11/12/2012 20:13Classical Music Goes Clubbing In London | Billboard.biz

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December 11, 2012 | By Hazel Davis, Manchester

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Classical Music GoesClubbing In London

The familiar mood at a classical music concert is, if you're a fan, quiet and atmospheric; and if you'renot a fan a stuffy, awkward ambience where you aren't allowed to breathe, eat or whisper for fear ofupsetting the establishment. But the classical vibe is changing, at least among some U.K. concertpromoters, recognizing the benefit of presenting classical music in a nightclub setting.

Yellow Lounge was established in Berlin eight years ago and hit the U.K. last year on a semi-

regular basis (usually every one or two months) run by the Universal label in various venues aroundLondon. The latest, which took place on Dec. 10 at the Old Vic Tunnels in London, featured theScottish superstar violinist Nicola Benedetti and former royal harpist Catrin Finch at a ticket price of£10 ($16). There's classical music DJ'd throughout the night, some video installation and the artists(from Deutsche Grammophon and Decca Classics) are asked to provide a bit of interaction.

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Yellow Lounge London with Janine Jansen, Alice Sara Ott and Francesco Tristano

11/12/2012 20:13Classical Music Goes Clubbing In London | Billboard.biz

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Bee Bradley, the label's Yellow Lounge Executive, says, "The idea is that it's a tool to engage with anew young audience. So many youngsters would get into classical music but don't know where tostart, don't want to sit in concert halls or spend $100 on a ticket".

Bradley is adamant that the nights don't compromise on quality though. "It's just the setting thatchanges, we are just ridding all the rules. We never add any beats. In fact, I think classical music hasbeen compromised a lot by crossover, whereas this is keeping the real quality of classical musicalive." A lot of the audience, she says, "have intrigue but don't know where to start." The typicalcrowd is 18-40, many haven't been to a classical event before and many are quite young.Sometimes, she says, "They don't know that they would be spending a fortune otherwise to see[Dutch violin star] Janine Jansen."

"As a musician, I like to think that it doesn't matter in what context music is presented, or indeed inwhat style it is presented," says Catrin Finch, "only that it is appreciated and enjoyed by an eclecticmix of listeners."

But this isn't always as easy as it might seem. British violinist and leader of the Britten Sinfonia,Thomas Gould has appeared at Platform 33, which launched in January and has presented 40different mixed-media clubnights (including classical) across seven venues in London. He viewssuch events more as marketing tools ("I don't do them to make money") and says, "Twitter alwaysgoes crazy after these events. It's a great way to have a direct line of communication withaudiences." But he doesn't believe they will change the nature of the more traditional events. hesays, "it's a separate industry that's evolved. People will still go to the Wigmore Hall."

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11/12/2012 20:13Classical Music Goes Clubbing In London | Billboard.biz

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Thomas Gould playing at Slaughtered Lamb, EC1 as part of Platform 33 on Nov. 28, 2012,(Photo via Platform 33)

William Norris is marketing manager for the London-based period instrument orchestra, TheOrchestra of the Age Of Enlightenment which has been running its own classical clubnight,The Night Shift, for the last six years, in various venues (around five times a year) includingCamden's Roundhouse and in pubs around the capital. The format is the same as a clubnight; theconcert starts at 10pm, drinks flow freely and there's a presenter, dimmed lighting and, crucially for aclassical music gig, the audience can come and go as they would in a club or a rock or pop gig.Tickets range from £9 ($14) in advance to £4 ($6) for students.

Says Norris, "We started out with the idea that the music still has appeal, it's just the way it'spresented that doesn't appeal to some audiences, particularly younger ones. The music we play isthe same as we'd play in a 'normal' concert."

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The Night Shift Pub Tour: The George & The Amersham from OAE on Vimeo.

As far as the commercial model goes, Norris admits, "unfortunately classical music is an expensivebusiness and almost every concert, of whatever type, loses money. One of the main factors inbringing in a new audience through The Night Shift is to lower overall ticket prices."

At the Night Shift concerts, says Norris, "The audience is massively skewed to being under 35 (over80%) and 15-20% are coming to a classical concert for the first time." The aim, he says, is notnecessarily to get them to come to a regular concert: "The music we play is the same high quality aswe'd play at 7pm, so it doesn't matter in which context you experience it. Some people may alwayswant to enjoy their music in a more relaxed late night setting and that's fine, so there's no point tryingto tempt them into a more regular event, it's about giving them a choice as to how they'd like toexperience their music."

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