Classical Music needs to stop being in thrall to a dead ‘star’ system
I argue that the artists on stage are rarely the audience attractions that the classical music business think they are. We need a reality check.
ENO…again.
With ENO again in the news I look at whether criticism of its management and board is justified.
Those Arts Council funding decisions: 6 months on
6 months on from the, to put it mildly, controversial funding decisions of Arts Council England I reflect on them. A fair shake up or a series of unwarranted cuts?
What arts copywriters can learn from…hot cross buns.
As I was stuffing a hot cross bun into my mouth this morning I looked at the packaging. That packaging had persuaded me in a matter of seconds while in the queue at Marks and Spencer that I HAD to spend money on this product, and as I looked at the packet while waiting for the bun to toast, I realised how great the copy writing is.
In Defence of Grayson Perry and Tree Surgery
Well, Grayson Perry seems to have landed himself in a little bit of hot water. The Telegraph has reported that, in a forthcoming edition of The Art Society Magazine, he’s posited that the Covid crisis is an opportunity to get rid of ‘dead wood’ in the cultural sector.
“I think every part of life has probably got a bit of fat that needs trimming, a bit of dead wood. It’s awful that the culture sector has been decimated, but I think some things needed to go. Too often, the audience for culture is just the people making it – theatres with whole audiences of actors, or exhibitions only put on to impress other curators.”
Cue outrage.
Streamed concerts: Full fat delight or pale imitation?
I guess we all have small treats we enjoy. One of mine is cereal. I’m usually a porridge kind of guy, but I do love a bowl of cornflakes on occasion. Or Rice Krispies.
Both of course should be served with ice cold milk. Yum.
That milk has got to be rich and creamy. Full fat. Maybe Gold Top. What it definitely should not be is skimmed.
It looks like milk. It smells like it. But when you taste it, it’s like a memory of milk. Empty, coloured water.
I feel the same way about digital art. And specifically, streamed classical concerts…
The Audience Triple Threat
We all know about one issue with arts audiences, and specifically ones for classical music - age. Look around any concert hall in North America or the UK and it’s undeniable that it’s those in their senior years which are turning up. How much the audiences are replenishing is open to debate, but evidence from the US certainly points to the audience ‘ageing out’. That’s polite language for ‘getting older and dying’. Of course a concert hall is never going to be populated with a majority of 30 somethings - they have other stuff going on like families to bring up, but its undeniably depressing going to a concert where the main impression is not of the music but of a vast sea of zimmer frames (Walkers in North American), sticks, grey hair and slowly shuffling audience members.