We are not going to admit it are we? Why is it that writers constantly try to put a positive spin on the negative by proclaiming it’s simply an emotional response that prevents people from attending a Symphony concert or an arts event, basically saying it’s their fault. This time it’s fear, yes people are fearful, scardey cats, wobbly need at the thought of an audience member shooting them a dirty look if you applaud inthe wrong place. Give me a break, if 98% of a city is not into you, it can’t be just fear. I mean it is not as if they are being asked to bungee jump (although you should see how high the balcony is in our hall)…..
This article by Guy Dammann on the Guardian web-site is a somewhat convoluted argument that fear is the primary reason people don’t come to concerts. He goes into snobberry first:
People are often put off classical music by its reputation for snobbery but the guilt in this attaches not to the music but to its audiences. Nor can they necessarily be blamed. Where the constant lowing of sacred cows can be almost deafening, and where opinion boldly goes where understanding may not, snobbism flourishes with the vigour of Japanese knotweed.
Then he unleashes the fear argument:
But the underlying problem is one common to all the arts: fear. The arts are rank with it. Fear of being thought ignorant or being revealed as a fraud. Fear of not knowing how to pronounce chiaroscuro, trompe l’oeil or gesamtkunstwerk. Fear because the books we think we should have read bully us mercilessly and the music we think we ought to recognise tortures us on a rack of nagging self-doubt. Galleries and concert hall lobbies are filled with those darting eyes and premature nodding that masks the gentle, creeping terror of those seeking to signify recognition where none in fact exists.
I think he is confusing fear with our expectation from our audiences to be informed and to accept everything we do, and like it. I don’t think that causes fear, it just turns them off!
Someone who has never been to a fine arts event, is not by definition fearful are they? They are probably just not that interested in paying mega bucks for something they either don’t know or don’t care about. Playing the fear card is just an excuse. Oh yes the audience is light because they are too scared to hear Mozart, so don’t blame us, they are just scared of the Mozart monster.
People are not scared of us or the arts, they are just not made to feel welcome by us because we are not making ourselves accessible to them, and on top of this we are creating expectations from them. Even when tickets are sent out, many of us provide a whole page of restrictions for their use! We want an audience’s unconditional love, no matter how we treat them, and we cannot seem to understand why people wont attend a Berg symposium. It can’t be that they don’t like Berg….it’s that they fear Berg! It’s not that they don’t like being treated like children when they want to clap after a movement, it’s that they are scared of being treated like children? Show me a venue/organization that is warm, welcoming, flexible, responsive and makes people feel like they made a great choice, and there you will see a larger audience. If there is fear, it’s because we are creating it by and large.
The point is, we have start looking at ourselves instead looking for some big general emotion as the reason that people are not into us. Doing that is easy and a cop out and my fear is that we will excuse ourselves to death!
Be fair, Ron: “fear” is in fact a very powerful influence in many of our choices and actions in life. I’m not talking about terrified-of-monsters-hide-under-the-bed-whimpering fear, but then again, nor is Dammann. Things like fear of failure (or fear of success) and low-level “fears” such as fear of not fitting in or fear of appearing stupid do exist. If you read the article again, you’ll see that Dammann’s writing about it as “self-doubt”.
There are certain kinds of music I don’t go to hear. You could say I simply don’t like those styles and that would be true. But there is also an element of fear in some of my dislikes: not fear of the music itself, but a “fear” of its context and where and how it’s heard and who else is there and how I would feel and be received (or not) in such an environment. It goes beyond neutral dislike and touches personal discomfort, insecurities and vulnerabilities. All very human. So of course, I stay away and go listen to music in places where I feel no fear. It’s no one’s “fault”.
Guy Dammann’s article hardly puts a positive spin on all this. He’s pointing to a few things (characteristic of the arts themselves) that cause or exacerbate this self-doubt. It’s not a perfect article, by any means, and the argument steps on its own toes in a couple of spots, but I don’t think for a minute that he’s blaming the audience for this as you’re claiming. Like you, Dammann understands that most of the “fear” we create or at least nurture.
Ultimately, identifying the role of fear/self-doubt among the many reasons people might not come to your concerts is hardly excuse-making: in fact it’s part of the process of looking at ourselves.
Yvonne,
Thanks for your response! I perhaps should have been more succinct, instead of the word positive, the word excuse is more to the point. It’s not that fear is not a factor at all, but if it is in any way then what are we doing about it? If we’re doing nothing then it becomes an accessibility issue which is my overall point. The power is still with an arts organization to help people overcome fear i.e Chicago with it’s Beyond the Score series for those who want a little more insight in a less rigid setting, or Bang on a Can with a bar to chill out or hang out at if it gets too much. Part of the fear may be that a patron feels they are stuck in their seat, and “what if I don’t like it…heeeelp”. The fear might the foreboding nature of a hall, the expectation of how to dress, how to behave and to me if we do nothing about that then I fear we might lose more people, because if people in these times are going to make a choice to go out, they will go to something that gives them comfort and enjoyment, to something where they will not be judged. Lastly, I have participated in many surveys and focus groups and the #1 issues as to why people who used to attend don’t any longer vacillate between: parking issues, problems with ticketing in particularly at the hall!
I am afraid to admit that I have been guilty of a modest amount of snobbery in my time. A few weeks ago, I attended a concert given by Antoni Wit and Warsaw Symphony at Wake Forest University here in North Carolina. The crowd was very large due to good advertisement, the program (Liszt’s piano concerto and Tchaikovsky 6th), and the orchestras solid reputation. I chose to set in the balcony, as the tickets were open seating. There were very few spots open when a friend and I climbed the stairs. I chose a spot that was near the center, where a sign “Reserved for Signature Subscribers” was being removed. I asked an older woman if the seats in front of her were available. With incredible snobbery she said, “Not anymore, I assume.” Well, that started the night off perfectly. We sat there enjoying the concert until she started talking to her husband. Yes, talking, not whispering. I can only stand very little of this, so I turned and gave a glance to her. Not a “look,” but a simple “yes, I know what you are doing” glance. After intermission, we returned for the Tchaikovsky; which happens to be sacred to me. Instantly, like clockwork, an usher’s CB radio went off after the orgasmic climax of the first movement. Through my tears of enjoyment, I turned red with sheer anger. How on earth can one be so incredibly stupid as to ruin this beautiful music with a loud request for “more folding chairs!” During the second movement, the lady decided that she was not done with her conversation. She inquired about Thanksgiving plans!!! I could not bare it any longer, I turned and glared, “Will you please stop talking,” I said as loud as my concert etiquette would allow. I was rewarded with an intensely surprised face. She obviously goes to concerts often, because she was dressed respectfully, had “signature” subscriptions, and knew how to pronounce “Liszt.” All I am wondering now is could I have approached it any other way. I have actually done the same thing in a cinema before to a group of idiotic teenagers not paying a bit of attention to “There Will Be Blood.” I believe it was the ushers’ mistake for not silencing the radio that put me in a bad mood. But she was completely aware of her actions and spoke anyways. I cannot think of any other way to approach the situation.