Concert report

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.

The Federation of Three Wallonian Ensembles is a working relationship between the three Bruxelles based ensembles Sturm und Klang, Ensemble21 and Ensemble ON. They collaborated during the NewAud project, and held a concert celebrating the final conference in Warsaw. The concert mixed an acoustic and electrified string orchestra with electronic devices, and attracted a big young audience. 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.

Sinfonietta Rīga performed what is most likely the worlds first twitter opera, retelling a heated debate on the economic situation in the Baltic. With the relevant subject and contemporary format, the ensemble got a lot of attention from the media as well as new audiences. They aimed at engaging the audience through social media before, during and after the concert. This report describes the process and results of the project.

Sinfonietta Rīga held a concert marking the reopening of an old concert hall, hidden from the public for more than 30 years. The concert hall is located at the Latvian Academy of Science, and the concert engaged young scientists in the project. With the multidisciplinary nature of the concert, and the venue being a Soviet era heritage, Sinfonietta Rīga's ambition was to attract a broad variety of audience groups: Academics, urban explorers and cultural heritage enthusiasts. This report describes the project and its results, pointing to the great promotional effect for the ensemble.

The Polish ensemble Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej addressed varied groups of audiences for their concert as part of an international festival for dance and performance. Young people interested in dance and performance art, the regular new music audience and local authorities of culture politics were all invited to a concert. Among others the concert presented a piece written by the former Croatian president. This document describes the concept and aim of the concert.

Polish Orkiestra Muzyki Nowej host their own annual New Music Festival. The opening concert was aimed at young people, aged 13-19, attending music schools. To be as close to their target audience as possible, the concert was held at the Szymanowski Secondary Music School. This document in brief describes the concert.

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.

The Polish ensemble Kwartludium mixed concert and workshops for children based on the belief that new music should be reachable for the young audience – the audience that is the most open minded. They made two concerts; one for the 4-7 year olds and one for the 8-12 year olds. Both concerts took place at the National Gallery of Art ZACHĘTA and were a great success. This report describes the concept and shares the thorough evaluations made. Throughout the event a number of children where being observed for the ensemble to learn from their reactions. Furthermore an evaluation game was made with the children after the event, as well as a focus group interview with some of 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.

HERMESensemble was involved as main partners in creating the The Inspiratum Kanaal Festival in Antwerp. Here they presented a contemporary and multimedial concert programme at an untraditional venue: an old, restored brewery in an industrial area. The festival attracted a wide audience, and reached out to children and youngsters through collaborative workshops. For audience research in depth interviews was made with three members of the audience. This evaluation report describes the values and challenges of the project and shares conclusions and recommendations based on the interviews with audience members.

The Hebrides Ensemble held two concerts aiming to take their work beyond the major venues, comparing the audience's experience at a concert hall and at an alternative venue. The ensemble held a third concert marking the start of a new collaboration with young musicians from the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland. They made an extensive audience survey at the three concerts. The survey indicates that when programming new music as part of a concert, the ensemble should make sure that the whole experience matches the concert. It also shows that including modern work in classical programmes can help redefine the perception of what your ensemble represents amongst audiences. This evaluation report shows the findings of the 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 Crash Ensemble invited the audience to an all Nordic concert in Dublin. The program presented composers from all five Nordic countries and the evening was co-curated by Icelandic composer Valgeir Sigurðsson, attracting a wide audience. A post show party ensured an informal atmosphere, and aligned the concert with popular music from the same region. This document describes the concert in brief.

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.

Cantus Ensemble joined forces with young students of animated film to create a unique experience of contemporary music. The students created animated films to be screened during the live performance of the ensemble. The goal was to address a new, young audience by mixing art forms and ditching the formal concert hall. This evaluation report describes the concept and process of the creative collaboration and sums up the response from the audience and what the ensemble learned from the experience.

The Finnish ensemble Avanti! Chamber Orchestra played a unique concert with no less than 60 children on stage – all playing the clarinet. Celebrating their cooperation with the Helsinki Conservatory, the ensemble wanted to engage young children in the world of new music – not only as an audience, but as contributing participants in a professional concert. 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.