Inspired by the article, The changing face of opera, posted in the Oxford University Press’ blog by Meghann Wilhoite, I give you my first mini-podcast for 2013.
Have a great weekend!
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart
Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.
Filed under arts management, arts marketing, Audience Development
Oh dear! The headlines today were not very encouraging. More orchestras are locked out, one opera company has to shut down until their bills are paid, and the woe is classical music stories keep popping up too. Yes, we are in the midst of dealing with changes that have already happened, and the classical music world in general is scrambling to get back on track.
In my area, there have been cuts too. Many of the organizations have downsized their concert schedules to deal with their funding cuts. I know musicians across the country are not happy with all that is happening. The musicians blame the management. The management blames the musicians for not understanding. It’s a vicious cycle of finger pointing.
I myself am wracking my brain to figure out how orchestras and classical music can start thriving again. I have already chimed in with my suggested action points.
In the article about the Minnesota Orchestra, the management wants to cut musician salaries and at the same time they are raising money and spending money on a $52 million renovation. The management views this as accessing support from big donors. Wouldn’t the big donors rather donate to secure the best musicians for their orchestra instead? I can see why the musicians are protesting this factor. Unless the hall was in such a severe state that renovation was imperative, perhaps money that pays the musicians that create the “product” for the organization would have been better raised and spent.
I have been on both sides of this fence. I have been a musician grumbling that I haven’t been paid enough, and I have been on the management team attempting to secure funding to keep the organization functioning. An orchestra or opera is an expensive endeavor. The economy and lowered demand due to the change in times are a downfall to these organizations, but these challenges can only account for part of the deficiency.
If it were up to me, I’d blame everyone! Not that I want to blame anyone. The real problem here, as I mentioned before, is the lack of team mentality and lack of functioning as a real nonprofit business. In times of trouble, all line items need to be evaluated. All salaries including the management, all fundraising, all audience development, outreach and marketing efforts, have to be looked at with honest eyes. Priorities for the business need to be established. For example, the $52 million dollars that was raised for renovations, I do not see this as a bigger priority than making sure the musicians are paid fairly. It’s a similar mentality that our country is going through. Our veteran soldiers are not being provided for fully after their duties have ended. The musicians and soldiers are doing the work. Are we taking care of them or are our priorities out of balance? Are we are raising and spending money on the wrong types of initiatives?
I have witnessed some classical music organizations that have decided that one of the top priorities be keeping their musicians happy. Without the musicians, they reason, there would be no music. These organizations are still doing well. The audience wants happy musicians. Happy musicians provide the concert experience they desire and pay for. Happy musicians perform better too. The audience knows this.
I plea for organizations to start surveying their audiences if they don’t believe me. I once structured a question on my survey to ask, “If you were king of the orchestra, what changes in management would you make?” We had several come back commenting on how they would like the musicians to be paid fairly. The audience knew what is going on as much as the supposed behind the scenes management. In our world of further transparency, paying for $52 million worth of renovations is not going to delight your audiences as much as having top quality musicians to perform the music they love.
I will say this though, coming from the side of management, I feel the musicians now have to be part of the team for reaching new audiences. Everyone needs to be a part of this initiative. We now need some support for outreach efforts, word of mouth marketing, and other audience development programs to increase audience and demand. The management is not able to perform these outreach concerts for the musicians. A management team can only spread the word so far. It now requires more and more circles of people to spread the word. The musicians need to step up too, and even volunteer in troubled times, to make the music for awareness of the music to happen.
It needs to be a team effort, all hands on deck, if you want to become a healthy nonprofit arts organization.
So, evaluation of budgets, prioritizing line items, and becoming a team to bring awareness to and further your mission is what it is going to take to be healthy again. Good old fashioned hard work by everyone! I hope more arts organizations become aware.
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart
Although we are not a non-profit, if you would like to support ADS to continue our work, you can donate here.
Filed under Arts funding, arts management, Audience Development
I just finished reading
When I saw the title, I was expecting an article detailing the various reasons why classical music can be enjoyed by everyone and anyone. I should have known better. It turned out to be another critical essay regarding the format of how someone is presenting classical music to the masses. On the one hand, the message is clear, and the article is worth reading. On the other hand, this essay was written in such a fashion that the average person would probably not read it.
I read it, but I am not the average person that does not know about classical music. I was born and raised into the world of classical music. If I hadn’t been, I may not have been interested in this article.
Is this what we have come to? We are critical of each other in our attempts to get classical music out to the general public, and yet, we end up speaking to ourselves and talking in circles. I am currently picking on the classical music world, but the arts in general have had a big fail in communicating to the general public in ways the general public can understand.
It is not a matter of “dumbing down.” I really don’t like this phrase. Instead, we need to think about the fact that people that have not been in touch with classical music may not understand our jargon. This creates a barrier that doesn’t need to be there. It is a matter of getting real about the music again so we can explain in ways that will be understood by people that are new to classical music.
Let me put it this way, if a mathematician were to go through one of his detailed proofs to show you the glories of math, and you were not at his level, wouldn’t you be completely lost, bored, turned off?
