Like Tanglewood...but indoors

Yesterday I took part in a concert that creatively re-imagined the traditional relationships between performers, audiences and performing space. The event was called "Echoes of Distant Voices" and was held in York Minster. Apparently the Minster removes all of the chairs from the rather enormous nave of the church once a year for cleaning, leaving it wide open. The music included traditional Javanese gamelan music, overtone singing, medieval and renaissance polyphony, Gregorian chant, songs for voice and violin and some more modern choral pieces. As varied as this lineup seems, it all held together remarkably well. The point of the performance was to take advantage of this magnificent space, and each set was performed in different parts of the nave. Performers would simply emerge from the crowd to begin their pieces. As there were no chairs, the audience was encouraged to move around the room to experience the sound in different ways or to simply sit on a blanket and take in the sound. I found it rather nice to look around and see sleeping children, people meditating, and others sampling different aural perspectives around the room. I did a lot of walking around which was not only good for listening but also was a nice way to relax before singing.

I’m not sure this kind of concert-going experience would suit all kinds of music, but I wonder what would happen if more "art" music was re-contextualized like this: bringing music to creative and inspiring spaces and allowing the audience to experience it in a completely personal way. As everyone relates to music differently, maybe freeing people from their chairs in a darkened concert hall is a good thing.