This morning sees the return of the Relaxed Prom – this should be an oxymoron, right? The whole Proms brand is about relaxing usual concert etiquette and going for the festival vibes (remembering that in the classical music world ‘festival’ means you can wear shorts in the concert hall, radical…).
My colleague Matt Griffiths (CEO, Youth Music) posted an excellent piece a couple of years back about the nature of inclusion in classical music and the risks of singling out specific events as being actively inclusive (see here). But I want to explore the impact on the musicians who are taking part in a performance where the atmosphere is deliberately more informal.
The concert platform is a high stress environment. Music Performance Anxiety (MPA) is an acknowledged disorder. As recently as 2014 a study of Australian musicians(1) reported that 31% of performers use beta blockers(2) to control MPA, with others resorting to alcohol or anti-depressants. To be sure, for many performers the concert platform represents the pinnacle of days’ of rehearsal and preparation, but the modern performer toils under significant pressure to achieve perfection. Modern audiences expect not only CD quality performance perfection, but also, with so many interpretations of the classics available to listen to, their own favourite version of perfection. This means that orchestras can rarely live up to the tacit expectations of their knowledgeable audiences who demand a very specific kind of perfection. Musician’s livelihoods are precarious, and the majority of performers operate under freelance contracts. With an over-supply of top quality musicians in the market you are only one split note or miss-timed entry from being bumped off the extras list and into oblivion. All of this inhibits risk taking (which I would argue reduces the thrill of live performances) but also increases the stress of the experience for the performer.
At London Music Masters, carried out some research with our friends at the Royal College of Music Centre for performance Science in 2016. We were looking at the impact on professional musicians of taking part in community or participatory music projects (see short film here, and full report here). What struck me most was how beneficial musicians found it when some of the performance norms were removed. When musicians had the ability to engage with their audience in a direct way and the audience was free to express their joy and delight in real time during the performance rather than at pre-prescribed moments everybody benefited. The musicians reported increased wellbeing, increased sense of personal agency and fulfilment, the acquisition of new skills and greater confidence. As someone working in music education I felt really proud that there was this ‘by product’ of our work where so often the focus had been on the community group as beneficiaries. This showed me that the professional musicians benefited massively too. An important insight that has significant implications for the way we use existing resources and projects in a way that can enhance musician’s wellbeing.
This morning’s Prom will, I hope, be wonderfully relaxed for the audience – and I hope that the spirit of genuine inclusion will be present in Proms across the season. I have no doubt that all in attendance will feel welcome and free to engage in a way that is natural to them, to enjoy a world class orchestra performing sublime music in a unique venue. I also hope that the musicians take the opportunity to enjoy a different performance atmosphere and they can reconnect with their joy of musical discovery. There is not always space for that on the concert platform, but if the orchestra can listen to their audience they might just find it again.
LMM Executive Director Rob Adediran is appearing as a recurring guest on the BBC Proms coverage this summer. Rob will be blogging from behind the scenes of The Proms for London Music Masters, so make sure you follow us on social media and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates!

1 Kenny D. T., Driscoll T. & Ackermann B. (2014) Psychological wellbeing in professional orchestral musicians in Australia: a descriptive population study. Psychology of Music, 2, 210–232
2 a class of drugs designed to manage abnormal heart rhythms, commonly used by performers to manage the physical symptoms of performance anxiety