It is time we start communicating again with the general public. We can do this in smart ways (no dumbing down required). Currently, there are children’s programs that do a fantastic job. Why not translate the basic concepts of these formats for adults too? I will say here, in defense, that I have seen a few programs that are starting to do this. I look forward to the day it is more standard in our industry.
Classical music (art in general) will continue to be considered “elite” until we allow ourselves to let our hair down. Plus, the music will speak for itself, if we can stop speaking for it.
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
PS – Sign up for ADS E-News today! We are promoting a special for our e-Newsletter subscribers tomorrow.
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart
I had a major thought today after reading another article about a symphony performing a free classical music concert mainly for audience development purposes. The repertoire selected was the same old type of list: Barber of Seville, some poppy selections from South Pacific, some light operetta favorites. Throw in pieces from Fantasia and it’s a wrap!
I agree that it is nice to choose pieces that might be familiar to people in order to get them interested in classical music. However, if they are truly newbies to art music, go ahead and program an accessible newer piece! Here’s my story:
I had invited a friend to a wind ensemble concert. She had never heard a wind ensemble. She said she was willing to give it a try. She was familiar with a few pieces on the program, but the one she really liked was something she never heard before. She ended up enjoying the concert mainly because of this piece. My friend came with an open mind so it really didn’t matter if the selections were familiar, only that they were quality music performed well.
From this example, if a person truly is open and new to hearing classical music, then they will be open to hearing anything! It’s similar to when someone hears classical music out of context, let’s say on a commercial, and they end up noticing and really digging the music.
The point is, we have an opportunity to play new music for new audiences! We don’t have to keep performing the same, although pleasant, “gateway” pieces. We can throw in an accessible newer piece too. I caution with “accessible” since something outside of a new ear comfort zone could be a complete turn off. There are pieces out there that can fit nicely into an audience development concert, even if it is for kids.
I hope the composers out there are jumping up and down. This is an opportunity for you too. What would you compose if faced with the challenge of creating for a brand new classical music audience?
Perhaps you might still fear the fact that if the music is unfamiliar, this new audience may not like the program. Please do consider though that if it is truly a new experience, these people are open and ready to receive the best of what you can offer them, no matter what century the music comes from.
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart
Filed under arts management, Audience Development
It’s Friday, and it’s time to announce the winners for all the categories of The 2009 Audience Development Specialists Tweets Awards!
Most Interesting Venues
The nominees are:
Tweeples choice award for Most Interesting Venue of 2009 goes to: The Chicago Loop Alliance
ADS Award goes to: Chiara String Quartet. My feeling is, that in order for the arts to be more accessible to younger generations, we need to start performing where these people gather. Bringing classical music to a bar setting is a great idea, and something that was new to me.
Best Use of Mainstream
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: Star Wars: In Concert’: a coda with Yoda! From L.A. to Chicago, this concert gave the GenX generation a chance to share with their children the joy of Star Wars and the joy of the orchestra all at the same time. In our constant pursuit of getting GenX more involved, this was a great idea.
Best Arts Advocate
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: Michael Kaiser. It seemed like there wasn’t a week that went by where Kaiser was not in the papers. Traveling from city to city to spread his word on how to save the arts from crisis, he also brought awareness of the arts to many that weren’t aware before. Although I am still waiting for the documentary and the book, we at least had his blog posts at the Huffington Post to guide us regularly with his thoughts.
Best Use of Technology and Social Media
The nominees are:
The ADS award goes to: drum roll please, The Atlanta Symphony for their live Ustream discussion with Wynton Marsalis and Ken Meltzer. This was one of the best representations of the use of new technology and social media rolled up into one, and there were a plethora of other audience development goodies too. Here is the top 10 list of reasons why I chose this particular idea:
Audience Participation
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: Cincinnati Opera for their Opera Idol! From their website: “Cincinnati Opera launched Opera Idol™, the company’s search for the next great opera star, in June 2009. More than 160 amateur singers turned out for an open audition before a panel of professional judges. Through multiple rounds of voting, six finalists were chosen. Videos of those finalists in performance were posted on the Cincinnati Opera website, and the public was invited to view the videos and vote for their favorite, for which over 10,000 total votes were cast.”
I was extremely impressed with the results and how streamlined this idea was. There was audience participation with the opera hopefuls, 160 of them, and with the general audience, 10,000 votes casted via YouTubes and the ability to vote at their website. This audience participation covered all the bases for getting people involved!
Best Collaborations
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: Atlanta Art à la Carte – “a new partnership among Atlanta arts organizations lets audiences create their own subscription from a mix of family performances. With this program, families can get a lower-cost look at different organization’s offerings without singing up for a membership.” In a time where getting families and the younger generation more involved with the arts, this is a great collaborative idea that can be a win-win situation for all involved. Getting families to sample what your city has to offer is fantastic!
