Music and Letters Advance Access published online on December 7, 2007
Music and Letters, doi:10.1093/ml/gcm084
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© The Author (2007). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.
Loyalty and Longevity In Audience Listening: Investigating Experiences Of Attendance at A Chamber Music Festival
* University of Sheffield. Email: s.e.pitts{at}sheffield.ac.uk; c.p.spencer{at}sheffield.ac.uk. The authors would like to thank all the participants in this project, particularly those who generously gave their time to be interviewed. Thanks also to Simon Webb, administrator at Music in the Round at the time of the study, for his interest in and encouragement of the research, and to Kate Gee, for many hours spent transcribing questionnaires and interviews.
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Abstract |
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There is currently much concern among arts organizations and their marketing departments that audiences for classical music are in decline, yet there has been little investigation so far of the experiences of long-term listeners that might yield insights into audience development and retention. This paper presents a case study of the Music in the Round chamber music festival, conducted over a three-year period that included the retirement of the host string quartet, the appointment of a new resident ensemble, and associated changes in audience attitudes and priorities. Questionnaire and interview data revealed the challenges faced by audience members in shifting their loyalty to a new ensemble and reappraising their own listening habits and stamina. The interaction between individual listening and collective membership of an audience is discussed, and the potential considered for understanding classical concert-goers as ‘fans’ or ‘consumers’.