As you take on this enormous task at the speed of light I thought it might be helpful, at least to some of the container groups, to have a little collection of research with varying points of view posted here on this new Blog that might inform and inspire your thinking.
I haven't found something for every subject...yet... but as I do I will add it here. Some are more helpful for the Container Group with that threat or opportunity but they are informative for all of you that will be taking up the issues together at the retreat. I hope this helps.
Read as many as you'd like, or, none at all. It's just a place to kick start your thoughts if you are daunted or "food for thought" if you interested in hearing more perspectives.
See you soon,
Peggy
New link:Revitalizing Classical Music Interest and Concert Attendance http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1235&context=honors201019
Classical Music in Bars and Taverns?
http://superconsciousness.com/topics/art/taking-classical-music-bars-and-taverns
Might appeal to the Young Professional Category, Programming, Facility, etc.
Why Do Millenials Resist Going to Classical Music?
https://www.yevgenychepovetsky.com/single-post/2017/09/30/Why-do-Millennials-resist-going-to-the-classical-music-concerts
Might appeal to the Young Professional Category, Programming
Are you getting your classical music 'one-a-day'?
Leave it to the Brits. This one is a perspective from a musician and young professional but it covers the subject of attracting people to concerts. I bought her book after reading this.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/getting-classical-music-one-a-day/
Might appeal to Audience development, Young professionals (again), programming,
Classical' music is dying...and that's the best thing for classical music. Hmmm.
https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/29/opinions/classical-music-dying-and-being-reborn-opinion-albright/index.html
Might be of interest to Programming, Community Engagement, marketing, well all of you.
The Effect of Generational Change on Classical Music Concert Attendance
This one is an abstract but the site itself has other articles of interest as well.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09548960109365147
should appeal to almost everyone since it was one of the most mentioned threats in the SWOT
Conductor Courts Diverse Audiences
This one is from the perspective of an orchestra but as a presenting organization it is very relevant to what you do as well.
https://www.voanews.com/a/conductor_courts_diverse_audiences/666331.html
Might appeal to Audience Development, Programming, Education, Marketing, Community Engagement, well all of you.
Hi, Peggy!
ReplyDeleteMelanee Hill here from TEF. I was just reading through the article (dissertation?)on what is driving people away from classical music and ran across a word that nearly turned my hair white: oversupply. I can honestly say that I had never looked at it that way before, since I've never thought of it as being that accessible. In my container (audience development and marketing), we have a gentleman that describes his concert experience, particularly the classical portion, as an exercise in not clapping at the wrong time. LOL Although I'm oversimplifying it a bit, I think this is exactly what some of our audience and potential audience fears. An oversupply of a commodity is always something to consider, but I think simple, basic misunderstanding and underexposure to it are the main culprits. Growing up in Detroit, my parents were, of course, huge Motown fans. Disciples would probably be a better descriptor, but that is what ninety percent of our music exposure was. Here is the rub: My sisters and I wanted to sing and play instruments like our Motown idols did and when we were given music and voice lessons, Motown music was not the vehicle that our music teachers used to instuct us. It was classical music and classical technique. We grew to love it. Rachmaninoff became a favorite (mine), arias became familiar when we heard them on television and we became critical of orchestras who's timing we thought was off in certain movements. We also learned that some of our favorite Motowners sang quite flatly and with terrible diction and phrasing. I guess what I'm trying to say and I'm doing it badly, is that there has to be a foundation of appreciation. If we're lucky, that appreciation could grow into a casual fondness (which I think is most of our audience anyway) and maybe into full on love. Music has always had a firm, firm grip on my life and the more I study the movements and history of it, I have learned that some genres of music have been used as a middle finger to the establishment, the political and cultural elite and certainly to every generation's parents. Classical music is probably the biggest target of them all. Ask a fiften year-old to name even one Beethoven piece and they probably couldn't come up with Fur Elise, which is so embedded in the public consciousness they don't even know it's on their cellphone as a ring tone. Perhaps this could fit into the oversupply theory. Also, in my container, we have a member who would be heartbroken at the paring down or dissolution of a classical portion of the season. I agree with her. There are those who come strictly for the classical series and to abandon it would be abandoning that audience. That will not do. I think that Saturday, you will hear a lot of concern about our Series A. In our meetings, this concern dominated a lot of our conversations. I'm not smart enough to offer a suitable or even viable solution, but I am smart enough to know that something has to change. Thank you so much Peggy for your hard work and I absolutely thank you for your indulgence in reading this long, wandering post. :) See you soon.