Core programmes, populism and risk

Of the five CANAs, three had, by choice, gone on to attend a core concert. Emma I have tried a few of the really traditional classical ones [...] I try to

be very open-minded and kind of go with the… If I don’t know if I’ll like it, I’ll give it a go and then I’ll figure out later if I like it or not! Gordon [Populist concerts have] got me interested in classical music and opera music […] I have gone to operas at English National Opera in London since then.

George I’ll probably graduate to doing a full, you know, sort of, half-hour, three-quarters of an hour pieces, gradually, but not yet!!

The remaining two, couple Ben and Alison told me, without prompt, that they were planning to go to a core programme soon.

Alison We’re gonna come and do a more, sort of… serious classical night. Ben Yes, it’s on the list, isn’t it?

Alison It’s on the list of things to try. Now we’ve dipped our toe in the water! That’s what we’re gonna do next, isn’t it?

At first glance, their comments seem to confirm the progression of CANAs through populist to core concerts. The phrase ‘dipped a toe in the water’ suggests that

populist concerts have for them been a safer option that has allowed them to test out whether they enjoy classical concerts without having to commit to core. As Ben and Alison until recently did not believe that classical music was ‘for them’, populist concerts have broken down that misconception and they wanted to try different forms of classical music and discover what they enjoy. Nevertheless, it is difficult to know how generalisable these findings are as these five CANAs are very open- minded about their concert-going, raising questions about whether their ‘audience development’ is a product of the orchestra’s initiatives, or whether it is driven by the attenders themselves.

Emma I suppose [concert attendance] is almost personal development, learning what sort of things I enjoy, what sort of things I don’t enjoy. It’s getting to experience things you wouldn’t normally experience and then going ‘okay, I enjoyed that, I’ll go and see a few more of them’ [or] ‘really didn’t enjoy that but actually it was interesting to know that!’

Emma described how she uses concerts as a means of discovering what classical music she enjoys and which she does not. Ben, Alison and George’s desire to try core concerts similarly speaks of personal development as an arts consumer, discovering types of classical music, establishing their tastes and developing as listeners. These accounts suggest that while CANAs can progress through populist to core

programming, what is absent from each of these comments is any intervention from the orchestra. The decision to attend core concerts, in all cases, came from the participants themselves, rather than from persuasion from the organisation. While there may have been subconscious or unacknowledged influence from the CBSO’s marketing, audience development seems to have worked for these participants precisely because they were so open-minded and therefore development was driven by their own sense of discovery, not due to organisational pressure to ‘improve’ their listening.

These five CANAs provide incredibly useful accounts of the risk associated with core attendance. Indeed, it was difficult to isolate how they perceived the risk of populist attendance because it was almost always articulated in comparison to core concerts. Populist concerts could be risky, but were a safer bet than core programmes. In line

with previous discussions of the decision to attend, Gordon expressed the risk of populist and core attendance in terms of the expense of concert-going. Although he has tried core concerts at the CBSO and has been to full-length productions at the English National Opera, Gordon told me that he would be cutting back on core concerts in the future.

Gordon I would like to go to more CBSO classical concerts here. […] I used to experiment and to try to go to some classical concerts for the first time but only because there are special offers on or I have been on the half-price, restricted view seats. But since they’re got rid of some of the half price seats to make them full-price, it’s deterred me from going. […] I’m just sticking to concerts that I’m 99% guaranteed that I know the music [and] that I’m going to enjoy it. I can’t afford to take a chance, for example, going to see Andris Nelsons conduct some Beethoven symphony for the very first time. His comments once again highlight the intersection of knowledge and risk. His lack of knowledge of classical music is demonstrated by his reference of ‘new’ Beethoven symphonies; it is highly unlikely that they will be a ‘new’ Beethoven symphony performed, therefore Beethoven is used as a shorthand for unknown core repertory. Furthermore, Beethoven’s symphonies are stalwarts of core programming, with a number being played in every CBSO season (as seen in Chapter 7.3). What would be safe repertory for a core listener is risky for him. Because ticket prices have

increased with each season, Gordon was less likely to try a core concert at the time of the interview than in previous years, suggesting that as the effort in the form of monetary outlay increased, the risk became greater. Gordon was unwilling to spend his limited income on concerts that he is unsure if he will enjoy. However, for George and Emma, the risk of core attendance lay not in the cost of attending but in their lack of confidence of enjoying the listening experience.

George The one thing that concerns… say if I came to a [concert] where it was basically three pieces of music, and it scares me that… that if I don’t like of those pieces, I’ll be bored by the time the others came. Basically, I’m scared of coming to a concert and sitting there and thinking ‘I don’t like this’. Whereas if you come to the lighter ones, where it is Bolero and things like that, that… okay, if you don’t like one, they’re only fairly short pieces.

Emma I have found it quite nice going to [populist concerts] because you recognise the music but you still get the whole orchestral experience. That’s what I struggle with some of the more, sort of, typical classical ones. If I don’t recognise the music, you, kind of, sit there going: ‘this is nice, I have no idea what it is!’ […] I have tried a few of the really traditional classical ones. […] For a lot of the classical pieces, you could be there for half an hour, just listening to music straight. I find I zone in and out often, whereas if you have that, sort of, slightly shorter pieces with a bit of interaction in between [from the presenter], it keeps people’s attention if you start losing them, they come back. […] Apparently, I’m not very good with just instrumental music all the way through!

