A strong look

A marketing campaign aimed at challenging stereotypes of classical music fans is using photos of its audience members to raise questions about what is classical music, who is it for, and who listens to it today. The campaign by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is to promote its 2012/13 season of concerts at Southbank Centre, and, features members of its audience whose image is far from that of a classical music buff. Fans of the orchestra who have a ‘strong look’ were invited to put themselves forward to be featured in the campaign, and those who responded included body building champion Jay Remney Thomas (pictured), tantric masseur Greg Mitchell and drag queen Scott Phillips. The campaign was designed to reflect OAE’s tag line, ‘Not all Orchestras are the same’. Its recent ‘Night Shift’ tour to pubs across London presented late-night performances that “get rid of some of the often rigid etiquette of classical performances”: 80% of the audience were under 35 and a third were students.