Concert Curation : On the importance of audience engagement, and the improvement of the classical music concert.

This thesis is concerned with the classical music concert, its traditions and potential shortcomings, and how breaking these traditions might be beneficial in certain aspects with regard to audience engagement, as well as a means for the conductor to express him- or herself in a new or more meaningful way. It is written from the perspective of a composer and conductor, but also someone that has performed in orchestras and wind ensembles for nearly two decades. Generally, concerts today might consist of three or four works, one usually a symphony, with little consideration as to why those works were chosen. However, concerts that had more thought put into them seemed to be appreciated, even by non-musicians. What seems to be missing is a sort of curation in these concerts. The ones that are seemingly more popular are those that have a theme, a story to tell, an idea to share. This thesis looks into this premise. It delves into different ways one might curate a concert, different techniques one might use to mold a concert into something non-traditional, and whether or not these techniques are successful