By Kristin M. Pugliese
I read an interesting blog post awhile back by Richard Dare for The Huffington Post: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-dare/classical-music-concerts_b_1525896.html) . He spoke about the experience of going to a classical music concert in a well-respected venue. He compared obtaining your tickets to “visiting a sort of bland theatrical version of the Department of Motor Vehicles” and the actual concert itself as having “a great many ‘clap here, not there’ cloak and dagger protocols to abide by.” In the end, he couldn’t enjoy the event to the fullest.
This got me thinking about what we do in our classrooms every day. Are we perpetuating this culture or is it one that is imposed upon us with no hope of change?
I would like to think that because we have our students when they are very young we have the power to change almost anything. What if we allowed our parents to shout out praises to their kids throughout the concert as Dare suggests? What would that look like? Could we maintain control? Would it be total mayhem? Most likely.
It would have been very interesting to hear a Beethoven concert where audience members were expected to shout out and applaud throughout the performance. Dare tells the story of Beethoven’s Third Symphony premier where his pupil shouted out "Can't the damned horn player count?!" after measure 394 when the horn seems to have come in too early. The truth was, Beethoven purposely wrote it this way, but it was acceptable behavior to question it….out loud…..DURING the concert…..
The real question is: how do we balance participation and respect for those who want to hear all of the music, not just what is heard over the loud screams?
I don’t know how I would feel if an audience member shouted specific jabs or praises during a piece, but it would certainly be more exciting! It would also be more intimidating to perform knowing that you would be called out on something publicly. Yet, having been to several concerts, I have often seen eyes droop from time to time. Perhaps I might have closed mine once or twice. The concerts where I enjoyed the music the most were when one of two things happened. One, I knew the music so well, I knew I liked it and loved hearing it live. Two, the artist or artists playing the music were so animated and/ or brilliant that I couldn’t help but fall in love. In the first instance, I engaged myself in the experience and in the second, the artists engaged me.
So what can we as educators do? Parents will already be excited because their kids are performing. This creates an opportunity where we can hand a bit of the teaching over to our students. Let them educate their parents and concert goers about the music they will be singing and playing. This will give them a sense of pride in what they know and then be able to know enough to teach others. When a particularly difficult passage arises or a certain emotive part “moves” listeners, audience members will feel comfortable applauding vigorously on a job well done. When choosing music, perhaps we choose a song or two that we know parents can join in. I love how music builds community instantly! The best thing we can do, though, is ask our kids ~ “What can we do to get our parents involved in our performance?”. I am sure their answers will be brilliant!! …and a bit hilarious!
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