Performing Classical Music in the 21st Century

Alistair Sung

Name: Alistair Sung Main Subject: Classical Cello Research Coaches: Gerard Bouwhuis, Renee Jonker Title of Research: Performing Classical Music in the 21st Century Research Question: Can a reconsideration of presentation, programming and audience relationship influence the response to classical music? Summary of Results: The financial and cultural climate of the past 50 years has changed the way in which classical music is perceived. Where once it was valued as a crucial part of a healthy society, it has now grown isolated from mainstream culture and has been relegated to the periphery of modern cultural life. This paper will examine how these recent cultural and social developments occurred and focus on their effects on the performance of classical music in the 21st century. Through an analysis of new and existing approaches to performance, a framework will be established which will form the basis of a test concert. Data gained from this concert will then be analysed in order to explore the possibility of altering existing concert conventions to respond to the problems facing the performance of classical music. Research will be presented in the form of a research paper. Biography: Alistair began learning the cello in Sydney Australia with Marcus Hartstein and David Pereira. After attending Newtown High School of Performing Arts, Alistair completed his Bachelor Music (honours I)/Bachelor Arts (philosophy) at the University of New South Wales in 2010. On graduating, Alistair was awarded the university medal and his honours thesis, ‘Variety in Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Recorded Performances of Bach’s Sixth Suite for Solo Cello’ was co-published in the Empirical Musicology Review (Ohio State University). Alistair is currently completing a Masters degree at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague with Larissa Groeneveld.

Survey findings

The survey responses revealed useful data on how audiences responded. Much could be gained by comparing responses of different age groups and those with different degrees of prior experience with classical music concerts. While the total audience was around 70 people, the number of surveys completed was 50. Of these, certain answers were incomplete or unusable which meant that each question varied in terms of how many responses were given.

The survey findings were divided into the 3 key areas: presentation, programming and audience relationship. Findings of the whole group were reported and analysed. Where relevant, responses from smaller subgroups, which were divided by age group or prior experience with classical music concerts, were also compared.

Presentation

The survey questions related to presentation were:

1. How comfortable did you feel in this performance space?

2. Did moving around the space make the experience more or less enjoyable?

3. Was the inclusion of a bar positive or negative?

Of the total respondents, 79% said that they felt either comfortable or very comfortable in the performance space with a total of 98% of respondents saying that moving around the space throughout the performance made their experience more enjoyable. Lastly, a total of 88% said that the inclusion of a bar was good.

When divided into groups aged 18-40 and 40+, it becomes apparent that the older members of the audience felt a greater degree of comfort. 59% of the 40+ respondents said they felt specifically very comfortable in comparison to just 32% of the 18-40 year olds. This could be due to the fact that many of the older audience members regularly attend events at this space.

Allowing and encouraging audience members to move around the space and to listen from wherever they felt comfortable was well received. Almost all respondents felt that this made their experience more enjoyable. Several audience members also commented on the unconventional staging of the Shostakovich and Piazzolla and felt that this also added to their experience.

Reponses to the inclusion of the bar were largely positive. Of the responses that felt it a bad addition, it was primarily due to the additional noise it created which interfered with some audience members’ experience of the music.

Programming

The survey questions related to programming were:

1. Was the length of the concert too short? Good? Or too long?

2. Which piece did you like the most?

3. Which piece did you like the least?

Of the 46 respondents to the question about length of the concert, 57% said it was a good length and the remaining 43% said it was too short. Within this group, audience members aged 18-40 tended to appreciate the shorter length of the concert with 67% stating that it was a good length (see figure 1). Despite this, the overarching response suggests that audiences, in general, felt that the length of this concert was somewhere between too short and acceptable.

Audience preference for specific pieces revealed interesting findings. Though only 36 respondents provided useable answers, the audience tended to prefer the pieces for cello and piano and which had accompanying support material. Fratres was ranked 1^st (35%), Piazzolla was ranked 2^nd(30%) and Shostakovich was ranked a close 3^rd (27%) (see figure 2). When those who had little to no prior experience with classical music concerts were isolated, the Piazzolla moved to the most favoured piece.

The piece that respondents liked the least was the Kapustin with 41% of the respondents rating it the least favoured piece. This could be attributed to the lack of support material and the fact that, due to an oversight in planning, this piece was heard more as ‘background music’. The Shostakovich, while not the most favoured piece, was the only piece that received no votes as the least favoured piece amongst all age groups and sub-categories.

Interestingly, the Fratres was the most divisive piece with it being voted both the most favoured and the least favoured piece by 35% and 28% of respondents respectively. When asked to elaborate, it becomes apparent that the use of visuals and the musical style were significant contributing factors. For those that voted it as the most favoured, the use of visuals was a positive addition. For those that voted it least favoured, the use of visuals made it difficult to focus on the music and the style of the piece was not appealing.

Audience relationship

The survey questions related to audience relationship were:

1. How would you rate the communication of the performers with you as a member of the audience? Did this level of communication enhance or detract from your experience?

2. Do you think that more factual information about the pieces would have helped you enjoy the music more?

3. How much did the visuals affect your experience of the music?

The majority of respondents felt that the degree to which performers communicated with them was either satisfactory (33%), substantial (43%) or a lot (20%). Of the 44 respondents to this question, 64% felt that the level of communication slightly enhanced or enhanced their experience of the concert while 34% felt that it made no difference at all.

The majority of audience members (64%) felt that more historical or contextual information would have helped to understand the music more. While this was apparent across the audience as a whole, of those with little to no prior experience with classical music concerts, 75% reported wanting more historical information.

The effect of the visuals on the audience was surprisingly little with 32% saying it slightly enhanced their experience, 36% saying it made no difference and 17% saying it slightly detracted from their experience (see figure 4). Interestingly, 44% of the respondents aged 18-40 felt that the visuals slightly affected their experience while for those aged 40+, 45% felt that it had no affect (see figure 5). It could therefore be surmised that younger audience members responded slightly more positively to the visuals than the older audience members.

Summary

Responses gained from the surveys were valuable. The choice of location, allowing the audience to move around the space and the inclusion of a bar clearly made the majority of audience members feel comfortable and relaxed. The length of the concert was considered slightly too short by most and it emerged that the audience preferred the pieces that were performed with piano and cello and with accompanying support material. Audiences generally felt that increased communication between performers and audience were beneficial and that more historical or contextual information would have increased their enjoyment of the music. It became apparent that the effect of the visuals was, surprisingly, less than expected.

The overall response to the altered concert model was positive. For those that had previously attended other classical music concerts, 72% said that the music was more accessible/enjoyable in the way that it was performed in this concert. Finally, 100% of the respondents said that they would attend more classical music concerts like this in the future.

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