Yeah, there are gloomy stories about symphony orchestras these days. But “as we enter this new age of musical anxiety, let’s not lose sight of the many signs of health in the orchestra world – the surprisingly widespread commitment to developing new repertoire, the sense of ownership listeners feel, the renewed awareness of the value of arts education. We’ve been down this road many times before: expansion, contraction, repeat. So let’s equip ourselves for the coming neurotic convulsions by shooting down some oft-recited but mistaken beliefs.”