Outreach and Young Audiences

When I was in undergrad, all the chamber ensembles had to do outreach performances every year and every year it felt like such a chore. Perhaps it was explained to me at the time why outreach was important and my conservatory training, self-centered, elitist brain simply forgot, but I don’t recall any reasons given for why these performances were so important. 

The fact of the matter is that outreach is massively important! Especially to an industry that is seen as elitist, self-indulgent, and irrelevant by a large portion of the population. Because we don’t have to be those things. We don’t, y’all. But the more we hide in our concert halls, have sullen faces when performing for young audiences, and stick to the stuffy, dried scripts of “Beethoven was born in…. yada yada snore snore”, the more we are absolutely being those things and therefore deserve the apathy of the general population. 

So, what to do, baby boo?

There is a revolution amongst young and/or non-traditional small ensembles. We’re embracing outreach. We’re going to underserved communities, cafe-gym-natoriums, senior centers and we are enjoying what we are bringing to those audiences. The audience always knows when you’re enjoying yourself or if you’re just there for the paycheck. Moreover, this revolution is pushing back against the status quo of the Only Dead, White, Male Composers Club (ODWMCC) by bringing music by living, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, AAPI, femme, NB and so many more composers front and center. And if we do perform music from the ODWMCC, we’re making an effort to put this music into context of the present experience that we are currently living through. This alone is making it much easier for audiences to connect with us.

However, I want to talk about the greatest audience demographic of them all: young audiences. That sounds like sarcasm. It is not. 

Young audiences are awesome. First of all, they are extremely, unapologetically honest. If they’re bored, they will start talking to their friends. “Do you want to come over this weekend and play with my dog?” “Did you get that new video game?” “How’d you do on the test?” You can hear the disinterested muttering and no amount of shushing from teachers, parents, or performers will really stop it. If they are bored, you have failed at outreach, because you have affirmed that “classical music” is booooooooring (just like society has always told them). 

On the other hand, when they’re excited, interested, and having fun… well, they make noise then, too. BUT it’s an entirely different noise! It’s “wooooooooah”, “how did they do that???”, “That was soooo loud!!!” Those elongated syllables and extra punctuation marks can be heard a mile away if you’re tuned in to them. And believe me, they know when you’re tuned in or not. When you’re tuned in to them, they will ask interesting and insightful questions because they feel a connection to you. They may want to hug or high-five you. They will tell you all about how they want to play the flute now. They are excited for your presence. That lack of apathy they are showing is how you know you succeeded.

Y’all. It’s the best feeling. Adults don’t get this unabashedly excited easily. The enthusiasm and joy from a fabulous young audiences performance is infectious and a high like no other. 

*sits back and fondly remembers playing music games with an entire balcony of kids*

Outreach is called outreach because you, the performer, reach out to the audience, offering to share your world with them. They are under no obligation to come to you or grow up to be a patron of the arts. But within every young audience member lies the potential to become a future performer and patron of the arts. If only we reach out to them without bias, judgement, or apathy on their level.

So how can you make a young audiences show interesting to them? First of all, they don’t care when these composers lived or died. Strike that all from your script. Talk to them instead about what makes this music fun for you. Or have them listen for something fun in the music. Have them participate onstage for a piece. Have them sing along. Do something impressive (how fast can you play? how high? how low? how loud/soft? how long? does your instrument make animal noises?). Interact with them. Don’t ignore them while you’re making precious music. Most of all, don’t talk down to them. This is easily dealt with if you know your audience. If you’re performing for 6th graders, Twinkle Twinkle is condescending. Not the case for Pre-K. 6th graders, however, love a solid Star Wars theme and will love you forever if you play it for them. 

In summary, outreach is amazing and so so fulfilling. The more work a performer or ensemble puts into the creation of an outreach performance, the higher the likelihood that someone in the audience will care and will want to hear more in the future. So put in the work and make a great show for some cool people. They deserve it.