BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
How do you bring a music performance to life?
There’s a small team of emerging artists working hard in Melbourne’s inner northwest to do just that – and we want to know all their secrets.
Concerts at St George’s exists to celebrate new talent in classical music – and enrich a community with life and sound.
To learn about the journey into making a music venue, we bring you this new interview series so you can find out more about the industry skills involved. How do you curate an event? What’s involved in sponsorship, time management, and social media? These topics and more will be explored in CutCommon’s Making a Music Venue series. This week, we hear from Christopher Nankervis – the Marketing Manager of the venue’s Friends of Music Series. He’s working hard to promote the next concert on February 12 (which he’s also performing in as a pianist. Pretty skilled, huh). Read on to learn about his strategies and action.
You’re performing on piano, as well as having organised the inner workings of this series! How do you separate your mind as a performer, from your mind as a marketing manager?
I am really looking forward to the next concert! I’m so passionate about programming recitals, and performing just gives me the ultimate buzz! But of course, performing and rehearsing demands such intense focus and energy that it’s important to find other ways to channel your passions.
It is essential for performers to be able to market themselves, and the skills I’ve learnt as marketing manager of FoMS have given me the confidence to tackle all the crazy projects I dream up. So combining marketing and performing is both a way of levelling the intensity of performing, as well as enabling myself and other performers to do what we love.
Tell us how you got involved in marketing Concerts at St George’s.
I followed the very first series of Concerts at St George’s last year, and was keen to be a part of this wonderful initiative. I volunteered some of my time, and quickly found myself as part of the team. Marketing seemed the most natural role for me, as my poor friends and colleagues are already very used to being splattered with my shameless promotion of recitals, workshops, parties and other events!
You have a musical background – so what is it that appeals to you about marketing? And further, how do you find these two industry areas work together?
Of course, one of these industry areas cannot survive without the other in some form. I view musicianship and marketing as the two necessary skills of a musician, so I am driven to know as much as I can about both. Both of these areas demand creativity and ownership of your ideas, albeit in vastly different ways, so marketing musical performances certainly gives you a good work out if you are wired that way.
Tell us about the strategy behind your marketing for the FoMS.
FoMS essentially has two reasons for existence: firstly, to support emerging musicians, and secondly, to establish St George’s in Flemington as an art music venue, or ‘hub’, in Melbourne’s northwest. Keeping this in mind, we want the series to be particularly visible to young musicians, as well as music lovers in the community. FoMS as a series is promoted in local newspapers, online groups and educational institutions. In terms of promoting the individual artists, we want maximum exposure: nationwide magazines, Facebook, radio, anything and everything!
How do you use online or physical avenues to best expose your events, and convert your fans into paying concertgoers?
I promote online, as it often doesn’t cost anything, and can reach a lot of people very quickly. There are so many websites to list your events, and they do reach people – especially if you have a great title and photo. Our own website is live now, which is very exciting. We had some beautiful posters, postcards, and flyers designed, although this dents the budget a little more! I’ve discovered that physically handing flyers to people that you come across is the best way to get the word out there, so you have to be shameless! Know that your events are really worth being heard.
What have been the biggest challenges in marketing FoMS, and how have you overcome them?
Marketing FoMS is so time consuming – it could be a full time job! Time management is essential. I always have to consider what is going to be the most efficient way to get the word out to as much of our audience as possible. Not to mention fitting in time to practice.
What advice would you give to other people looking to market their own live performances?
Make sure there is something about the event that is easy to remember. A catchy title. A funky theme. A clear image. Keep it simple and direct. It becomes much easier to market, and is easier for your target audience to latch on to.
What have you learnt from your involvement with FoMS?
The process has really been a collaborative effort. Anyone putting on their own live performances will find that it becomes too much to do on your own. You need support, ideas from others, and that extra pair of hands. FoMS has taught me that once you’ve found good people to work with, that is when really exciting things happen!
Support the team behind the Concerts at St George’s Friends of Music Series and head along to the gig! Tickets available online.
Image supplied.
