CODA
The St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Symphony are both hometown icons. What shared qualities keep the two groups at the top of their games? John Mozeliak, the Cardinals senior vice president and general manager who helped lead the baseball team to a World Series win in 2011, explores the affinities.
80
so when I get to attend a concert I have great appreciation for what musicians do. It’s remarkable how well-trained these individuals are and the passion they have for getting it right. One of my friends played
If you are introduced to something early on, you have more appreciation for it. That’s true whether you’re talking about baseball or orchestras.
St. Louis Symphony
in the St. Louis Symphony, so I would hear and see how much effort he put in before a performance, and it’s much like a professional athlete. There are definitely
St. Louis Cardinals Senior Vice President and General Manager John Mozeliak on the field when the Cardinals won the World Series in 2011
parallels in how they go about preparing for a concert. We call it a game. But it’s the same thing. The St. Louis Symphony does a tremendous job of putting on a show. To me, it looks like orchestras are evolving in the way they relate to their community. They have creative people helping them build their brand and getting that out there. Any company is about building your brand: defining it, understanding where you fit within your market. When you take an honest look at what people are listening to today, the younger world is not gravitating towards classical music. How are you going to keep new generations interested? If you are introduced to something early on you have more appreciation, whereas if you are sort of thrown into it as an adult, it may seem too foreign. That’s true whether you’re talking about baseball or orchestras.
Above: Powell Hall, home of the St. Louis Symphony, displays some hometown support for the Cardinals during the baseball team’s playoff run last year. Right: A video of the St. Louis Symphony, with Music Director David Robertson in a Cardinals jersey, gets a screening on the Jumbotron at Busch Stadium.
Adam Crane, St. Louis Symphony.
E
ven though you might have trouble at first connecting the dots between the symphony and baseball, there is a correlation. I don’t think the difference between sports and music is an either/or proposition. From an entertainment standpoint, both have a lot of value. When you look at the Cardinals’ relationship with the St. Louis market, there are certain venues that provide entertainment, and one of the things we do is try to cross-pollinate with these other resources. So we welcome opportunities to bring some of the world-renowned talent from the St. Louis Symphony over to the ballpark. And our philanthropic arm of Cardinals Care, which is dedicated to caring for kids, has partnered on some projects with the St. Louis Symphony. There are parallels between baseball and orchestras. Both are a team effort and group enterprise. When I attend the symphony, one of the more interesting components is watching how it all comes together—the timing and precision. It appears so seamless and flawless. You have to have great appreciation for the work and training. It’s a lot like going to a baseball game at the Major League level. When you watch a game day in and day out, you can take for granted how things are being accomplished, whereas if you watch a less experienced or less talented group perform, you start to see and hear the differences. We are in the talent business,
Scott Rovak
Team Players
symphony
SUMMER 2013