music theatre in flanders - Muziekcentrum Vlaanderen

houses’ often inflexible trade union regulated operating procedures
– a movement that followed developments in theatre and
dance, which (as far as the author knows) received more acclaim,
support and promotion in the Benelux than in the German cultural
scene. Highly creative production teams of directors, composers,
writers and dramatists developed new forms of – sometimes
cross-disciplinary – music theatre, that abandon the traditional
stage and, for instance, theatrically explore public spaces for
specific projects. The public response varies clearly depending
on concept, topicality, renown, occasion and location. Here, too,
we find a mostly small group of aficionados that rarely mix with
‘classic opera fans’, but rather with contemporary theatre and
dance devotees.
Contrary to the German speaking territory, Belgium has to
offer a highly diversified music theatre scene outside the opera
houses. They also receive more recognition from culture policy
makers, resulting in higher government support. The Belgian
music theatre scene has broken out of the niche and addresses a
broad and diversified audience, that feels connected with its theatre
companies and artists, and identifies with them.
The big budget contemporary works, however, allow themselves
to be produced exclusively in established houses or by rich
festivals for practical-financial reasons.
OperA And ITS TAbOO: where IS The AudIenCe OF TOMOrrOw/OF
The FuTure?
For all that, the present status quo is unsatisfactory: today, opera
and music theatre (I mean contemporary opera and its experimental
exponents) are still the exclusive prerogative of a minor
part of the so-called cultured middle- and upper class.
Even today, opera is, to many, taboo or undiscovered territory,
an art form ridden by ignorance, prejudice and inhibition, keeping
people from entering an opera house or independent venue. I do
not believe that opera – contemporary opera included – musically
‘aims too high’ for general audiences. As an art form, opera is,
in se, elitist, but the subject matter appeals to everyone: people
sing to people, whatever the colour, race or social class to which
they belong.
In ‘real life’, however, marginal groups and migrants are hardly
given the chance to find the way to the opera or music theatre,
except perhaps accidentally for educational projects. General
music education in the German territory is below standard. So far,
education planners still seem unaware of the ‘socio-educational
value’ of music and theatre education. If they were, music education
finally would have been given the prestige of a major subject,
instead of being omitted from the curriculum. Until today, the relevance
and significance of music education has been completely
underestimated.
Quite some successful music projects with disfavoured social
groups – such as the Rhythm is it dance project with Simon Rattle,
Roystom Maldoon and the Berlin Philharmonic, or Daniel Barenboim’s
West-Eastern Divan-youth orchestra – have shown the value
of a creative approach to music and theatre education. This is also a
form of audience recruitment: when they discover their passion for
music, theatre or art, instead of violence, aggression or depression,
all these youngsters become part of our ‘cultural pool’ and educational
work would generate new audiences.
AudIenCe reCruITMenT beTween ‘publIC relATIOnS’ And
‘ArT eduCATIOn’
What is the trick? How can we ‘popularize’ music theatre? How
can we present it to the general public, without any populism and
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