ULYSSES Network Audience Research 2019

The Audience Research branch of the ULYSSES project investigates audience experiences of new music and the impact of audience development strategies for this art form in Europe.

It was launched at the end of 2016 and the first research visits to some of the the ULYSSES partner institutions took place in 2017.

Over the course of 2018, Gina Emerson, the network’s PhD researcher, conducted six further Audience Research visits across the Ulysses Network, handing out surveys at concerts organised by Flagey, the Divertimento Ensemble, Time of Music, the Darmstadt Summer Course, Ultima and the Royaumont Foundation. Thanks again to all 1400 people who participated and to the organisers for their support!

Now that the data collection phase of the project is complete, Gina turns fully to the analysis in 2019. She has already begun delving into the data, guided by the following research questions:

# Who attends contemporary classical music (CCM) concerts and what motivates them to attend?

# What are audiences’ experiences of CCM concerts and their perceptions of the genre? Do alternative formats or features enrich the audience experience?

# Are there any particular types of CCM that audiences find most interesting, enjoyable or emotive (e.g. electronic music, mixed media, improvisation, tonal vs. atonal pieces) and how do these responses differ by demographic?

# Do different institutions have different ‘cultures’ around attendance (e.g. openness to different concert formats/outreach initiatives, ideas of CCM as a ‘subculture’)?

# What holds classical music audiences back from attending CCM events? What is their perception of this music? (results from the three classical music surveys)

The Audience Research blog might continue through the analysis phase, providing updates on the project and possibly also introducing some of the literature on audience research for contemporary classical music, so watch this space! And look out for the full results later in 2019.