HayleyS Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 I'm doing a wee research project on classical music and would love to hear about your experiences: What Quote
sum1 Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 What’s your first memory of going to a concert? The first concerts I really remember are my own. I do remember hearing a good Danses Sacr Quote
Tokkemon Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 What’s your first memory of going to a concert? No idea. First pro concert was probably the NY Philharmonic. What's your favorite memory of a concert experience? Hearing Mahler 2 at the NY Phil. Best concert ever! How do you keep informed about new concert dates? Website and e-mail updates. How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert? Usually, a lot. What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after? Great! If you love the music, you will love the concert. Who do you normally go with? Myself. Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why? Meh. Only if I've never heard of the institution. Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers? YC! What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers? Audience participation! What do you think will get kids could get into classical music? Cool music! It takes a great amount of encouragement, but once they're hooked, nuture the relationship. Also, remove the "stigma" of classism of classical music. Let 'em clap between movements and dance in the aisles. Quote
SSC Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 What’s your first memory of going to a concert? I went to an organ concert, and they played Bach. That got me going, as far as I remember it. What's your favorite memory of a concert experience? Hearing Hindemith's Mathis der Mahler (Symphony only) live. It was great. But I can't narrow it down to one single favourite concert experience, lol, there are many. How do you keep informed about new concert dates? Uh. Dunno. People tell me. How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert? Not much, sometimes nothing. Then sometimes it's people I know. Varies. What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after? I don't know. I sit and listen, in the end I think it's sort of a waste because I often listen to pieces time and time again otherwise I sort of just get this vague memory and remember if I liked it or not, but nothing else. So, to avoid that I try to listen to the piece beforehand as many times as possible or know as much as possible so when I go listen to it live I know what to expect/what to listen to/etc. Who do you normally go with? I try to go with my girlfriend whenever possible. Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why? "A website"? Yeah, I visit plenty of websites! ... Oh about the concert? I don't know, I never read about it on the interwebs or read reviews of it. If I went, that's good enough for me. Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers? No. What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers? Money...and I guess one of my problems is that I don't go to concerts to hear Beethoven or Haydn, so I rarely go to concerts. Repertoire is a big issue and it can be horrible if you happen to enjoy anything post 1800s and are tired or don't want to pay for seeing the same 4 composers over and over and over and over and over. What do you think will get kids could get into classical music? ... Uh. Dunno. They'd have to like the music beforehand, or be interested in music to begin with. Otherwise why bother? I wouldn't want to force or lure an unwilling audience to pay money/invest time for something the really didn't want. That's a way to ruin it for people. Quote
James H. Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 I'm doing a large project on development of music, and a lot of it deals with how people treat classical music today and why it seems below pop and stuff ... so this topic here interests me as well. What’s your first memory of going to a concert? Couldn't tell yah. What's your favorite memory of a concert experience? Probably when I went to see River City Brass Band and they played a concerto for three percussionists. The first two brought a bunch of boxes up front full of noise makers and other various accessory goodstuff, and set it all up. The third percussionist stayed in the back on timpani. The piece started and it went into William Tell Overture and the fellow in the back played the whole melody on timpani... and RAN like HELL to the complete other side of the back of the stage loudly to play the xylophone part... and the band waited for him to do this... a minute into the piece, a pizza delivery man brought the two percussionists up front a pizza and the piece ended when they finished the pizza... with the one guy running back and forth playing all the parts by himself. XDD How do you keep informed about new concert dates? My local orchestra's website: Westmoreland Symphony Concerts at the Palace Theater How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert? Depends on how much I feel like researching the people... sometimes I know why the piece was composed, who for, who composed it, what he was like, why he wrote it, techniques he used... but usually I don't know much about the performers unless I know them personally or have just seen them before. What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after? Usually pretty relaxing. Good music for a half an hour, a 15 minute break, and more good music for another half an hour. People are friendly... it's mostly old folks, though, usually not many youngins' floating around. Who do you normally go with? Usually my girlfriend. Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why? Yup, I like to find out more about anything I can find. Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers? No. What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers? This has been discussed here before... many people are afraid because the symphony is too... "formal." It's too .... "proper" or "rich" and not for "the general public" but for those who think they are of "higher stature." This is exactly what is killing classical music because the old folks are dying off and us young generation never really got exposed to it with all this pop culture music that billowed out in the last 80 years and ate everything else up. What do you think will get kids could get into classical music? It needs to be used in more mainstream zones. Like television commercials randomly advertising works by certain composers for 30 to 90 seconds, playing excerpts. Stuff that might grab young folks' attention... perhaps Bartok or something of the like. Even Reich. Kids need to know it EXISTS. They have a predetermined disposition against classical music simply because they've only been subjected to the works of Beethoven, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Chopin... all the music that is commonplace and everybody has heard to the point of boredom. It's like that's all classical music is... and it's not. People need to know that. Quote
