Endymion’s composers of choice

 

In the time that I was chairman of Endymion Ensemble, we put on a lengthy series of ‘Composer Choice’ concerts at the South Bank Centre in London. The groundrules for the composers were:

1.      Choose anything you like in the programme provided that it involves a chamber ensemble. (This generally made the concerts more expensive to mount than usual, involving a wide mix of players.)

2.      Be prepared to go up on stage and introduce your choices.

Over the years we had Peter Maxwell Davies, Harrison Birtwistle, Hans Werner Henze, Judith Weir (just now appointed Master of the Queen’s Music, succeeding Peter Maxwell Davies), Oliver Knussen, Marc Anthony Turnage, Jonathan Dove, Alexander Goehr, George Benjamin, John Woolrich, Colin Matthews, Gavin Bryars, John Tavener, Thomas Ades, Howard Skempton, John Casken and others.

Most of the concerts were fascinating, but the most memorable introduction was from Birtwistle, who shuffled up on stage and mumbled: ‘I’ve been asked to tell you why I chose these pieces, but I’m buggered if I can remember.’

Transforming concerts with The Night Shift

Even in today’s fast-changing world, there are sectors that seem to innovate slowly and rather reluctantly. One of these is the classical concert.

It may be the fear of “dumbing down” that gets in the way of change, but, in its essentials the experience of going to a regular concert now seems very little different from the way it was half a century ago.

So it’s exciting when something new is tried – and when it works.

The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, probably the best-regarded band of its kind in the world, started thinking about exploring new formats for new audiences some ten years ago. I was asked to facilitate a visioning day for them – and what emerged was a very clear sense of direction, sufficient for the desire to go into their strategic plan.

In the event, it took a further five years for a clear insight to emerge, coupled with a definite idea for how to tackle the opportunity.

A small team of like-minded people in the orchestra management – CEO Marshall Marcus (now head of music at London’s South Bank Centre), orchestra manager Steve Thomas and marketing manager William Norris – came to the conclusion that there was a potential new audience in young professionals and students, but that they were put off by the notion that concerts were stuffy and formulaic, long and boring. In short, not for us.

So The Night Shift was born. Starting later (usually at 9pm), and going on till late, it’s a full “evening out”, with an open bar, presenter, DJ, an atmosphere of youthful informality - people can come and go as they please (and, shock-horror, they can take drinks into the auditorium) - and for students the first drink is free. The concert at the heart of it is a shorter version of the regular, more formal gig.

It has been a tremendous success for the orchestra, regularly selling-out and genuinely attracting a new audience with a quite different profile. And importantly the players have grown to love it too.

Is it the way of the future for live classical music? I wouldn’t be surprised.