individuals and corporations also provide money through private foundations.

- The government. Grants from local, county, state and federal agencies, including foundations, councils and endowments of various configurations that operate with public funds.

- The box office. Film, popular music and cable television are supported by the large numbers people who enjoy them. Many small gifts also pay a good deal of the cost of public radio and television.

Most cultural offerings that do not appeal to a mass audience depend on a mix of these three sources. Generally, the more rarefied the taste, the greater the dependence on the wealthy and the government.

In many ways, Orange County is very fortunate. The $73.3-million Performing Arts Center was built entirely with private funds, and a $65-million endowment has been pledged over the next 20 years or so to pay operating expenses.

That endowment money is not in hand, however, and the projected shortfall for operating the Center in 1988 is about $4.8 million. The costs of building a second and perhaps third hall, matters now under study by the Center, are likely to be considerable, not to mention the cost of maintaining the resulting complex.

Yet those who built the Center have resolved not to accept any government money. This means that, for the foreseeable future, the Center will have to depend on the deep pockets of a relatively few large donors, many corporations and what is hoped to be an expanding pool of ticket buyers and smaller contributors.

The problem with this--over the long term--is that even in prosperous Southern California economies have been known to turn down. Tax laws regarding philanthropy change. Even the most vigorous and generous of patriarchs eventually pass from the scene, and when they do, large numbers of heirs in the second and third generations sometimes loose the commitment to patronage.

So, how to involve the largest number of the county’s citizens and broaden the base of support for the performing arts, without at the same time “diluting” the Center’s program with performers better suited to the Pacific Amphitheatre, where rock and pop acts now hold sway?

One rationale for “Informally Yours”--in addition to thanking those who have contributed money and time--is that the more people who are exposed to the performing arts, especially in a non-intimidating setting, the more they are likely to become ticket buyers or volunteers.

There are a number of possibilities for carrying that thinking several steps further. Most of them assume that considerable technological, contractual and financial obstacles could be overcome--admittedly, a large assumption. However, it doesn’t cost anything to dream.

The first option might be to offer live radio broadcasts of performances, perhaps to KSBR and KUCI, with occasional television broadcasts on KOCE. A lot of people have learned a good deal about classical music by listening to Milton Cross on Saturday afternoons on Texaco’s Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.

The recent contract signed by members of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra appears to make live, one-time broadcasts on local, non-commercial radio stations much easier by paying each orchestra member a bonus of only $10 for such broadcasts, which could also be sponsored.

If financing could be found, such broadcasts “would absolutely help us increase and broaden our exposure in this community,” said Louis G. Spisto, executive director of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, which has its own outreach program. Spisto noted that the Pittsburgh Symphony wired the subways of that city to play recordings of the orchestra.

Another approach, one which might generate some income as well as interest, would be to wire local hotels--which seem to compete for upscale amenities--so that guests could tune in evening performances on their room radios. If they liked what they heard in their rooms on Wednesday, they might walk over to the box office on Thursday.

There are limits to outreach, of course. Piping performances into shopping centers would trivialize the music and too many free, live performances would be a disincentive to buying tickets.

But what about the Center, itself, as a place to go and spend time? One way to keep it from becoming just an elegant ornament would be to try to make it more of a busy, bustling center of arts and arts-related activities all day long, seven days a week. Surely that is not too Philistine a goal for the people who brought us South Coast Plaza.

A second, large concert hall--now under active and serious consideration by the Center--probably would be necessary if the Center ultimately decides to make the PSO its resident orchestra. A less-favored proposal--for a third, smaller hall--ought not to be ruled out. A 500- to 750-seat hall would enable the Center to offer chamber music and even traditional and international folk artists, in the afternoon as well as the evening.

While we’re spending imaginary bucks, why not a small art gallery, with works by Orange County artists for sale? And a gift shop, staffed by volunteers, that offers paraphernalia of regional groups performing at the Center? And a tasteful, mid-priced restaurant where people could eat before and after performances? Call it Tea and Symphony.

The cost of not broadening the base for the Center in Orange County, one way or another, could be quite high, as was suggested by the recent controversy in Garden Grove over municipal support for the Grove Theatre Company and the Garden Grove Symphony. In the event the Center faced an unforseen financial catastrophe or a deficit that, over time, crept beyond the means of the private sector, the Center might someday have to go to the Board of Supervisors. Faced with an emergency appeal for a bail-out, the supervisors’ decision could well depend on the image of the Center in the minds of voters throughout the entire county--not just those with the means and inclination to attend.

As the French philosopher Maximilien(cq) de Robespierre(cq)--who came to know the cost of losing touch with his base of support-- observed in 1794, arts in a democracy “should be the decorations of that liberty which they ennoble, and commerce the source of public wealth and not the monstrous opulence of some few houses.”