Innovative concert ideas: beyond the music.

Performing artists often are looking for ways to capture an audience's attention and attract new audience members. Concerts that introduce other art forms or disciplines can be an innovative way to inspire both audiences and musicians. Collaborating with colleagues from other disciplines, such as art, history, dance, literature and foreign languages, provides a wealth of ideas for original programming and an opportunity to expand your own appreciation of our art form.

Why is This Important?

It is our job to show audiences that live classical music offers something unique and memorable. As collaborative performers, we often become so engrossed in rehearsing and performing our repertoire that we do not allow time to deeply investigate how history, culture or other art forms influenced the composer. By exploring the relationship between music and other disciplines and sharing these discoveries with audiences, we help audiences make connections between music and other facets of their lives.

What Are the Benefits?

You and your collaborative partners will gain insight into the pieces you perform and teach as a result of exploring other fields of study.

By working with colleagues from other disciplines, there is a mutual sharing of information, expertise and imagination that is truly inspiring. As collaborative performers, we already appreciate the benefits of partnership--this is a marvelous expansion of that cooperation.

You will engage your students on a deeper level with this distinctive type of collaboration. By involving your students in the process of selecting music and learning about other disciplines, they also become invested in the idea that music can reach beyond its typical boundaries.

There is a potential for building new audiences. By including multimedia presentations, for example, you may appeal to an audience that typically is attracted to the visual arts. Similarly, you may draw literary audiences, history buffs or people who are interested in other branches of the humanities.

What Have Others Done?

Here are a few examples of the types of programs that can be created:

* A lecture-recital featuring music set to the prose or poetry of a famous writer: collaborate with literature or poetry teachers to bring out the particular techniques that distinguish this writer. Compare and contrast different musical settings of the same texts.

* A dramatic presentation of a composer or writer's work: some notable recent concerts have featured musicians who became actors, dressing in period costumes and portraying famous writers or composers in concerts that combined drama and music.

* A concert featuring music and dance: this could be a concert of music specifically written for dance or a new collaboration between musicians and dancers. Imagine the inspiration that you and your students would gain from watching your repertoire come to life on the stage.

* A concert featuring the works of a particular location: collaborate with foreign language teachers or historians to create a multimedia presentation highlighting the historical/cultural background of the music. This presents an opportunity to include photographs, visual art slides and other sources that reveal the wider landscape of music to your audience.

How Do You Get Started?

Begin with a theme, a certain composer or musical style, or a particular discipline that you and your collaborative partners or students would like to explore. Brainstorm together as early in the process as possible because you may have to adjust your program several times before it is complete. Contact your colleagues in other disciplines and explain your desire to collaborate. Ask them for ideas about what might work, and what their level of involvement might be. Perhaps they would like to participate in the performance itself, for example. Look for these types of programs in your area, and notice how other performing artists have combined art forms. Above all, be open to the limitless possibilities that exist for discovery and collaboration, and be willing to share this insight with your audiences.

Tracy Cowden, NCTM, is assistant professor of piano and vocal coach at Virginia Tech. She holds degrees in piano accompanying and chamber music from the Eastman School of Music and in piano performance from Western Michigan University.