After completing today’s tutorial, I gained a variety of different levels of feedback from Sasha. First of all, my survey is very uncritical on an academic level. This is reflected in the choice of words, although English is not my mother language, I at least want to be unambiguous on an academic level. And then there are details of better academic habits that need to be developed, these are some basic points.
In addition, Sasha made some constructive suggestions about my subject, such as clarifying the definition of the young people’s group in the subject, which made me more targeted in my research and intervention, and it was these details which helped me to think in a more refined way.
He also targeted some of his views and questions to help me broaden my perspective in order to think holistically, mainly on the following points (notes from class):
Collect accurate data
Communication between volunteers
Observe the methods to volunteers/ which one is more effective
Established the methods between them
Try different methods
Research –
Sales of classical music
Young people’s lifestyle
Young musicians interview
Interview of music teachers
What other people(other musicians) have done/
(BBC music, to push young people to listen to classic music
These suggestions helped me to target my issue and understand the subject deeper. I will then organically integrate these suggestions into my intervention in a realistic way.
BBC Proms
Following Sasha’s suggestion, I tried to find out if there was now a marketing/commercial act to promote classical music for young people. I found the project BBC Proms
The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. The Proms were founded in 1895, and are now organised and broadcast by the BBC. Each season consists of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, chamber music concerts at Cadogan Hall, additional Proms in the Park events across the UK on the Last Night of the Proms, and associated educational and children’s events. The season is a significant event in British culture and in classical music. Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek described the Proms as “the world’s largest and most democratic musical festival”.
–https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_Proms
This project is very good for young people and those with limited knowledge of classical concerts. Firstly, it is ticket prices is affordable (the cheapest seat is £8.5, standing is £7.12), and it does not give clear instructions or requirements on the dress-code of the audience. Neither do the strict rules that listeners need to follow to listen to a concert seem to exist (e.g. applause only during a fixed interval). In the very centre of the venue, the middle seat has been removed and is a standing area. This best view is standing room only (the lowest price in the house) and the audience is allowed to bring in their own drinks and snacks. This initiative has significantly lowered the threshold for classical concerts, allowing for a more relaxed attendance.
I found two volunteers who had confirmed their participation in my intervention, to having them to come to the concert together.
Links are details of the concerts that we attended.
–https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/eb34mb
Feedback from volunteers:
How do you feel of classical music now?
S: Coming to a concert hall is very different from playing it at home. The visual and auditory experience is much better, and the conductor interacts with you, so you feel more involved.
N: The selection was a bit formal for me, but the atmosphere was very relaxed, so I didn’t feel constrained.
Did you change the view of classical music after you have been to this concert?
S: I find that the threshold for appreciating classical music doesn’t seem to be as high as I previously thought, and I’m very much immersed in and enjoy some of the pieces. I think it has to do with personal preference and experience.
N:I used to find classical music boring and difficult to understand, but I found that listening to classical music didn’t seem to require me to have expertise. The biggest reward is that I can feel a peace that I can’t feel in other music.
Will you come to classical music concert again?
S: Definitely, but I’ll pick authors and pieces I know well, like Beethoven, Mozart and so on.
N:Yes, but depending on my mood and needs at the time.
Feedback and observation from myself:
This concert gave me a different feeling from traditional concerts. For a start it was not as serious as a traditional classical concert, but had an overall relaxed atmosphere. The audience was free to bring snacks and drinks into the venue, and could even sit or lie down in the standing area in the centre of the venue. From my observations, it seems that young people ( aged 20-30) constitute about 30%-40% of the audience, which is higher than the figures in my previous research. The whole concert will be broadcast live on the official BBC channel and the recording will be uploaded on the second day, which is free. This also greatly expands the reach of classical music and makes it approachable to the public.
According to my companions, the performance of this concert may not have been of a standard comparable to that of the masters, which they could intuitively perceive but could not analyse and clarify the reasons for. This shows that, even with a limited knowledge of classical music, the listener has the most basic perception and judgement. I should not have underestimated the rendering of the music before, and to my some surprise, in the middle of the concert, you could clearly tell how the audience felt about the melody by their reactions and expressions (note the distinction to be made with concert etiquette). On a public level, the repertoire for this concert was a selection of more familiar pieces that are more suitable for an introduction. In contrast to the niche repertoire, the audience may easily find it boring and obscure in the absence of knowledge, and I will do measures on this aspect in the subsequent intervention in order to confirm this suspicion.
From my personal point of view, this concert is very good for people with limited knowledge of classical music and for young people. This is mainly due to its low ticket price, ease of entry and relaxed atmosphere. The BBC is also a solid platform in terms of mass appeal and distribution, which maximises its impact. I think this project is a very good example for my project in general, and I will follow up on this project to learn and make a breakthrough.