Music and Twitter by Brian Reinhart
I recently wrote a review in which I poked fun of violinist
Charlie Siem for his inane posts on the website Twitter. In
the process of editing that review, however, it occurred to
me that I was being unfair, and that a full essay on the topic
of performers on Twitter was in order. This is that essay.
Let’s begin with my original complaint. In the Charlie Siem
review of his self-titled new recital, I wrote: “He will
acquire more Twitter followers, eager to read such profound
Siemisms as, ‘I didnt get the truffle pasta afterall!! but the
veal was delicious’.” This begs two questions, namely, what
exactly are celebrities supposed to say on Twitter, and who
am I, a fellow Twitter user, to criticize them? Briefly, the
combined answer is that I’ve already seen classical artists
use the new medium in innovative ways.
First, a word on Twitter, for those unsure. It is a stream-of-consciousness
website on which people, famous or not, can say whatever they
are thinking. Twitter is fraught with peril: unless you keep
your account private (when only verified friends can see your
thoughts, or “tweets”), your tweets are accessible to everyone,
including employers, romantic interests, or, if you are a celebrity,
everybody who has ever heard of you. For many classical artists,
that last group is not so large: Charlie Siem (@charliesiem)
has fewer “followers” than I do.
Not surprisingly, many of the new generation of performers are
eager tweeters, but older artists are flocking to the medium
as well. Gil Shaham (@GilShaham) keeps his followers updated
on concert appearances and releases on his label, Canary Classics,
though postings have been rare of late. Joyce DiDonato (@JoyceDiDonato)
replies personally to fans who send their appreciation for a
concert or new CD. Thomas Hampson (@Thomas_Hampson) has an assistant
update his account with concert and CD details but seems to
occasionally write a note himself.
Renée Fleming (@reneesmusings) is less on-topic: “On my new
iPad...loving it!” She offers insights, too: “Ruckert Lieder
are a Rorschach test for all involved – there’s a spareness
that can take many different interpretations.” Similarly offbeat
is Stephen Hough (@houghhough): “Just called the woman at the
cash register ‘love’ - quite contagious in Yorkshire.” Artists
who don’t quite make the A-list can be even more interesting:
violinist Bella Hristova (@blabsy13) makes her own chocolate
truffles with Baileys Irish Cream, and James Rhodes (@JRhodesPianist)
asks “If journalists are paid by the word, why oh why can’t
pianists be paid by the note?”
Already we are seeing three primary strands: first, classical
performers use Twitter to update fans on news and concert dates;
second, they talk directly to fans in a sort of global post-concert
chat; third, they lead personal lives just like the rest of
us.
There’s a second question implicit in Twitter. Many of its critics
have spent too much time asking, Why would you want to write
such things? rather than Why would we read them? As
a Twitter user, I think I can answer that: if I “follow” a classical
artist, it’s because they are interesting. Thomas Hampson’s
assistant does not write things I’m interested in, but Stephen
Hough’s musings on topics as diverse as the recording process
and the nature of today’s Catholicism demonstrate the same intelligence
one can hear in his playing. Why not read along?
Moreover, Twitter offers an exciting platform for classical
music to reach out, when used correctly. Many artists and organizations
have recognized the medium’s potential for audience contact.
Naxos employs a squad of crack Twitter users, including the
Naxos Music Library writer (@NaxosMusicLib), who listens to
NML all day and recommends CDs with genuine enthusiasm (“Check
out Gabriela Lena Frank’s Hilos (8.559645). I attended the world
premiere and it was AMAZING.”). Numerous orchestras have similarly
cheery, approachable Twitter contacts (e.g. @londonsymphony,
@liverpoolphil, @philharmonia).
But the best use of Twitter would involve expanding the classical
sphere even further. The most successful example of this was
a recent event called “Ask a Conductor,” a twenty-four hour
period during which sixty conductors from around the world,
including Vladimir Ashkenazy, JoAnn Falletta, and Lorin Maazel,
were logged on to Twitter to take questions from anyone and
everyone. Over 3,000 tweets of conversation resulted. (A sequel,
“Ask a Composer,” is planned for March.) I floated a question
about introducing music with spoken remarks. The question was
directed to nobody in particular, but replies came in from Jonathan
Darlington (@j_darlington) of the Duisberg Philharmonic—“I love
having a direct contact with the audience,” Gabriel Sakakeeny
of the American Philharmonic (@AmericanPhilMD)—“I ALWAYS do
this. But I don’t lecture. I create a clear context to shape
the listening of the audience. Key!!”, and Jason Weinberger
(@wnbrgr) of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra (Iowa,
USA), who said he was getting “great feedback” with interactive
programs in which “we invite players to share their POV, solicit
audience ?s, and engage using imagery/video.”
Now, isn’t all that interesting? I’ve never been to a
concert where orchestral players are invited to speak or audiences
ask questions as part of the regular program, rather than in
a talk an hour before the concert in which some local scholar
analyzes Mahler’s travel diaries. The idea is enterprising and
I would like to see it done.
Twitter’s function as a sort of social hub opens up other possibilities,
too. When the Netherlands announced cuts to state-sponsored
orchestras, videos of the ensembles went viral on Twitter. Simply
by posting links to streaming audio or video, I’ve converted
one friend with no classical training into an admirer of Jan
Dismas Zelenka and another into such a fan of Israeli-born composer
Avner Dorman (@avnerdorman) that he attended the premiere of
Dorman’s new orchestral work “Uriah: The Man the King Wanted
Dead.” Naturally, he tweeted about it —“outstanding. totally
awed” — a comment then read by the performers (@SFSymphony)
and publishing house (@GSchirmer), the latter of which replied
personally in appreciation.
