Audience Engagement and the co-creative Experience
“If classical concerts would always have improvisation, I would go every week!”
In the realm of Western classical music, the concept of audience engagement has traditionally been approached through the prism of passive consumption — where audiences come to listen, appreciate, and applaud the virtuosity and compositions on display. However, as anyone who has been at a concert with improvisatory moments can probably agree, these moments electrify the atmosphere between audience and performer, regardless of musical genre. This phenomenon has been studied in various research settings over the past decade, and we begin to see the meaningful impact that improvisatory input can have. It appears that through the musicians’ authentic risk-taking and improvisatory creativity, audience members can start to feel more like active participants and insiders to the musical experience, than passive viewers. An unexpected outcome in Haustein’s audience research, it turns out that witnessing moments when the musicians’ risk-taking didn’t turn out triumphant in the concert made audience members support and appreciate them more, not less - a pivotal discovery to anyone who wants to learn to improvise.
Unlike the somewhat expected outcomes of composed pieces, improvisation brings an element of unpredictability and danger to performances. It's this unpredictability that captures the audience's imagination (and can create fear in not-yet improvising musicians…), inviting them into the creative process. By witnessing the creation of music in real-time, audience members can gain an insider's seat to the live problem-solving, the human interactions, that are mirrored in the performers’ spontaneous musical expressions. When musicians improvise, they share a part of their creative spirit, offering a glimpse into their personality, musical thought process and emotions. This vulnerability can foster a closer connection with the audience, enhancing the emotional exchange and invite them on a shared journey of exploration and discovery.
One of the most profound impacts of improvisation on audience engagement in Haustein’s research (building on a body of other studies) is the establishment of a co-creative space. In this space, the audience's presence and energy can become integral to the performance, influencing its direction and outcome. In the context of this study, improvising as ensemble on audience-given requests turned out to be a particularly strong element that created an insider, participatory experience. Audience members described feeling like they “became part of the creativity” themselves, and starting to experience intense increase in empathy and support. They gained access to a deeper level of meaning and accessibility to the musical experience (and especially so, if they were new to classical music). Watching the live problem-solving of the improvising ensemble drew them into a personal exchange, as the performers, in turn, became empowered by the audience's engagement. In a concert programme flowing between repertoire and improvisatory elements, this impact was repeated regardless of changing programmes, instrumentation, audience, musicians, repertoire, or type of improvisation - or, importantly, the musicians’ individual skill levels in improvising. Even the smallest improvisatory contributions could have a big impact on the audience’s experience.
Audience studies in a classical context have generally been overlooked in the past. However, as live music competes with everything that the modern world has to offer, the classical community should return to its roots and engage in a fresh dialogue - with our audiences, our inner selves, and the creative world around us.