George and Emma’s comments reveal that the anxieties which new populist attenders face around core concerts mostly centre on the concert experience. Although the monetary and time effort is repeatedly given as a reason for not going to a concert, the concern that they will have to ‘sit through’ music that they are not enjoying is far more pressing. George uses incredibly powerful language to describe his anxieties around core concerts. He is ‘scared’ of not enjoying a concert, with a sense of being trapped or stuck in his seat, having to continue to listen to music he does not enjoy. He also makes an interesting point that feeling bored during one piece can ruin his enjoyment of the whole concert. Emma’s justification of choosing populist over core programmes similarly revolves around boredom. In core

programmes, she ‘zones out’, criticising herself for being unable to concentrate, which I explore in far more detail in Chapter 12.2.

George and Emma’s evaluations of populist concerts focussed on the length of pieces. One of the defining features of populist programmes is that they contain a large number of short pieces. The significance of piece-length can be seen in Emma’s comments where she also hints at a relationship between length and familiarity in enjoyment. She does not mind hearing short unfamiliar pieces, but when she has attended core concerts where she did not know the piece, that is when she ‘zoned out’. This suggests that it is easier to engage with shorter unfamiliar works, but that long pieces of unknown music are difficult to engage with. I explore the relationship between familiarity and the difficulty of listening in Chapter 13.1. It is interesting that both George and Emma spoke so vividly about their apprehensions around core attendance, considering they had both attended core concerts. This suggests that their anxieties are not simply preconceptions around core concerts, but are evidence of a disjuncture between their listening skills and what is demanded of them in a concert.

George felt that over time he would transfer to being a core attender, ‘graduating’ to longer pieces of music. The word ‘graduate’ has connotations of education and personal development; George felt that it would take time for him to move on to core concerts, suggesting that he felt he must develop as a listener in order to be able to engage with pieces of that length. This development has less to do with familiarity and more to do with being able to engage with longer pieces in a concert. Emma made a similar point, never explicitly saying that she gets bored in a core concert, but she did say that she ‘struggles’ with longer pieces and that she tends to switch off. Emma felt that short pieces, because they break up a concert more with talking

from a presenter, helped her to maintain concentration for longer. This points to a need for listener development in order to move from populist to core.

Core concerts are not only depicted as being harder to engage with, but the music is also much less familiar to both Emma and George, thereby presenting a much greater risk. Emma was anxious that she would not recognise or enjoy the music in a core programme. Populist concerts are marketed to reassure people without

classical music knowledge that they would still recognise some of the music being played, which for Gordon, lowered the risk of attendance.

Gordon When you watch television and adverts, the soundtrack to a lot of adverts and film music is by great composers so you’ve absorbed it and its familiar to you. […] You go a television and advert classical concert and you think ‘I don’t know who composed it or what it’s called, but I recognise that, I’ve heard it on television’. But then there will also be a few pieces that I’ve actually never heard of before, so same thing, it introduces me to at least a few new pieces. The marketing for populist concerts aims to reduce the risk of attendance by reassuring potential attenders that they will recognise some of the pieces played, even if they do not recognise them by name. In addition, the themes of populist concerts could be seen to guarantee that the music will be enjoyable. Populist concerts are themed not only by genre (musicals, film music, popular classics) but also often by mood. Perhaps the themes of populist concerts offer a guarantee of the homogeneity of programming that is lacking in core concerts, providing a sense of logic to the programme. In addition, the themes may reassure unknowledgeable audiences that the music will not only be recognisable but also enjoyable. There is no such guarantee with core concerts, where potential attenders must use their knowledge of classical music to make educated guesses about whether they will enjoy the performance.

The mood programming of populist concerts and the use of short pieces that are intended to be familiar to a large section of the population render populist concerts a much safer choice than core concerts. The anxieties around core attendance

amongst the five CANAs in this dataset suggest that populist attenders must develop their listening skills a great deal in order to be able to engage with core concerts. This is related both to maintaining concentration during longer, unfamiliar pieces, but also developing the classical music knowledge to be able to assess whether they will enjoy core programmes without some of the marketing aids of populist

Conclusion

The fact that three out of five CANAs who found a route into classical music through populist concerts have since gone on to core programmes raises interesting

questions about the role of audience development. On the face of it, this suggests that populist concerts do function successfully as audience development initiatives, however, their willingness to try core programmes could also be attributed to their own open-mindedness rather than any initiative from the part of the organisation. These CANAs’ continued anxieties around core programmes, despite three having tried a core concert, imply that their difficulties are not simply preconceptions, but are borne of a disjuncture between the intensity of listening demanded by difficult and lengthy pieces, and their own listening skills. It is also worth reiterating at this point that no CANA had moved through populist concerts to being entirely a core attender (Chapter 5.2).

The data presented in this chapter confirms the idea that populist concerts do generally present a lesser risk than core. I have also shown that the perception of risk is a product of knowledge, with populist concerts having the potential to be either a conservative or a risk-filled choice. When participants understood the principles of populism, they were comforted in the knowledge that they would be presented with accessible music, some of which they would recognise, most which they would enjoy, and that the piece would be short either way. While CANAs were reassured by this style of programming, their attendance still represented a risky option because of their continuing anxieties around concert culture. In this chapter, I have begun to consider how other aspects of the concert experience (etiquette, venue, artist socialising, and communal) interact with programme in the decision to attend. In the following chapter, I continue this discussion by analysing the attitudes towards artist and venue amongst the core and populist attenders in the dataset.