The symbolic construction of organizational identities and community in a regional symphony

This study is an ethnographic analysis of the organizational discourse that constitutes the cultural world of a regional symphony. The study provides a cultural rendering of the Symphony in the form of a spoken system of symbols that is voiced and understood by organizational members. Specifically, this study organizes the communicative activities of the Symphony around the formulation of three cultural categories (i.e., the symbolic construction of “the musicians,” the “board of directors,” and the “administration"), each expressing a particular identity and relationship to other categories. The cluster of terms that characterize each category are seen both as cultural symbols of solidarity and division.