jujimufu Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 What’s your first memory of going to a concert? Uhm, dunno.. at about the age of 5-6? Maybe before that. My father loved classical music and he always played classical music to me at home, so he also took me to some concerts (in return to having fast-food later :P ) What's your favorite memory of a concert experience? Absolutely no idea. I've been fascinated by a lot of performances, especially when it's stuff I've never heard before. I was stunned by a performance of Turangalila Symphonie by Esa-Pekka Salonen, also by a solo Keith Jarrett concert (I think that's probably one of my favourite concerts I went to, but the music wasn't terribly good, if that makes any sense), and a "Guest of Today" concert featuring Michel van der Aa , and his music just bedazzled me... How do you keep informed about new concert dates? Internet, brochures, mailing lists, e-mailing lists, friends, teachers, performers, posters, radio, newspapers. How much do you know about the story and performers before the concert? If it's a famous performer/ensemble which I am familiar with, I probably know something. If it's someone I've never seen before, there's more than usually a programme note explaining some stuff about the ensemble and the pieces performed. If there isn't, I note down the name(s) and look them up if I find them interesting or would like to know more about them in any case (like Apartment House - when I saw them use the Stroviols live, and I was absolutely fascinated by the instruments, so I spoke to some of the members and found out more about the Stroviols, and then I went online and found out more about Apartment House). What's the actual concert experience like - before, during and after? Before, well, depends. If I know the pieces, I'm listening to the performance. If it's a new piece of music, I try to listen to the composition more (but that also depends on the kind of music, as obviously with music dependent more on the performers -such as jazz or open scores, experimental music etc- then I'd listen for the performance again, although I might not know the performer), but generally I try to not (consciously) draw any conclusions before listening to the actual music. During the concert, depending on the kind of music it is again, I have my pocket moleskine notebook (not a stave one, just a ruled one) and a very sexy tiny pilot birdie pen and I take notes in between movements, about the composition, ideas, sounds, other thoughts, the performers, something that surprised me, what I'm having for dinner, a number I must not forget and some shopping I have to do. Who do you normally go with? I always go by: go alone, and if someone wants to join in, perfect. I won't ditch a concert because I arranged to go with someone and they couldn't/wouldn't make it in the end. I usually prefer to go to new music concerts on my own, to have some space to think and meet the people on my own while I enjoy going to good performances of pieces I (and the others) know with other people, so we can discuss about the performance later. I also like discussing new music after a concert, but I much prefer to let new music sink in before I talk about it. Do you ever visit a website before or after the event and if so why? To book a ticket, to see events, to see if there's an after party, to find out more about the composition, about the composer, about the performers, to check my e-mails, or to just read a joke. Do you belong to any online groups or communities for concert goers? I have registered in e-mailing lists of organisations and venues for concerts that interest me, if that's kind of what you mean. What do you think would make it easier for other people to get involved in concerts / what are the really big barriers? Cheaper tickets, open rehearsals, nice posters, cross-genre performances, young artists, stuff like that. What do you think will get kids could get into classical music? Free entry for kids, interactive performances, not too long programmes, varied programmes, things that involve the parents and the kids, and things that involve the kids only (so the kids will be excited about doing something their parents won't do, but without worrying too much about what it is they will be doing), make music more approachable in terms of physicality; let the kids play an instrument, make some sound, shout, scream, try to sing, conduct, touch the instruments of the orchestra and have a player tell them something, get to meet the players, the conductor, organise concerts with young performers, organise concerts with the kids themselves (so that they will invite their friends to come over), have open events, open rehearsals, basically what robin replied to the other thread about making people to go to concert halls more. I generally think that for kids not growing up in a family which likes classical music, classical music seems very "distant". A place where grown-ups go to sit for an hour and a half and close their eyes and enjoy this supreme entertainment of music, a place where no electric guitar or drums can be found. Quote
rautavaara Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 What’s your first memory of going to a concert? Going to see Jan Quote
jujimufu Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 Hey rautavaara, are you in London? If so, so am I - we should go for a drink or something :P Quote
maestrowick Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Tchaik 4! That piece is amazing! Along with Romeo and Juliet, that is the composition that made me fall in love with music. I'll add Beethoven 5, Blue Danube, Mozart 41... Quote
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