Best Festivals
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: ArtPrize – this festival had the arts world buzzing. Artists from around the world participated, they had an entire community get involved with the venue match-up for the artists, the ability to vote, and all of the social aspects through social media and local networking events were fabulously engaging, and they awarded big prizes to the winners. Rick Devos and Jeffrey Meeuwsen of Grand Rapids, Michigan had a great idea, made it a reality, and the world was watching.
Best Use of Going Informal
The nominees are:
The ADS award goes to: The Cleveland Orchestra for their new informal series. From the article: “Was it the earlier start? The informal dress of the players? The short, all-Beethoven program? Or was it the prospect of a post-concert reception and appearance by world percussion ensemble Beat the Donkey?” Seeing that this series is selling out, perhaps the classical music world really does need to relax a little, take their bow ties off once in a while, and really jam with the audience before, during, and after the show!
Best New Programs
The nominees are:
The ADS award goes to: Art-Reach, “Independence Starts Here,” and the Pennsylvania Ballet for bringing the Nutcracker alive for blind people. This story really touched my heart. From the article: “In a dressing room off a hallway to one side of the stage, a woman named Ermyn King will watch a TV monitor beaming the show live from the stage. She’ll wear a headset-microphone and will straightforwardly describe the dancing – how many performers are onstage, what they’re wearing, what they’re doing, how they’re interacting – as well as the scenery, the storyline, even the lighting…Just before the curtain – as in most audio-described shows, including Sunday’s Nutcracker – those using the service were invited onstage for what’s called a ‘touch tour’.” Making your art accessible to those who never were able to enjoy it before, in my opinion, wins new program of the year!
Best Discussions
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: This was one of the more challenging decisions. I wish I could choose all of them since I’m excited about all of these discussions. If you don’t know me yet, I am a big advocate for getting the chat going! In the end, for choosing only one… New Ways for Arts Organizations to Finance Their Operations is the winner. This was a live discussion with various arts organizations of the New York area discussing the majority of issues and solutions surrounding audience development. I highly recommend reading this discussion and perhaps forming your own arts community discussion involving these same questions.
Best “Arts Make a Difference”
The nominees are:
The ADS award goes to: Playing for Change. “Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.” In a world full of distances, it’s nice to see the universal language of music used as a power to unite!
Best Audience Development Quotes
The nominees are:
The ADS award goes to: Rahul da Cunha. Simply put, if we want to see different results and live to see another day, we need to stop with the old way of marketing and begin a new journey of reaching out to our audiences – which is what audience development is all about.
Special mention goes to: the En Foco quote. It was a quote with a great deal of heart, and people came here to comment about it.
Best Audience Development Studies
The nominees are:
The ADS Award goes to: Another big challenge for me to choose just one. To me, any study about audience development is a winner. If I have to choose just one, it would have to be the Wallace Foundation’s Engaging Audiences. This report presented the challenges and some of the potential solutions to building our audiences. I love reports that state the current statistics, but now more than ever, we need to be current with new and innovative ideas.
Special mention goes to: NEA’s State and Regional Differences in Arts Participation: A Geographic Analysis of the 2008 SPPA (December 2009). I had the best time looking at all of the facts and figures with many moments of pleasant and unexpected surprises.
So there you have it. If any of the winners are interested in receiving their official ADS certificate, please feel free to contact me. Until next year, I’ll be scanning for more of the best Audience Development news to tweet.
Cheers to happy and loyal audiences,
Shoshana
Shoshana Fanizza
Audience Development Specialists
http://www.buildmyaudience.com
Facebook/twitter /E-mazing Newsletter /Blog
“Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners.”
~James Stewart
Today I saw a collaboration in the news that was very encouraging. There have been so many “tough times” articles, and I was very happy to see two arts organizations decide to team up to brave the economic storm together.
Although many arts groups are singing the blues, two New Jersey organizations are trying a new duet.
Opera New Jersey and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will collaborate on three productions this July in Princeton and a “Carmen” at three venues around the state next February.
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/02/jersey_symphony_opera_nj_team.html
What is fantastic about this collaboration is the fact that they will be sharing management, marketing, venues, performances (the opera is hiring the orchestra for performances instead of finding other musicians), and they will be sharing an audience with an announced combined production. This is a very smart move for these two organizations since they have similar missions, and it will amount to growth for both organizations due to the combined efforts. If they build relationships across the two organizations and their supporters, they are sure to benefit audience development wise too!
Until next time, may your audiences be happy and loyal ones, and if they are not, feel free to contact me!
~Shoshana~
Shoshana Fanizza is the founder of Audience Development Specialists. Her mission is to introduce artists and arts organizations to their existing and potential audiences and to help them to form more rewarding relationships.
www.buildmyaudience.com
E-mazing Audience Development News – sign up today!
New Audience Development Book Store!
Audience Development Book Bag – A cost effective way to learn about audience development, arts marketing and arts management.
Filed under Audience Development
ADS Founder - Shoshana Fanizza
| Connect with me... |
|
| Audience Development Tip of the Day! |
Get your I Love Arts! Badge
Audience Development Specialists Blog! 