News Comment

 One of the clearest conclusions from the latest research into audiences for classical music is that young people engage with classical music in a very different way to their older contemporaries. This then begs the question, what has changed about the way we listen to classical music and attend concerts, and equally importantly, why?

To address the second question first, I would suggest that one of the key factors is the way music education has been delivered in schools over the past 10 years. This has focused far more on encouraging pupils to know more about the composers, their personal histories, their historical setting and thus to gain a greater understanding of some of the background to the music. There has also been greater emphasis on children learning to play instruments and having practical experience of working alongside professional musicians through workshops. This gives them the opportunity to find out more from the players about their experiences of being a performer. It also encourages them to learn about how different instruments create mood and tell a story. In fact, and to answer the first question posed above, one might say that younger audiences who attend classical music concerts want to learn more about this in the context of the concert itself, to be more engaged in what is occurring on the stage, and for the concert to provide an active experience as opposed to that of a passive listener.

This is an aspect that Royal Albert Hall Learning & Participation sees as a very important part of its educational remit. It does this in a range of ways, principally through the delivery of interactive concerts and workshops in schools and for families, and by using its own dedicated group of musicians to deliver these. Albert’s Band, the Hall’s outreach music group, is made up of professional musicians who also have a keen interest in education and delivering it in a way that fully engages the students. A further aspect of this approach is the school matinees that it runs for schools and home educators. When I first joined the Hall, I was not in favour of this approach, as it seemed to be saying that young people should be kept corralled in a separate concert. But having seen for myself how these work, I have become a convert. This is because I have seen how it allows and even encourages the audience to respond entirely spontaneously to what they are hearing, to clap when it feels right to them, and to find pleasure in the music which feels appropriate to them. Hopefully, this twin approach means that a more musically literate audience is emerging, who want more from their concert-going experience than simply listening.