Musical Relationships

There's not a reading assignment for Wednesday's class--we'll be talking about ideas for the event(s) you're putting on, and how to make out class sessions most effective.

Meanwhile, we've read enough of Christopher Small (to whom we'll return) to start looking at our musical experiences in terms of relationships.

Does the meaning, or the nature of the experience, of an event come, at least in large part, from the relationships created and experienced?

If so, when we are participating in an event, we can ask ourselves, "What is the nature and quality of the relationships here?"

When we reflect on an event we have attended, we can ask, "What was the nature and quality of the relationships?"

And, most importantly, when we are planning and organizing an event, we can ask ourselves, "What is the nature and quality of the relationships we want to create at this event?"

That seems rather dry and abstract as I write it out.  But it's really a vital question--when you are putting on an event, how do you want people to relate to each other?  What kind of relationships do you want to encourage and model, and how will you do that?

This all goes to our underlying question of audience development.  Who do you want to come to your event, and why should they come?

Feel free to comment.