Major kudos to the Whitefish Pilot for a timely, well researched and lucidly presented forum regarding the desire of the Glacier Symphony and Chorale (GSC) to offer Festival Amadeus performances at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center (PAC) during the summer season, usually booked by the Alpine Theatre Project (ATP). A number of citizens have registered both valid complaints and detailed explanations concerning the status quo.

Let’s look forward five years. How many GSC and ATP board members would look back on five years of rancor and name-calling and angry letters to the editor and smile?

How many GSC and ATP performers would feel right about dumping an extra $8,000 to $10,000 annual financial loss times five years solely on the shoulders of leanly-run ATP in an economic climate already challenging for the arts?

How many Flathead citizens would be proud of the Amadeus concerts that will inevitably be rained or winded or noised out at Depot Park while the magnificent community-funded PAC stands nearby?

Short answer: None.

It is time for both sides to quit wasting energy defending or attacking a bad situation and start looking for new creative solutions. Perhaps there is a way to reduce the cost of taking down and putting up the sets and lighting. Perhaps there are unexplored opportunities for GSC to help ATP lower other fixed and variable costs during the year so as to balance out this deficit. Perhaps a joint performance early in the year and/or joint targeted fund raising might ameliorate the $8,000 to $10,000 loss. Perhaps more flexibility in scheduling might present new options.

We need ideas, not accusations; cooperation, not posturing; creativity, not justifications. Most Flathead adults realize how unique our arts environment really is. We are depending on the GSC and ATP boards not to blow it.

Andy Palchak lives in Whitefish.