Editorial
Montalvo has earned community's support
In the competitive world of concert booking, Villa Montalvo has had a couple of things going for it. Most artists enjoy performing in intimate venues, such as Montalvo's Carriage House and Garden theaters and the Front Lawn. There was also the Mountain Winery, whose summer concert series Montalvo has managed for a number of years.
And if Montalvo couldn't pay as much as commercial promoters, well, there was the fact that Montalvo was a nonprofit organization that put its profits into community programs for the arts. Artists felt good about that aspect of their performances, and some, including Kenny Loggins, even made public service spots for Montalvo when they were there performing.
This year, things are different. The asking price for one high-profile artist was $40,000. Montalvo bid $40,000. But the artist went, instead, with Bill Graham Presents for $70,000. And why shouldn't the artist go with the high bidder? After all, in addition to great money, the artist gets a great venue--the Mountain Winery.
Such is the hardball game Montalvo has found itself in the middle of, since it lost its contract with the Mountain Winery to Bill Graham Presents.
Add to those woes, the pending arrival of the House of Blues, a national chain of nightclubs, in San Jose, and Villa Montalvo has begun to feel as if it's in the middle of a big squeeze.
Without the leverage power and the deep pockets of the major commercial promoters with whom they find themselves competing, Montalvo has had to come up with a survival plan. A key element of that strategy is to take Montalvo on the road--to such places as the Fox Theater in Redwood City, the Mission Church at Santa Clara University and Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys--venues Montalvo considers unique or culturally important.
To succeed, Montalvo will not only have to continue attracting a diverse group of performing artists, it will have to dramatically expand its audience in communities where Montalvo is not a household name. That will be a costly undertaking, and Executive Director Elisbeth Challener acknowledges that the financial goal this year is to simply "break even."
Montalvo is a precious community resource. The ability of the organization to continue offering a broad spectrum of arts programs depends heavily on the success of its performing arts series. That success will depend in large part on continuing--and increased--community support.
This community has long embraced Montalvo, through volunteer activities, attendance at concerts and financial support in the form of Friends of Montalvo. If ever the arts center needed a rededication of commitment, it's now.
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Saratoga, California Since 1955
