Several years ago, I invited a fellow musician to join me for a performance inside a prison. Before we began, my colleague was adamant about explaining the “meaning” of the music to the men in the audience. “How will they know it is about X and Y?” they asked.
I asked my collaborator to trust me. More importantly, I said to trust the audience.
At Arts Capacity, we believe in a simple but radical act: playing the music first. We start every concert by stating “there are no wrong answers,” then follow the performance with open discussion. We invite opinions, feelings, and thoughts without the “guardrails” of program notes or academic lectures.
This also means avoiding the common pitfall of performing only what we assume an audience wants to hear, or simply what we want to play. Programming based on assumptions is just another way of closing the door before the music even begins. It centers the performer’s ego or biases rather than the listener’s potential. When we stop trying to predict or pander, we allow for a more honest exchange.
In an environment where every second of a person’s life is governed by rigid rules and procedures, music offers a rare window of true authenticity. It provides a space where agency is returned to the individual.
After we finished playing that day, about 25 men shared their perspectives. Their impressions were deep, varied, and incredibly thoughtful. Many of them “nailed” exactly what the composer intended, but they didn’t get there because they were told the answer. They found those truths through their own creative permission.
When the microphone was finally handed back to my guest to share the “official” meaning, the guest simply couldn’t speak. Hearing those raw, honest insights had said it all. Tears streamed down the musician’s face. It was partly the satisfaction of seeing the music understood so deeply, but also the realization that the men had expressed the soul of the piece more eloquently than any planned program notes ever could.
To my fellow performers: when we rush to “educate” or “teach” an audience how to feel, we sometimes risk hijacking their experience. When you stay curious about their raw impressions instead of policing their interpretation, you create space for them to lean in on their own terms. By staying silent, you provide the knowledge that you trust them.
At Arts Capacity, we have always leaned into this philosophy. We believe there are:
- No wrong ways to feel.
- No wrong answers.
- No limits to what a listener can discover when given the agency to do so.
When you give an audience permission to be creative, you are often the one who ends up being educated.
Open mind, open heart.
