Madam President, or, Frau Präsidentin

Kristina Hammer is the president of the Salzburg Festival—which in Salzburg, and Austria, and Europe, and the music world, is a very big deal. She grew up in Germany—the Black Forest—and studied in Mainz and Vienna. As a business executive, she worked in the department-store field for a while. And in cars: Aston Martins, Jaguars, Mercedes-Benzes, and other fine autos.

Get this: She had a role in bringing the Aston Martin back into the Bond movies. (I think that 007 had been driving a BMW for a bit.)

Kristina Hammer has led a busy and multifaceted life, and she has interesting things to say about a range of subjects.

Her life has always been filled with music. She first visited Salzburg when she was five or six. Her grandmother had taken her. Kristina went to the Marionette Theater to see The Magic Flute. She soon “graduated” to other performances.

In the course of our conversation, I bring up the subject of fundraising—fundraising and sponsorship. I recount a conversation I had with Beverly Sills, years ago. (Sills, to remind you, was a soprano, and one of the most famous opera singers in the world. In fact, she was a celebrity, certainly in America. After her retirement from singing, she served as an arts administrator.)

“I raised $100 million for the March of Dimes,” she told me. (I might mention that both of Sills’s children were severely handicapped.) Back then, a hundred mil meant something, trust me. “Medical causes do better than music,” she continued. “If you have some disease to cure, you’re not going to want to fork over millions for another production of La bohème.”

But! “But I say in all my speeches, ‘Art is the signature of civilization.’” And Sills was successful in raising money for the arts, as she was in her sundry other endeavors.

I have typed enough. You will want to hear Kristina Hammer. Unfortunately, my technology was imperfect. She is softer in volume than I would like. (I am loud as ever, I’m sorry to say. Booming.) But she is plenty audible and well worth it.

This episode concludes my series from the Salzburg Festival. Q&A will resume with other guests, in other sectors, shortly.

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