Classically Inspired

I have been thinking recently about the whole concept of outreach within classical music. The biggest fear I guess is the thought that whatever you are trying to do, no matter what your best intentions are; you fail and all you are doing is flogging a dead horse. Who wants one of those, nobody; as everything you have done has been a big waste of time.

Therefore, from this perspective before you can fail you must know that it is possible to achieve your aims. So some research must have been done before committing to it. Locating your nearest deprived borough or city is one option, the other is leaving your concerts open to anyone from any part of town to attend.

My personal preference is to leave the concerts open, given all an opportunity to attend, however I do realise that many may be reluctant to attend unless a concert can be catered towards their needs. In this regard focusing on a specific area could help remove any stigma felt by a person in attending a concert by making it a collective community event.

These are just guesses, opinions and really if something is to really happen, it can’t be done before research has been collected. I mean: what does Hull want? does it want (need) classical concerts/outreach? In what form should it be, if so? Maybe the fact that there is nothing much available already is the answer (I hope not). Questions need to be asked and answers digested, however difficult they may be.

I’d like there to be some concerts available for children to attend to enjoy classical music, have some fun and go away inspired. And I don’t want to restrict these to those learning an instrument, but to every child and any family, therefore publicly available and advertised as such.

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I aim for the reasonably priced tickets, for the vast majority of the time these suit my needs, I get a seat to hear and be able to see the concert to the amount that I am prepared to pay.  It seems I’m not alone in wanting to buy cheap(er) tickets, for these can be the first to sell out. If the seats I’m willing to pay for have gone, then I simply won’t see that particular concert, after all there are plenty more concerts to see in London.

Within London such opportunities to pick and choose exist, allowing myself the right to choose a concert with a fair ticket price. How lucky I am to have such choice.

In Hull with naturally fewer concerts taking place, demand for a good priced ticket to see a Professional Orchestra is decidedly more restricted. Of course many would argue that prices are fixed according to demand and that the demand is sufficient to warrant a minimum price of £20.50. However I would argue that demand would improve if prices were made fairer and more friendly towards those who aren’t made out of money, are not unemployed, over the age of 60 or a full time student, but that they simply cannot afford to pay such prices on a concert, that for them may be the very first classical concert they have been to.

It is expensive, but there are further options such as attending a Hull Philharmonic Concert for example which has tickets priced at £5 or more. I only wish more of these concerts could be put on.

By pricing a ticket too highly, classical concerts send out a subtle signal to all that it is elitist and those afraid of not being a particular part of society need not attend, this seems particularly so with Hull City Councils Master Series (£20.50).

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The time between my last post and this one has been a long one. In this time, I had not felt able to write any postings on classical music. The number one reason for this is my lack of attendance at concerts. I have spent last year focusing on my normal, run of the mill job, which unfortunately requires me to work quite a few evenings. I have missed writing posts, however short they may be, and have often felt like getting back to writing. To those who have written to me, I thank you. To be quite honest, this blog has been left completely alone, and that was something I felt uncomfortable with.

This year I hope to return, in fact I have one post waiting in the wings and hope to find many others further along. I probably will not write quite as frequently this time, or if I do I may write less than before. It will be a balancing act between interests competing for my attention.

Before I stopped last time, I mentioned plans relating to classical music and children. This plan has come to nothing, in which I had hoped to help bring a orchestra to Hull, that were experienced in performing for children, for a concert. They needed funding and alas none was forthcoming. I had hoped that after one concert, a series may have begun. I fully realised what I had hoped for was unlikely to happen, and so never gave out details on here.

I am still disappointed but realised before I went into this, that funding and budget cuts were imminent. I hope though that in the future something may change here for the better.

I‘m still in the process of writing my first proper post, and it will not be rushed.

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Lynsey Hanleys recent article in the 'Comment is free' section of The Guardians website, "The cultured classes" (19/2/10) paints a rather depressing situation in our schooling system. The implication being that unless you are from a middle class background, the presumption by teachers is that pupil have very few cultural extra-curricular activities. I would really love to refute this, and argue that teachers look on every child as an individual open to all possibilities, however my own personal experience from my time at school finds the opposite true.

If a child does not take instrument lessons at school, can that child be said to have an aptitude towards music? Maybe that child does, but doesn't know how to ask for lessons, or did ask and was politely told no (that is my case, and yes I'm still a bit bitter that the teacher thought I couldn't do it and told me "it was a nice idea..but.."). You don't even have to have lessons just to enjoy music, but many presume instrumental lessons are a pre-requisit to enjoyment.

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I thought it a good question to ask, just how many London orchestras have played in Hull since 1980? Having discovered via Twitter that the English Chamber Orchestra has not played in Hull since the 1980's, and the London Symphony Orchestra might never have played in Hull, I wondered how many more orchestras have never or not for a long time played in Hull?

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Some good news, more an more orchestras and concert venues are holding outreach programs for children and a few are even seeking to attract adults to concerts. All of this can only be a good thing; investing in classical music for the future. With the advent of the internet and more technological advancements, how soon will it be before going out to listen to music (of whatever style) is the exception rather than the norm. As long as music still has a place in the National Curriculum, you will always have a few children growing up to become either professional musicians or concert goers.

However...

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Happy New Year

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