They are a very nice, artistically engaged group of people, but they're not your audience - Preaching to the other choir
I recently asked a woodwind quintet and a saxophone quartet who their audience was. I always ask this question, whether it’s an ensemble or soloist, or anyone who performs recitals.
Often, I hear back – “I’ve never thought about that.”
When I asked that saxophone quartet and the woodwind quintet that question, there was some awkward vocal and physical fidgeting.
“I can tell you who your audience isn’t,” I said.
To the saxes: “It’s not other saxophone players, saxophone quartets and saxophone instructors.”
To the woodwind 5: “It’s not other woodwind players, woodwind quintets or woodwind instructors.”
Why is that? Both of these “insider” audiences are an unmeasurable, too small to register on any measuring scale, percentage of your total potential audience reach.
Why not seek out the audience who doesn’t know what happens when winds and saxes congregate on the recital stage.
How many people know that four saxes playing together create the most buoyant, piquant, lyrical, lovely and expressive sounds and harmonic blend?
How many people know, that in the hands of a good composer and adept players, three wooden instruments a brass instrument and one made up of copper-nickel, or silver, or gold, can play nice on stage, in perfect harmony?
Perform and pursue those who are outside of your bubble. That’s where your audience is. That’s where the money is.
