This post is about children and how to get them more inclined to concerts and the orchestra. For teens, that is a little more difficult and I will offer my observations about that soon.
Yes, the BSO does a lot for the younger BSYO by offering free or reduced tuitions and now hosting a side by side concert in the first half of 2025, but we simply cannot rest on our laurels if we want to keep our beloved BSO a true community orchestra for generations to come and hire the best local musicians. Other orchestras around the state and in New England are having an even rougher time, so we really need to focus our attention to the young musicians and those who have musical tendencies yet to surface. But in order to do that, we need to make sure we HAVE local musicians in the future, and that can only be done by nipping the issue of musical decline in the butt.
I expounded on the hurdles many families face when trying to get their children involved in playing an instrument, from beginning to continuing, in today's world in my last post. Now I would like to say a few words about the adult version of the same topic.
I have noticed over the years a decline in interest in youth orchestras around the state of Maine as well as many pro orchestras. Although the Bangor Symphony Orchestra do great things and are a marvel to watch and listen to, I feel there can be much more done to captivate younger audiences, entice a wider variety of concert goers and especially to get children attending their remarkable concerts.
We need to look ahead, and quickly! This post is by no means a castigation of this Maine institution. They reach out to the community more than many other pro orchestras. I am simply going to give my two cents worth regarding how we can better capture a new audience and sustain our proud musical culture here in Central Maine and other orchestras around the state that are having a very rough time with concert attendance and finding musicians.
Just the same as restaurants and other businesses do, they must bring the children in because with children, are parents. Not only will this bring new blood into the fold, but it will help solidify the future of this great institution.
My son Thomas is a 6th generation Maine violinist, with his grandfather and great grandfather attending the New England Conservatory of Music and the Boston Conservatory. They taught violin in Maine since the early 1920s and have had their own orchestras and performed with other orchestras around New England. I can only hope that my son will continue on with this legacy and perform with the BSO as soon as he has finished his musical schooling. In the meantime. I hope the BSO orchestra is still going strong when it is his turn.
Here are just a few ideas right off the top of my head as I sit hear and write my post.
Host interactive concerts.
This can be easily done in a myriad of ways that is fun, exciting , informative and engaging to children, and thusly to the parent. Have question and answer sessions from children. Bring them up on stage, have them try an instrument, ask a question or two, ask if a certain performer can play their favorite childrens song or even play a popular children's song and see what child can identify the song.
Turn the lights down low, have the orchestra play a simple song from a chldrens show or movie while wearing glow in the dark bracelets, necklaces, hats, head bands, ....anything the glows in the dark and hand the same out to any child who attends. Have the conductor tell the children to wave their hands a certain way or pretend to conduct the orchestra themselves while they are playing an elementary song. Let the kids be part of the concert they are attending.
Incorporate a singalong. We all know children not only love to sing and dance, but when they think they are part of a pro orchestra...well, they will not only be exciting to them but may foster an interest in an instrument.
Use video cameras and wide screens to show closeups of the children singing, dancing, playing an instrument. Let the children see for themselves how much fun it would be to be onstage.
Have more themed concerts.
Have a fairy tale concert where children dress up as someone or something in the theme of the night. Have a movie themed concert and do the same thing. Popular childrens video games r zoo animals would be a great fit as well. Before each of these themed concerts, have a fun hour before the concert with pre-show activities relating to the theme of the evenings concert. Or have a pre concert workshop to allow children to see the instruments and talk to the musicians on a one to one basis. Heck, even have a pre concert face painting room for children where they can have their faces painted in the evenings theme. Have a craft making room available after the concert so they can make something to take home with them after the concert.
If, for example, you will be doing a Peter and the Wolf concert, have the conductor or announcer read a portion of the story with light background music to enhance the story or read, then play, read more, then play more....
Use Creative Marketing Ideas
You do not need to hire expensive marketing consultants. Hand out simple and colorful brochures of a certain childrens themed concert in schools, the local Y, museums...anywhere that children congregate. For example, have a Halloween Themed Concert where children can attend wearing their favorite costume, but do not forget to have the orchestra and conductor do the same. The whole premise is to show children that the performers onstage are simply one of them, just a little more grown up.
Have a superhero night where children can dress up as their favorite super heroes and the orchestra can play the theme songs from Superman or any superhero movie or sound track. This would work equally well using Harry Potter, Ghostbusters.....the list is endless. Have a disco night with children dressed up in disco clothing.
Have a scavenger hunt by handing out simple fliers at the beginning of the concerts and let the children go on stage to find an instrument that is shown on their flyer. Then find out the names of them, having the performer of that instrument play a few bars in order to show the children what it sounds like.
Have a contest either on promotional material before the concert to chose a guest, child conductor for one song, or a couple of winners to conduct a few minutes at a time. This would be sooo thrilling to these children.
Remember that children's attentions spans are short comparatively so keep the concert no longer than an hour or so but during that time, make it engaging and go from one experience to another without spending too much time on one particular element of the concert.
The music and program needs to be simple and inviting. Don't tell the kids you are going to play J.C. Bach Symphony in G minor, Opus 6 No. 6 because that means absolutely nothing to them. They simply cannot relate to something like that, no matter how much you hype it up.
I could go on and on but because even some adults have short attention spans, I will end this post post haste. The message I am trying to spit out is...
We need to do something quick or orchestras will continue to get smaller and smaller as the years go by and there are simply too many ways to counteract this decline if we just quit thinking of concerts as boring and too time consuming for children. The answers to these issues are so simple I just don't understand why the adage "If there is a will there is a way" isn't utilized more often.
If I can come up with all these ideas simply by sitting here and typing in an hour or so, imagine what could happen with the entire board of directors, conductor and musicians and marketing people from community orchestras can come up with.
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