BY LAURA BIEMMI
The Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra is not like other orchestras.
The musicians? They don’t wear tails. They don’t play in concert halls.
Their social media presence is contemporary and evocative. Utilising the passionate energy of 50 youthful Melbourne musicians, VYSO is set to deliver performances full of raw emotion to challenge perceptions of classical music as ‘boring’ and ‘uncool’. And it works.
We chat to VYSO’s principal double bassist and vice president Melody Chia and the artistic director Ingrid Martin about the classical music industry, the orchestra’s powerful aesthetic, and vision for the future.
Thanks for chatting with us! Can you tell us about the Victorian Youth Symphony Orchestra’s vision, and what it hopes to accomplish?
Our vision is to create distinctive musical experiences that connect new audiences with orchestral music. As performers, we know the transformative power of classical music. It’s what gets us up on a Saturday morning, thirsty to work towards the kind of life-altering, million-dollar moments that only music can conjure. Our mission is to transform our community through music by breaking down the barriers around orchestras and classical music. Driven by artistic excellence, we want our accessible, innovative and multidisciplinary performances to help more people fall in love with orchestral music.
We envision living in a city where people see orchestras as a vital, evolving medium of musical expression. A city where, once you’ve had your dinner on Brunswick Street, you might casually pop into an orchestra concert on a Saturday night. Where getting your ticket to that orchestra concert next month is just as hotly anticipated as getting your ticket to Adele, or Ed Sheeran.
Your orchestra is full of young people from all walks of life who come together and create music. Why are young people so integral to your new approach to classical music?
Audiences for classical music are ageing, and as a result have been declining steadily for many years. Engaging young people with what we do is vital in sustaining and building orchestral performance as an art form. Though many orchestras understand this, most have had difficulty connecting with and growing young audiences. This isn’t because the music is losing its punch or relevance. It’s because the traditions of orchestral concerts are off-putting and have barely evolved over the last 100 years.
To a young outsider, the conventions and traditions of orchestral concerts often come off as exclusive, stuffy and intimidating. Navigating the customs of a concert – what to wear, how to behave, when to clap or not – can seem like really hard work. These experiences are preventing young audiences from getting to the good stuff – music’s ability to reveal and express fundamental truths about ourselves and the world.
Cool enough to brag about on your Instagram feed
As a diverse group of young professionals, we are drawing on our collective experience and wisdom to connect people our own age with what we do. We know we are living in an experience economy, where people like us want to engage in events that are multi-faceted and unique. We are applying this kind of thinking to our performances, to curate an experience that not only features committed, expressive music-making but is also cool enough to brag about on your Instagram feed.
Social media is such a powerful tool in today’s world, and VYSO’s Instagram is electrifying. What advantages does social media give an orchestra such as VYSO?
Thanks! Social media allows us to have direct conversations with our audience. We only play four concerts a year, so waiting to talk to people at concerts isn’t something that works for the current generation. If you don’t make a regular appearance in people’s lives, then you’re easily forgotten.
We also get to talk to people differently through the different channels we’re on. Instagram is where we get to be a bit more expressive with our artistry and show people through visuals how we intend to bring the music to life, and is where we are able to reach new people more easily. Facebook is where we talk to people who are already quite engaged with the orchestra and is an effective channel for us to promote our concerts.
The visual styling of VYSO’s promo material is such a change those of more traditional orchestras. How would you describe VYSO’s ‘look’, and how is it useful in today’s classical music industry?
Classical music has an image problem. The music has the power to move people, but to young people it is mostly seen as elitist, boring, and music that your grandparents listen to. It’s simply not cool. Our intention with everything we do is to make classical music more accessible.
Classical music has an image problem
We wanted to create a visual identity for the orchestra that is relevant to today’s 21st Century audience. If you look at the series of concert posters for our 2017 season, it’s a set of contemporary and visually arresting images that make you want to stop and look a little longer.
The series of posters was also developed with social media in mind as it’s where they were most likely to live. With so much high quality content on social these days, it’s a challenge to stand out. We understood that we had to create content that will get people to stop as they’re thumbing through their Facebook or Instagram feeds, which meant not just stock images of composers that no one recognises, or the standard shot of the orchestra.
We’ve also changed the way the orchestra looks. We have gotten rid of the standard formal concert dress and the orchestra now plays in t-shirts and jeans. It’s not only more comfortable to play in t-shirts and jeans, but it also removes that layer of unnecessary formality that keeps classical music stuck in the past.
How do you tailor your visual promotion to the young musos and concertgoers of Australia?
Our 2017 campaign is targeted at a new audience – the younger generation, aged 18-35. If young people don’t perceive something to be cool, they’re less likely to engage with it. When we were developing the series of posters, we essentially created art that we wanted to stick up on our walls. We make no mention of composers or the symphonies we’re playing because we know this doesn’t mean much to the average person and is likely to turn someone off because we’re talking at them. If people want more information about the repertoire for each concert, we’ve got that up on our website. On social media, we like to tell people stories and talk about the emotions that you’ll experience at a concert – things that make the music easy to relate to.
What approach does VYSO take to choosing and playing music?
In each concert, we work on a unifying theme that ties all the music together. These themes allow us to explore one idea deeply, and from multiple angles through the ears of multiple composers. We also use our themes to make unlikely connections between genres and pieces of music, resulting in concerts that traverse many different styles and sound worlds.
In Provocateur, in September, we’re exploring music and composers who have pushed the boundaries and status quo. This has resulted in RPM, a piece by Matthew Hindson based on electronic dance music, sitting next to Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije Suite, a neoclassical satirical work. Our thematic programming not only helps our audiences find a ‘way in’ to the music, but also helps us target our marketing campaigns.
What can audiences expect from VYSO’s June concert, Battlecry?
Battlecry will be an epic journey that traverses everything from the World of Warcraft soundtrack to Beethoven’s terse and urgent Egmont Overture, exploring music of heroes, villains and war. These days, video game and film soundtracks are as close as many people get to hearing an orchestra. We’re looking forward to showing people just how electrifying this music is when played live, while introducing them to some orchestral classics we think are pretty cool too.
Though much of the music is fast-paced and thrilling, a particular highlight will be the achingly beautiful love song Adagio from the ballet Spartacus. However, we’re most excited about our grand finale: Red Cape Tango. It’s a musical duel between Superman and Doomsday that alternates wailing, seductive tango music with raging orchestral pyrotechnics. It’s a wild ride that’s well worth the price of admission!
If people want to get to know the music beforehand, they can jump onto our VYSO-Battlecry playlist on Spotify and hear our favourite pro recordings:
At the concert itself, in addition to hearing all this great music, audiences can expect to chat with players in the orchestra, see the instruments up close, have a drink with the conductor after the concert, and snap a selfie with our welcome board. They’ll see young people making music with determination and passion and feel the buzz of a live performance, where anything can (and does) happen!
Learn more at vyso.org.au. Next concerts will take place on June 3 and September 9.
Images supplied.
