Recently, I had my first experience with an interesting sort of music performance.... in my sort of cloistered life, I hadn't known about these Candlelight Concerts by Fever. Probably most people haven't either... well, Fever is a promoter of these Candlelight concerts were a small ensembles plays popular classical "hits" or arrangements of popular movie music or contemporary popular music... all in a darkened candlelit (electric, thank goodness) atmospheric setting.... and this takes place in about 100 countries around the world!
So, a very very lucrative business for the promoter and one that is heavily marketed as well.... and if the concerts that I played at is any indicator... well, it is pretty well patronised with full houses on all evenings.
... why am I writing about this then? Well, I'm not a music snob by any means... but I have spent my entire life sort of just doing concerts in concert halls and that sort of thing... and also playing music in background music performances as well... you know, functions, state events, and weddings... that sort of thing. What is sort of interesting about this sort of production is that from the audience point of view, it is a concert... and from the musicians, they treat it more like a "gig"... and the promoter... well, they seem to just rake it in!
So, what is good about it... well, that is obvious. The audience that goes to these events wouldn't ordinarily be the same as those that attend the regular concerts. The presentation is different and less intimidating (sort of what I'm trying to achieve with my ensemble's "proper" concerts).... and they are listening to music that is more relevant to them... things that they know already. So, if that introduces them to the concept of Classical Music as well, then I'm definitely all for it!
... but what is not so good. Well, I'm pretty sure that this is all a huge business venture for the promoter. Nothing wrong with that... but I'm not sure that good things always flow from profit motives. Sure, there is a new connection made between a larger audience and the classical music musicians... but how much of that ends up transferring to a larger classical music audience? ... and does that matter?
The quality of the performances will also be quite varied... in the groups that I played with, the quality of the musicians varied quite significantly... and there is the potential that the audience is being sold an inferior performance without them knowing it (well, that happens everywhere in music anyway... especially pop stuff...)... but again, does that matter? I see that the audience doesn't really mind too much... and they are there to be entertained, and if they are entertained and enjoy it... well, who am I to say otherwise?
... but then is it enough to just "scrape" through? Shouldn't we present quality at all times... and not just "good enough" when we can get away with it?
On the musician front of things... well, the entire experience WAS quite enjoyable, even though I thought that the whole thing could HAVE been better in certain aspects... again, who am I to pass judgement?
... but there would be better ensembles and quality if the payments were more reflective of the work that quality musicians would put in. For one of the performances, I had a colleague who was top-notch... and it showed, especially in comparison to performances that had "lesser" players. But she said that she would not do this sort of thing again... her integrity demanded that she spend the time to make the performance up to her quality, but the payment and conditions were too little to make that worthwhile.... and demanding higher payments essentially just would result the promoter selecting for people who WOULD accept the conditions. Again... the focus is on profit and "good enough".
So... mixed impressions about the whole experience. Yes, great that people are being introduced to a classical setting in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere... but with caveats. In the end, would I do it again... yes. I still think that the outreach to new audiences IS more important than anything else... and as long as my own artistic integrity holds to perform the best as possible, then I think it is worthwhile. However, if I start going down the road of "good enough", then that is a problem... however, in the past, I have been exposed to similar situations and been quite aware of avoiding this common pitfall.
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