How about getting a handful of your best players together and seeing if you can get somewhere to play (for example, our local Tesco has a big entrance foyer where they have had various entertainment - especially around Easter and Christmas). You could have leaflets ready and give them out to anyone who stops to listen and possibly offer to have collection buckets for the store's chosen charity.
Organise a 'special concert', maybe to celebrate a certain milestone in the club's history or just a 'Seasonal Special', try a sightly different venue and/or invite a local dignitary to attend. Donate the proceeds of the raffle to a local charity and invite a representative along to be presented with a cheque. Inform the local press beforehand and they may send along a photographer. If not, take your own photos and send them to the newspaper along with some information about your club.
Hire a good professional player - and take him/her into a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon.
Note: The music must be modern, well played and engage the audience.
I guess one of the biggest – if not the biggest – issue is getting the wider public aware of the capabilities of modern instruments and artistes.
TV doesn’t really want to take anything on board as evidenced by the X-Factor debacle (Jean Martyn excepted) and, as has been widely mentioned, the perception of ‘organ’ being associated with a church scenario. So how can we spread the word and dispel the myth to a wide audience in a practical manner??
Q. Where is there a large concentration of continually changing people of all ages on a regular basis??
A. Shopping Centres or Malls. Especially on weekends or heading towards Christmas.
'Today I attended a superb concert by DirkJan Ranzijn, someone with whom most of the organ & keyboard world are familiar with. His lively entertaining style - and the many players who play in a similar fashion - would doubtless attract the attention of many shoppers willing to pause for a few moments attracted by the range of music performed and hopefully generate a degree of interest. Posters and flyers for local clubs at strategic points would hopefully entice a few new attendees to concerts – the vital foot in the door.
Such events would of course require considerable support from artistes, clubs, shopping centres, local music shops and possibly council/city arts departments to get things off the ground but with the right promotion and possibly local media attention something good may come of all the effort involved.
After all it worked for Tiffany back in the late 80s!!!
Food for thought I hope.'
Visit a school with a professional player to inspire young players - with a few complimentary tickets to give to interested students. (An evening concert in the school hall springs to mind?) This could be particularly effective targeting colleges and universities offering music courses - also cathedral schools with music students. It is thought that 'youngsters aren't interested these days' but don't forget most of our professional players were inspired at an early age.
Back in the 'good old days' when organ clubs had bigger attendances there were more younger members -this was because the clubs had strong links with local organ teachers. Maybe the answer is to foster good links with the many local music schools, encourage them to bring along their students for a showcase night. This would give increased revenue in attendance (parents, grandparents etc) and possible new members whilst promoting the services of the music school. Everyone's a winner.
Organise a 'special concert', maybe to celebrate a certain milestone in the club's history or just a 'Seasonal Special', try a sightly different venue and/or invite a local dignitary to attend. Donate the proceeds of the raffle to a local charity and invite a representative along to be presented with a cheque. Inform the local press beforehand and they may send along a photographer. If not, take your own photos and send them to the newspaper along with some information about your club.
Hire a good professional player - and take him/her into a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon.
Note: The music must be modern, well played and engage the audience.
I guess one of the biggest – if not the biggest – issue is getting the wider public aware of the capabilities of modern instruments and artistes.
TV doesn’t really want to take anything on board as evidenced by the X-Factor debacle (Jean Martyn excepted) and, as has been widely mentioned, the perception of ‘organ’ being associated with a church scenario. So how can we spread the word and dispel the myth to a wide audience in a practical manner??
Q. Where is there a large concentration of continually changing people of all ages on a regular basis??
A. Shopping Centres or Malls. Especially on weekends or heading towards Christmas.
'Today I attended a superb concert by DirkJan Ranzijn, someone with whom most of the organ & keyboard world are familiar with. His lively entertaining style - and the many players who play in a similar fashion - would doubtless attract the attention of many shoppers willing to pause for a few moments attracted by the range of music performed and hopefully generate a degree of interest. Posters and flyers for local clubs at strategic points would hopefully entice a few new attendees to concerts – the vital foot in the door.
Such events would of course require considerable support from artistes, clubs, shopping centres, local music shops and possibly council/city arts departments to get things off the ground but with the right promotion and possibly local media attention something good may come of all the effort involved.
After all it worked for Tiffany back in the late 80s!!!
Food for thought I hope.'
Visit a school with a professional player to inspire young players - with a few complimentary tickets to give to interested students. (An evening concert in the school hall springs to mind?) This could be particularly effective targeting colleges and universities offering music courses - also cathedral schools with music students. It is thought that 'youngsters aren't interested these days' but don't forget most of our professional players were inspired at an early age.
Back in the 'good old days' when organ clubs had bigger attendances there were more younger members -this was because the clubs had strong links with local organ teachers. Maybe the answer is to foster good links with the many local music schools, encourage them to bring along their students for a showcase night. This would give increased revenue in attendance (parents, grandparents etc) and possible new members whilst promoting the services of the music school. Everyone's a winner.
