CutTime connects outside groups with symphonic music so they might sustain each other.

 

Climate Change

Let’s face it. Today, if an otherwise curious music-lover wanted to try a live classical music concert, they may not agree to shower up, dress up, pay up, shut up, and sit still shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers in our concert sanctuaries. Not to mention tackling the learning curve to celebrating the actual music. These are steep perceived costs for newcomers to attend a new church, making it a non-starter for most.

While concerts are indeed immediately inspirational, even spiritual, and a beloved tradition for us classical music insiders (true-believers), we in the industry have yet to design commercial new user experiences (UX) that would most conveniently and socially serve those who tend to avoid or simply ignore any such expensive and foreign fine arts (outsiders).

For real change to become possible, musician-artists themselves need to listen, imagine, and design new experiences, perhaps in “safe” spaces and with new audiences themselves, to bridge fully across yawning cultural gaps.  By 2012 “The Arts” were finally redefined much more broadly by the National Endowment for the Arts to include sports, popular concerts, movies, nature, and other voluntary activities people leave the house to witness or participate. Correspondingly, curious every-persons are cautiously giving classical music another chance to make it real for them. The major institutions are still generally cautious toward inclusion and experiments with the canon: much is at-risk. So daring on a fully-funded small scale is perhaps required.

Today, residencies are spinning off into deeper collaborations and program series that translate each other’s values. Institutions that can take in such grant programs may pay for themselves in the medium term. It won’t take yet another recession, generation, pandemic or social unrest for the classical music industry, and its best-paid musicians to re-examine core goals, values and beliefs. Adjusting to the social climate change is no longer equated with giving up on the classical arts tradition. We can serve both sides of this coin. We can honor the traditional art form and push past historic exclusions to seek a self-sustaining balance with the rest of America.

And yet the paradigm of CutTime® goes deeper:

Potential new fans are saying:

1) Few of us took classical instruments in school, and our parents had no exposure or interest either.
2) We don’t want to work for classical: we need lively, respectful, effective guidance.
3) Neither classical concerts nor internet videos give entertaining personality, context or advice. Something’s missing.
4) Classical concerts seem cold, boring and confusing. Why can’t you have an attractive host or bring it to a club setting?
5) We prefer songs, rap, and dance because drums & lyrics are dramatic and personal. They make us feel and think.
6) If I can’t join in some way, I might want to confer with my friends while enjoying live classical music. Where can I do that?
7) Without a rocker’s passion, classical concerts can feel lifeless, pretentious, pointless or surreal to me. Make me believe you!
8) My friends and I prefer new music, but anything well-played, or sung, is welcome. Bring us variety, and we’ll work up to hardcore.
9) Classical doesn’t market broadly; like you really don’t want us as-we-are. Where’s the series for folks like us?
10) We might need our own people to design our own parties around classical music, to host and interpret. Who can we work with?

Let’s celebrate our good fortune to have so many choices in music. Isn’t this what our parents wanted for us? And yet, if people aren’t sure they can come as-they-are, as at most other music events, whole communities feel dis-invited by audience and ushers for wearing jeans, t-shirts, or whispering at classical events (micro-aggressions). Let us enlarge our audience base by proactively welcoming fresh faces at concerts. Let us enlist our current audiences and volunteers, who stand on the frontlines of audience development.