The value of the audience

It has often been mentioned that "the future of music is in live". What's your perspective on this? What kind of unique experiences does a concert experience continue to offer to this day?

Not only is the future of music in live, its past is there too. Live is not the only place that music has a future and a past but it is the most important because the live experience is the only one where the full emotion of the music can be conveyed by the musicians to the audience. If you then further add to that the magical fairy dust that the right venue can add to the experience, you provide all the right elements for a unique experience for the audience to enjoy.

Can festivals or concert spaces survive just by presenting music these days? What's your take on extra-musical concepts like presentations, discussions, art exhibitions and the like as an enrichment of your musical program?

Yes absolutely no question but if it turns out that sometimes your audiences want more, don’t hesitate, give it to them or give up.

How do you see the relationship between music and the location it's performed at? What are special characteristics of your concert space, would you say?

The location doesn’t change the music but it can change the experience for both artist and audience. The Royal Albert Hall has a soul and a magical ability to enhance performances with the result that night after night, the memories that people take away from their time here are amongst the best there are.

How would you define what differentiates a successful live performance from a poor one? What can artists do from your point of view to improve their live act?

I’ve known many sold out performances that receive rapturous applause but which the artists have hated because of some musical element of the night being less than perfect to them on stage.  I have also seen examples of critics being incredibly harsh in their notices in spite of, or perhaps maybe sometimes because of, a wonderfully, often spontaneous, positive reaction from audiences to a piece.  It’s really not for me to determine the right way to measure the success of a performance – my view is that, outside of the numbers of tickets sold, it’s an entirely subjective and personal thing in an artistic and enjoyment sense and I see no reason for everyone to have to agree on whether something worked.

Live performances are often considered as one-way forms of communication. In which way, however, can an audience actively contribute to them as well?

Really? I would argue that statement is the definition not of live but of recorded music.  Anyone attending any show has a value and part of that value is how they make the artist feel through their presence and their response to the performance.  

The role of the arts is always subject to change. What's your view on the (e.g. political/social/creative) tasks of the arts today and how do you try to meet these goals in your own work?

The arts can and do influence the world in all manner of ways because they give pleasure and because they can reflect much broader aspects of our perception of the world than many other areas of endeavour. However, if you’re not a performer creating art and you instead set out to curate the performances of others with the intention that they influence, I think you’re on shaky ground to begin with and, personally, I don’t think anyone should try or they run the risk of taking themselves a bit too seriously.

Music-sharing sites and -blogs as well as a flood of releases and more and more live performances in general are presenting both listeners and artists with challenging questions. What's your view on the value of music today?

The value of music has always been for each of us to determine as individuals. It’s a personal thing how much we feel music matters.  For me, the value of music is incredibly high and I am very proud to be part of an industry which promotes music and offers listeners and audiences so much variety and choice.  I do think though that we shouldn’t over-complicate the process - if you enjoy an artist, a composition, a song or a show, it’s perfectly possible to just enjoy the music without think about its value at all.

Please recommend two festivals or concert spaces to our readers which you feel deserve their attention.

One festival I’ve not managed to get to in its ten years but which I’ve had highly recommended if you enjoy film music is Festival Cordoba

There are so many wonderful celebrations through all types of music festivals around the world of course but I’d have to say that there’s a good reason that some are more famous than others so, if you’ve never say been to the Proms or Glastonbury or Salzburg or the Montreux Jazz Festival, put them on your list.  

Please recommend two artists to our readers which you feel deserve their attention.

I heard Christina Bianco sing live in our Elgar Room a couple of nights ago who one of our programming team had discovered through her YouTube videos. She sold out three nights, gave a brilliant performance for each and, for my money, is a hundred times better live than on screen and is worth seeing anywhere you get the chance. 

An agent who’s represented some of the greats in his career and had nothing to gain by the recommendation, once told me that I should go and hear The Cat Empire play live. I did, I loved it and if you love live music played with passion, you should think about doing the same if they’re ever playing near you. You don’t need to know a single song in advance, the crowd will enthuse you.