| David,
I appreciate your enthusiasm for the music that you present and also your desire to engage your audiences on many levels. I agree with our English friend, however. It's not our place to "educate" audiences...our highest, most profound, goal is to engage them aurally at the highest musical level that we can.
A great concert experience involves deep, concentrated, listening from each and every performer to engage the same from the audience. Include, if you'd like, a paragraph in the notes about why you picked a particular piece, but avoid, at all cost, lecturing them about a your perception of "value" (subjective), "composer's intent", or anything that smacks of analysis/talking down to the audience (done since the 70s and pretty much debunked, thankfully). Personally, I believe in saving any sort of discussion until after a performance has ended. Invite them to the stage for a chat afterwards, if you'd like, but don't spoil the moment by telling a listener what (s)he should be hearing or listening for.
Draw them in instead with the intensity of your shared listening experience. If you can do that, you'll build a loyal and voracious audience (and I'll be in the front row).
Fabulous topic.
EC |