Anyone who has tried to get funding for a music project in the UK will know that grant-givers are obsessed with one particular interpretation of audience development: ‘impact’ is measured through ‘reach’.
I wonder if, in conjunction with cultivating curiosity, there's also something to be done about broadening how audiences are "allowed" to show their appreciation for/interact with the music (especially live performance), which might in turn broaden the range of people who are interested? Places like OTO are obviously more informal than traditional concert halls, which I love, but the unspoken protocol to, e.g., not applaud between movements has still found its way there, and is potentially alienating to curious ears who have come over from the pop/rock tradition where audience behaviour is far less policed. I love your "Listen with your body, not your brain!" call - and I feel like that's something experimental music could learn from, e.g., dance/club music. But could a presentational shift also help?
Yeah, this is tricky. Some habits are so ingrained in audiences – equally across genres, I expect – and there's a tendency to look at classical-music audiences as stuffy, but they are just following their own weird habits. (Obvs it's totally not OK to scowl at someone who does spontaneously clap, though!) Our music is quieter, and that makes some people uncomfortable, but I'm not sure there's a whole lot we can do about that. As an introverted listener, I find it difficult to jump up and down at a rock gig, but my not doing that doesn't disturb others' listening. On the other hand, the not-clapping-between-movements thing is less and less of an issue: I hardly ever programme music that has movements!
I was highlighting London only cos I live here and know it best. Glasgow is surely comparable? Folkestone is blazing at the moment, and Stroud too, apparently, with little initiatives run by fearless folk. Touring remains an absolute impossibility, in my experience, because the partnership networks don't exist and because we haven't yet got over this trend of programming thematically...
I've been talking about audiences with students, with just this in mind, for the past two weeks. The official logic is in many ways simply the reverse of the "contempt for the audience" refrain of certain types of high modernist composer and musician. What's needed is, as you say, to cultivate curiosity - something eavesdropping and others do very well. I actually think it happens all over the country but inconsistently, more like fireworks blazing for a moment then fizzling out. That's not always a problem though it would be nice to have more hubs like Oto etc for touring and sharing work!
I wonder if, in conjunction with cultivating curiosity, there's also something to be done about broadening how audiences are "allowed" to show their appreciation for/interact with the music (especially live performance), which might in turn broaden the range of people who are interested? Places like OTO are obviously more informal than traditional concert halls, which I love, but the unspoken protocol to, e.g., not applaud between movements has still found its way there, and is potentially alienating to curious ears who have come over from the pop/rock tradition where audience behaviour is far less policed. I love your "Listen with your body, not your brain!" call - and I feel like that's something experimental music could learn from, e.g., dance/club music. But could a presentational shift also help?
Yeah, this is tricky. Some habits are so ingrained in audiences – equally across genres, I expect – and there's a tendency to look at classical-music audiences as stuffy, but they are just following their own weird habits. (Obvs it's totally not OK to scowl at someone who does spontaneously clap, though!) Our music is quieter, and that makes some people uncomfortable, but I'm not sure there's a whole lot we can do about that. As an introverted listener, I find it difficult to jump up and down at a rock gig, but my not doing that doesn't disturb others' listening. On the other hand, the not-clapping-between-movements thing is less and less of an issue: I hardly ever programme music that has movements!
I was highlighting London only cos I live here and know it best. Glasgow is surely comparable? Folkestone is blazing at the moment, and Stroud too, apparently, with little initiatives run by fearless folk. Touring remains an absolute impossibility, in my experience, because the partnership networks don't exist and because we haven't yet got over this trend of programming thematically...
I've been talking about audiences with students, with just this in mind, for the past two weeks. The official logic is in many ways simply the reverse of the "contempt for the audience" refrain of certain types of high modernist composer and musician. What's needed is, as you say, to cultivate curiosity - something eavesdropping and others do very well. I actually think it happens all over the country but inconsistently, more like fireworks blazing for a moment then fizzling out. That's not always a problem though it would be nice to have more hubs like Oto etc for touring and sharing work!