Classical Cult or Learning Community? Exploring New Audience Members’ Social and Musical Responses to First-time Concert Attendance

Abstract

Abstract This article reports on two studies of classical concert-going, as experienced by first-time attenders at a range of orchestral and chamber music concerts. Two groups of ‘culturally aware non-attenders’ were invited to attend concerts, and to participate in focus groups and follow-up interviews designed to explore their first impressions of being in a live classical music audience. Drawing on their observations and opinions, we add a layer of empirical detail to Christopher Small's portrayal of the western concert experience, exploring the musical and extra-musical features that make new listeners feel involved or alienated amongst regular listeners. We consider the overlap between our approaches, rooted in music psychology, and those of ethnomusicology, suggesting that both disciplines have much to contribute to an increased understanding of how audiences for classical music can be sustained and supported. Keywords: AudiencesConcertsListeningResearch MethodsMusic Psychology Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the concert venues and music organisations involved in the studies for their support of this research, and to the participants for giving generously of their time and ideas. The London study was funded by a University of Sheffield project studentship awarded to Melissa Dobson; the Sheffield study was funded by an Innovation Voucher from Yorkshire Forward Business Link. Notes 1. We use the terms ‘classical’ and ‘art’ music interchangeably in this article, but refer readers elsewhere in this volume for further explorations of those terms. 2. The Night Shift, branded as a ‘night of no-rules classical music’ (www.oae.co.uk/thenightshift/), follows in the tradition of the Boston Pops (www.bso.org) and other orchestral promotions in seeking new ways of presenting classical music to infrequent or first-time attenders. For images of the other venues used in the studies, please see the relevant websites: www.barbican.org.uk/; www.sjss.org.uk/; www.upperchapel.org.uk/w/doku.php (all websites accessed 6 November 2011). 3. The term ‘culturally aware non-attender’ or ‘CANA’ emerged in research carried out by the American Symphony Orchestra League to describe individuals ‘who have not attended a classical concert in two years, but who have gone to other performing arts events, museums, or art galleries’ (Winzenried Citation2004:26). Their interest in arts events combined with a disinclination to engage with classical music makes them a clear potential audience for concert promoters, and raises interesting research questions about how the perception of classical music affects access and motivation to attend concerts in comparison with other arts events. 4. See Appendix 2 for a sample interview schedule from each study. Note that focus group questions related mainly to the experience of the concert that participants had just attended, while the individual interviews explored their wider arts experience and attitudes. The combination of the two methods allowed each participant to have a clear voice in the study, compensating for the potential group effects of the post-concert discussion by following this up with an individual interview. 5. Tajfel's principle also resonates with Becker's (Citation1951, Citation1997) findings on insider/outsider social groupings in the accounts of professional dance musicians. Here, musicians consciously delineated themselves from audiences they characterised as ‘squares’, believing that through music they had a ‘special gift’ that the squares were unable to appreciate. In the present research, however, we see the reverse situation, with our London first-time attenders feeling a degree of detachment from audience members surrounding them, whom they believe to possess greater knowledge and appreciation of classical music. Additional informationNotes on contributorsMelissa C. Dobson Melissa Dobson is a Research Assistant at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. Her doctoral work (at the University of Sheffield, UK) investigated audience experience and enjoyment in live classical concerts. Her research interests lie in the social psychology of music, with a particular focus on the processes of performing and listening in live performance contexts Stephanie E. Pitts Stephanie Pitts is Reader in Music at the University of Sheffield (UK), with research interests in musical participation, concert audiences and music education. From 2002 to 2007, she was joint editor of the British Journal of Music Education, and remains reviews editor of the journal. She is the author of A Century of Change in Music Education (Ashgate, 2000), Valuing Musical Participation (Ashgate, 2005), Chances and Choices: Exploring the Impact of Music Education (Oxford University Press, forthcoming 2012) and, with Eric Clarke and Nicola Dibben, Music and Mind in Everyday Life (Oxford University Press, 2010)