Resources to help develop audiences for new music

A new online resource for music organisations and ensembles aims to help them “share the best of new music with as many people as possible”. It is the result of a pan-European project exploring audience engagement with contemporary music.

New music: new audiences offers resources on themes including cross-artform collaborations, venue and concert formats, and engaging children and young people. These range from concert evaluations and audience research to tools and recommendations for improving your own concerts or marketing. A database gives details of a range of contemporary musical works and composers from across Europe that have been performed in concerts.

The materials are based on the experiences of a network of 31 ensembles from 17 European countries, which participated in the two-year audience engagement project supported by the Cultural Programme of the EU. Although it ended in 2014, the NewAud network of ensembles and music institutions is continuing to work on extending audience engagement with contemporary music.