A Bass-ic Understanding

Today was a good day.

It has been said that the most challenging part of the classical music business these days is trying to bring in new, excited people to build the next generation of concert goers in order to help sustain the future of our art form.  And in a world of endless entertainment choices just a mouse or remote control click away, its no wonder that we have to work harder to make sure the beauty and power of classical music is available to everyone that wants it.  

So I thought to myself, who's a better choice than a group of musicians to make the argument to a new listener that they should support the Indy classical music scene?  The answer is nobody.  So I set out to try and find a new way to connect with local folks on their turf and hopefully help show that our music is for them.  All they would have to do is open up their minds, and their ears. 

That is why for the last several weeks I have been involved in organizing a new group to help get the word out about our music in a slightly different, more contemporary way.  We are calling ourselves the Impromptu Chamber Players  and we perform as a flash mob.  For those of you who might not know, a flash mob is a performance that takes place in a public area that seems spontaneous, but is in fact choreographed.  

Not too long ago, my colleagues and I began the process of rehearsing the final movement of Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings and the final presto of Vivaldi's "Summer" concerto from the Four Seasons.  Normally this would not be an overly tall order, but when performing in this setting, we have to play everything from memory.  As orchestra musicians this is NOT a skill we use very often, and it proved to be the most challenging part of this project for many of us.  In fact, most of us haven't performed from memory since our days giving student recitals.  That being said, rehearsals went very well and I felt confident that we would be ready.  

So today we had our first performances at the Keystone at the Crossing mall on the northside.  Just as I hoped, everything went really well, and I was excited to see so many people stop to listen.  The smiles on faces and the warm thank you's we received made the hard work seem worth it.  We also handed out a lot of coupons for free downloads of Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra concerts and I think we convinced some people to join us downtown at the Hilbert Circle Theater for more concerts with the full orchestra.  And we had a great time doing it.  Not bad for our first day.

I can't wait to do this again, so keep your eyes open.  You never know where we might show up next.