Through the magic of Facebook, I recently became aware of an upcoming concert at my alma mater, Arizona State. The event, which features a number of student ensembles, will offer alternatives to the standard sit-in-your-seat-and-quietly-watch-the-stage concert-going experience. While listening to the ASU Symphonic Band, a structured improvisation group, and an array of chamber ensembles, audience members will have their choice of activities. From the event page on the ASU School of Music website:
Interactive options include: blogging with musicians in real time, getting a play-by-play of the event from a knowledgeable musician just as in sporting events, immersing yourself in music-related conversation with other audience members, or you can simply sit back and enjoy the music in a traditional concert environment. Please remember to bring your laptop or smart phone with you, should you plan to participate in the blogging activities.
The idea is a very interesting one — trying to attract new audience members by altering the whole dynamic of the event. I assume that the various groups of people will be located in different parts of the hall. While Gammage Auditorium is quite large, I wonder if the play-by-play or the conversation corner will bother the people who opt for a traditional concert experience. I also wonder how many people will actually live-blog the concert. That sort of thing seems to be most popular for political conventions and Apple events.
I hope the event is a success though, and I applaud the effort to shake things up a bit. Gary Hill, the Director of Bands, is very forward-looking as a conductor and music director. Although I only played under him for a couple of years, I got the chance to play a plethora of cool new music — much of which was outside the traditional conception of what ‘band music’ is or should be.
I wonder if I’ll be able to find a live blog of the event, since I can’t attend myself…
One Response to An E-volution of Experience
http://openid.aol.com/bassoonery3
Replied on: September 14, 2008, 11:06 am
Hmmm, for some reason my AIM SN is the only thing that works. Anyway, thanks for the advice on the NJ gig. Most people have said the same thing, that I should just enjoy a little vacation. And the show is fun, I subbed for Daniel a bit last year. Funny you mentioned reading, I think Reid went through about 5 magazines about World of Warcraft per rehearsal.
I’ll be interested to see how this interactive concert experience goes. It actually sounds like it could be really interesting, but I think people opting for the traditional concert would rather just have a separate E-free show for themselves. I guess the question is will this kind of involvement cause those in attendance to listen closer or be more distracted. If their enjoyment is through the roof perhaps it doesn’t matter but I know that when my i-tunes or pandora is running and I’m doing anything else I’m not really listening…
ZM