So I have come full circle about the juxtaposition of classical
music and Twitter. As with any means of communication, it’s
not the medium that matters, but how the medium is used. Like
television, radio, or the Internet as a whole, Twitter can be
used wisely or facetiously by the classical world and its inhabitants.
For every unenlightening bore there is an orchestra excitedly
chatting with concertgoers, a celebrated publishing house listening
in on discussions of newly-performed music, and an artist who
enjoys sharing his/her passions.
The pitfalls of Twitter are well-known. But its possibilities
for bringing performers and listeners closer together in conversation,
and for events like Ask a Composer, are boundless enough
to give a venerable artistic tradition new life.
Brian Reinhart (@bgreinhart)
Classical Twitter Directory
Note: This list is non-exhaustive and makes no attempt at
comprehensiveness. Account names are accurate as of February
2011. Where usernames and artist names are not identical, the
artists’ names follow in brackets. URLs for Twitter accounts
work as follows: @alondradlp becomes http://twitter.com/alondradlp
Performing Artists
@alondradlp (Alondra de la Parra), @avnieliran (Eliran Avni),
@blabsy13 (Bella Hristova), @charliesiem, @Chloe_Hanslip, @houghhough
(Stephen Hough), @GilShaham, @GStelluto (George Stelluto), @IvorBolton,
@jamesgaffigan, @j_darlington (Jonathan Darlington), @JoyceDiDonato,
@JRhodesPianist (James Rhodes), @Lang_Lang, @LynnHarrell, @MaestroMaazel
(Lorin Maazel), @MC_Conductor (Michael Christie), @reneesmusings
(Renée Fleming), @sarahchang, @StuartSkelton, @TiberghienC (Cédric
Tiberghien), @Thomas_Hampson, @violincase (“Hilary Hahn’s violin
case”), @welsermoest (Franz Welser-Möst), @wnbrgr (Jason Weinberger)
Orchestras and Ensembles
@AAMconnected (Academy of Ancient Music), @BaltSymphony (Baltimore
Symphony), @bangonacan, @BBCPhilharmonic, @BBCSymphonyOrch,
@Bergenfilharmon (Bergen Philharmonic), @BerlinPhil, @BostonSymphony,
@chicagosymphony, @DallasSymphony, @DetroitSymphony, @Doric_Quartet,
@EmersonQuartet, @E_N_O (English National Opera), @eighthblackbird,
@gewandhaus (Leipzig), @holstsingers, @HouSymphony (Houston
Symphony), @kronosquartet, @LAPhil (Los Angeles Philharmonic),
@liverpoolphil (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic), @LPOrchestra
(London Philharmonic), @LondonSymphony, @MercuryBaroque, @MetOpera,
@metroensemble (Metropolis Ensemble), @mozartplayers (London
Mozart Players), @NashvilleSymph, @NYPhil, @philharmonia, @Philharmoniker_HH
(Hamburg Philharmonic), @RSNO (Royal Scottish National Orchestra),
@SeattleSymphony, @sequenza21, @SFSymphony (San Francisco Symphony
Orchestra), @TheBachChoir, @TheCBSO (City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra), @the_halle (Hallé Orchestra), @theoae (Orchestra
of the Age of Enlightenment), @TheSixteen, @TorontoSymphony
Composers
@AvnerDorman, @composerdasilva (Patricio da Silva), @ComposersForum,
@corypark (Cory Parkinson), @ericwhitacre, @esantiestevan (Eric
Santiestevan), @georgiastitt, @gprokofiev (Gabriel Prokofiev),
@JennJolley, @JohnMRutter, @juddgreenstein, @KarlHenning, @KristinKuster,
@LeeHartmanMusic, @NicoMuhly, @SteveReich, @stuart_macrae, @tarikoregan
(Tarik O’Regan), @tonalfreak (Thomas Deneuville)
Labels
@BridgeRecords, @ChandosRecords, @channelclassics, @DeccaClassics,
@DGclassics (Deutsche Grammophon), @EMIClassics, @harmoniamundi,
@hyperionrecords, @marcgeelhoed (Manager of the CSO Resound
label), @NaxosRecords, @NaxosUK, @NaxosUSA, @newtonclassics,
@NMCrecordings, @SDGRecordings (Soli Deo Gloria), @SignumRecords
Other Organizations and Individuals
@alexrossmusic (Alex Ross, The New Yorker), @BBCProms,
@Boosey_NewYork (Boosey & Hawkes), @carnegiehall, @classicalbeat
(Washington Post music desk), @ClassicalRev (Classical
Revolution USA), @ClassicsOnline, @composerfocus, @entartetemusik
(blog), @GramophoneMag, @GSchirmer, @imslp (International Music
Score Library Project), @jessicaduchen, @JoelsClassical (Joel’s
Classical Shop, Houston, TX), @kozinn (Allan Kozinn, New
York Times music critic), @MeettheComposer, @NaxosMusicLib,
@NLebrecht (Norman Lebrecht), @nprclassical (National Public
Radio, USA), @OrchLeague (League of American Orchestras), @otterhouse
(Rolf den Otter, LP collector), @Passionato, @RFHPiano (“the
piano at Royal Festival Hall”), @RoyalAlbertHall, @RoyalOperaHouse,
@SouthbankCentre, @TheStradEditor, @villa_lobos (Heitor Villa
Lobos website and magazine), @wheresrunnicles (Edinburgh arts
blog), @wigmore_hall, @WQXRClassical (New York radio station),
@yalemusic (Yale School of Music)
