Venue

This document contains the presentation slides from a talk by arts consultant Heather Maitland on what makes a good venue.

This document contains the presentation slides from a talk by arts consultant Heather Maitland on what makes a good venue.

In this article arts consultant Heather Maitland briefly describes how audiences prefer venues where they feel they belong. Research shows, that we all actively seek a third space, besides from home and work, where we spend most of our time, in which we can meet our social needs through creative interaction with others. Heather argues that art spaces and concert venues have the ability to be that kind of third space, if they strike a balance between informality and formality. Where that balance lies, however, depends on the type of music and individual preferences.

The ensembles in the NewAud working community 'Young Audiences' met for a workshop discussing how to market their work to 19 to 35 year olds without alienating existing audiences. This document lists their recommendations regarding venue, concert format, communication and use of social media.

The ensembles in the NewAud working community 'Exploring Venues and Concert Formats’ met for a workshop discussing how ditching the traditional concert hall can help us. This document lists their arguments for staging concerts outside of the regular concert venue. The list includes claims that it can help you reach a new audience, get sponsorships and bring new inspiration and energy to the ensemble.

The ensembles in the NewAud working community ‘Exploring Venues and Concert Formats’ met for a workshop discussing what makes an effective event outside the concert hall. This document lists their recommendations for what to focus on and aim for, when you meet your audience outside of the regular concert venue.

The Federation of Three Wallonian Ensembles gave a concert at the legendary Halles de Schaerbeeck in Brussels, based on the ambition to find the perfect piece of music for a particular room. The audience was seated in deck chairs scattered in the large room, three orchestras and three conductors performed simultaneously, and the focus was on the total experience of space, acoustics and music. This document in brief describes the concert.

St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra staged a concert in the Devil's Hole, a geological monument in a Lithuanian forrest. The aim was to attract both nature lovers, adventurers and those seeking events with a strong atmosphere. The concert was a great success with more than 600 people attending the event. This report sums up the benefits and challenges of ditching the concert hall in favour of a hole in the ground.

St Christopher Chamber Orchestra wanted to create a link between music and technology, and therefore engaged young students from the Vilnius Technical University as collaborators in a unique concert. The concert was held in the turbine hall at the Museum of Energy and Technology. The ensemble composed short pieces for the students to play, with the technical instruments, old machines and turbines as musical instruments. This concert report describes the process and outcome of the project.

Sinfonietta Rīga gave a concert at the old Spilve Airport, a half abandoned Soviet era heritage with neo-classical architecture and special acoustic qualities. The concert programme presented the premiere of a site specific composition by the young Latvian composer Kristaps Pētersons, Mastering of acoustics, which was performed simultaneously from 10 different spots in the building. This report describes the artistic intentions in mixing contemporary music and 20th century architecture, the process and results of the project.

The Dutch ensemble Lunatree created a one hour non-stop performance where the pieces were connected by a soundscape, achieving a sense of “theatre for the ears”. The aim of the concert was to create an intimate setting for the audience and musicians to get together and enjoy previously unheard music. This case report describes the concept of the concert and sums up the do's and don'ts of the experiment, emphasizing the benefits of creating an informal atmosphere and mingling with the audience.

The Dutch ensemble Lunapark brought new music to the audience at a jazz club in a relaxed, informal setting. They presented the piece Bulp by Donacha Dennehy, and contrasted its acoustic minimalism with the electronic minimalism of Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda. This report in brief describes the aims and results of the concert.

London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO) presented a concert at Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Square, Chelsea, London.The aim of the concert was to make the audience feel an ultimate connection with melody and witness something quite spiritual and moving in the intimate and elevating surroundings of Holy Trinity Church. This report describes the concert and shows the findings from observations of the advertisement prior to the concert and the various reactions of the audience during the concert.

The Polish ensemble Kwartludium mixed concert and workshops for children aged 4-12 years – the audience that is the most open minded. 110 children participated in the event at a traditional concert hall. They listened to the new music with interest and remained concentrated during the whole event. They were eager to participate in all the proposed games and activities. This report describes the concept and shares the thorough evaluations made from observations of the children, evaluation games and a focus group interview with the parents.

KammarensembleN filled every corner of the Art Museum Färgfabrikken with the sound of drums. Walking through the museum rooms the audience would meet a drum roll here, a knock there, whizzing cymbals here and the pounding of tom-toms there. It all melted together in a total installation of room and sound. The aim was to explore the concert space in unexpected ways, create links between the music and other art forms and attract a new audience. This concert evaluation report describes the project, and shares the answers from an audience survey.

German Ensemble Recherche created a concert with a programme consisting entirely of contemporary music by composers from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. The concert took place in a modern art collection and lasted for three hours, inviting the audience on a journey deep into the Scandinavian night. This document in brief describes the concert.

The Galway Ensemble in Residence: ConTempo Quartet and Crash Ensemble joined forces in ditching the concert hall and making the concert a more sociable experience. The local courthouse was chosen as the venue, and on the night of the concert a survey was handed out to learn more about the audience. The main goals of the survey were to build a localized profile of contemporary music audiences and gauge the effectiveness of the concert setting to the audience experience. This concert evaluation report describes the concert and the context of the New Aud project, and shares the findings and analysis from the audience research.

The ConTempo String Quartet made a unique visual and musical event combining live and video recorded performance. The four members of the ensemble were placed in separate rooms, each playing the same piece accompanied by the three other ensemble members recorded on video. This gave the audience the chance to see one piece from a variety of angles. This document describes the process and result of the project.

The Cikada Ensemble gave a concert with a programme consisting entirely of works by composer Carola Bauckholt. The setting was quite untraditional as the concert unfolded at a 700 year old fortress in the centre of Oslo. Playing in different halls of the fortress, the ensemble led the audience through the mazes of hallways connecting the venues, enhancing the wholeness of the experience. This document in brief describes the concept of the concert.

Athelas Sinfonietta focused on setting the scene for socialising, when they played a concert at a shared creative office space. Athelas aims at making concerts where videos, happenings and staging effects bind the music pieces together to one artistic event. In this case there was a new music video battle before the concert started, and free drinks afterwards. This document in brief describes the concept.

Athelas Sinfonietta played a new music concert at a typical rock music venue. The concert was part of their experimental concert series Brand New Tuesdays. With these concerts Athelas focus on opening up the concerts by rethinking them as social events that embraces and includes the audience. This document in brief describes the concept.

Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen integrated their experimental concert format Brand New Tuesdays as a part of the avant-garde music festival KLANG. The vision behind Brand New Tuesdays is to create a direct dialogue with the audience in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. After the concert the ensemble invited the audience to stay for a drink and an informal chat about the works. Athelas conducted a focus group interview with members of the audience, and shares the findings in this evaluation report.