Christopher Davis

This post is a result of working through The Savvy Musician, a great book about making a living in the art music world.

Yesterday’s post had me thinking of what my concerts should really be. Now the question is going to come to them.

The only people already passionate about classical guitar are other classical guitarists. And that’s great, I’d love for them to come one of my recitals, but I consider it my job to expand the audience.

Target: Non-classical guitarists.
Why? They are already interested in the instrument, but might have never heard of classical guitar. These are the fringe fans than Seth Godin talks about in Tribes, they don’t have well defined preferences. They just like the guitar.
Connecting: I think the connection method to read these students is already built in. Guitar teachers. Contact local guitar teachers where ever I go and offer them free or discounted tickets (preferably free). The real thing is getting them to talk with their students about it.
Something for the Audience? Offering a masterclass would also be a great way to connect with these people.
Programming for Guitarists: If young guitarists are anything like I was, they appreciate technically complex pieces, but not so much musicality. Meaning my programs would have to have a balance of flash and musicality. Smells like 19th century music to me, or some tonal 20C things.

That’s my main angle. Aside from the reason list above — the people are already interested in guitar — converting guitarists into fans that go to my website(s) means that I have a chance of selling them information products.

Other Targets

1. Art Music Fans- obvious choice. Play some concerts for artist series type things (churches, chamber music societies, etc).
2. College Music Majors- have to get recitals on campus.
3. Classical Guitarists- work with guitar societies. It’d be very cool to do an artist in residency with a guitar society. Just come for a week. In exchange for a place to stay offer cheap or free lessons to society members.

After the Concert

After a concert, I want people to go home and connect with me online or via email so I can reach them again. In short, I want a better conversion from casual fan into true fan.

To that end, giving away a nicely done CD-Rom would be great. On it would be 5-10 nicely recorded mp3s, and an interactive webpage that people just click to open. It would have images and links for people to connect with me on social media. No typing in URLs required!

I’d also like to give away stickers than say, “I (heart) Classical Guitar” with my website URL on there as well.

This post is a result of working through The Savvy Musician, a great book about making a living in the art music world.

Today I’ve been brainstorming about concerts and recitals, and what my ideal product would look like.

I don’t think that programming, outside of choosing good repertoire, is really that big of a deal. I strive to choose repertoire that’s not overplayed. There’s plenty of recordings of the classics for guitar, and plenty of concerts only feature them. I want something different.

The real thing is in presentation. I want to look like I’m having fun on stage. I want to smile, and give the audience a sense that I’m really enjoying myself. I want this because I do enjoy myself. And I’m tired of going to concerts where the performer looks terrified. So there’s that aspect of presentation: I want to project an abundance of enthusiasm for the guitar combined with quiet confidence and a solid performance.

That other stuff…

My encounters and opinions of the art music world can largely be summarized by having a knowing irreverence for tradition. That is, I’m not terribly interested in the traditional benchmarks of success (competition wins, etc.) nor am I particularly in love with the formality of art music concerts. In short, I think the stuffiness puts an unacceptable distance between the performer and the audience.

Here’s the thing, the stuffiness is not a result of the repertoire. It’s a result of the attitudes of the musicians. I want to avoid that at all costs. If there were some way I could project my irreverence on stage, I would do it. Maybe there’s something to be said for choosing the right concert clothing to project this.

What I want

1. Play good, semi-obscure (but likable!) repertoire
2. Project my enjoyment on stage
3. Project a sense of quiet confidence
4. Display my irreverence for the art music world’s stuffy formality